I understand the value of being a world leader, but if nobody is following, then you're imposing all these costs on yourself while none of your competitors, and none of the much larger emission countries, are doing much about it.
I notice the U.S. has decided it is definitely not doing a carbon tax, so that should send a message to us about whether that's the right way to go for Canada. As you said, Asia.... It's not necessarily sinister. They legitimately have a billion people in China and a billion people in India. Hundreds of millions of those people are trying to have a better life, which includes some of the things we take for granted. They just want a kind of middle-class existence like us, and that takes energy.
Right now, there's no alternative for them that is adequate, and there's nothing as efficient and effective as oil and gas. The one they're turning to is coal. That's not exactly the solution we would all be looking for, I don't think. Instead, we should be the foremost provider of those energy sources for them, keeping in mind that it's good to lead by a little bit, but once you lead too far out, you're basically leading a parade by yourself.
We need to take a dose of reality and keep our ambitions, goals and targets in line with what the big countries in the world are doing.