Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s suspected replacement Mark Carney has walked back his full fledged endorsement of the carbon tax.

The Opposition Conservatives finally managed to invite the former Bank of Canada governor to appear as a witness to a senate committee meeting on Bill S-243, an act to enact the Climate-Action Finance Act. 

But really the Conservatives were hoping to have Carney answer questions about the carbon tax, which he’s previously supported — even to the point of criticizing the Liberals’ carbon tax pause announced late last year on home heating oil. 

Carney’s tune changed on Wednesday, however, telling the committee that the carbon tax “has served a purpose up until now,” leaving the door open for a carbon tax pause, unlike the Trudeau Government’s plan to continue jacking it up every year until 2030. 

“I think one can always look for better solutions and as a country, we should always be open to better solutions,” he said.

Carney, a member of the United Nations special envoy on climate action and finance, further said a change to the carbon tax would require “you put in place something better that still has that credibility and predictability.”

Conservatives sense Trudeau resignation, blast out insults towards Carney

The Opposition Conservatives appear to sense a Trudeau resignation before the next election, and had even started to call Carney “Carbon Tax Carney,” claiming the outsider will become the Liberal’s next leader. 

A number of Conservative MPs, including leader Pierre Poilievre, have used the nickname in recent days, as speculation grows Prime Minister Trudeau will step down before the next election scheduled for October 2025.

Carney hasn’t publicly expressed an intention to become Trudeau’s successor — though he said last year that he hadn’t ruled it out.