Policy Depth Chart 1: Carbon Tax

I'm going to try over the next little while to break down the positions of leadership candidates on a few important issues. These will be the issues upon which a number of clear positions have been stated, some in opposition to others. I will divy the candidates into their respective camps and link to relevant policy statements, as I am able. I will include in those camps the positions of others outside of the race, in an effort to provide some extra-partisan context. Feel free to comment if you feel your candidate is misrepresented - I'm happy to update and revise.

Today is the issue of whether a Carbon Tax should be imposed. At the outset, it is necessary to recognize the ambiguity of the term and the nuance which I will clearly be ignoring.

If I were a wise cultivator of readership I would've picked something more popular (like the great raging debate that currently seeks to answer that age-old question of "If a family member is dying or sick, how closely related must one be to legitimate missing a radio talk-show appearance). Nevertheless...

CARBON TAX

Hard Pro Candidates -
Michael Ignatieff

Soft Pro Candidates -
Ken Dryden (if all other efforts to achieve Kyoto standards fall short)
Caroline Bennet (the Carbon Tax approach can be investigated)

Other Proponents -
Jeffrey Sachs
David Suzuki (by proxy)

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Soft Con Candidates -
Stephane Dion (Has "always opposed" an out-and-out Carbon Tax, but flirts with other "polluters pay" iniatives)
Bob Rae (It's "sensible" to tax polluters, but a single region can't bare unequal pain)

Hard Con Candidates -
Gerard Kennedy ("A carbon tax would only serve to divide Canada along regional lines")
Scott Brison
Hedy Fry ("Carrots work better than sticks")
Joe Volpe
Maurizio Bevilacqua ("It is certainly not an option for me")
Martha Hall Findlay

Other Opponents -
Ezra Levant ("class warfare, jealousy, anti-capitalism" - he doesn't disapoint)
Stephen Harper