7485609974_cc476aec54_z

Warning to U.S. politicians pushing a carbon tax: “Even dressing it up and trying to bribe taxpayers with rebate cheques didn’t work.”

In a historic election today in Canada, Alberta voters rejected carbon taxes at the ballot box. The Premier of Alberta – carbon tax supporter Rachel Notley – was thoroughly defeated by the anti-carbon tax Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party. It is the latest in a long line of defeats for carbon tax pushing politicians around the world, as documented in this Americans for Tax Reform timeline.

Kenney’s first order of business: repeal the carbon tax.

In a statement to ATR, the leader of Canada’s top taxpayer group said:

“From its very introduction, the carbon tax has been very unpopular in Alberta. Even dressing it up and trying to bribe taxpayers with rebate cheques didn’t work,” said Scott Hennig, President and CEO of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Alberta’s premier-elect Jason Kenney recognized this, and committed that Bill 1 would be to scrap the carbon tax. Clearly, it has been a big vote-getter for his party.”

As noted by the Calgary Herald: “The result makes history, in that it marks the first time an Alberta government has gone down to defeat after only one term.”

The imposition of the carbon tax increased transportation and utility costs and burdened everyday living. An Alberta school district even had to kick 400 kids off school bus service due to the district’s $3.3 million carbon tax bill.

Timeline: Carbon Tax Consistently Rejected by Voters