Canadians 'not paying enough carbon tax' clip is a deepfake

"CTV News’ Heather Wright reports on a shocking new proposal: Canadians may not be paying enough in carbon tax," reads the caption of a February 14, 2025 Instagram reel.

The clip appears to show a news report from the Canadian news channel CTV in which the on-air journalist discusses experts recommending that Canada impose a "climate compliance fee." In the clip, the alleged proposal is justified with the reporter appearing to say Canadians are not paying enough carbon tax to prevent temperate winter conditions in Toronto in February.

Other versions of the video spread on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, racking up thousands of views.

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Screenshot of an Instagram post taken February 17, 2025

Pressure has been mounting to scrap Canada's carbon tax, which places a federal levy on carbon emissions, with many arguing it is too much of a financial burden amid rising living costs. Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously defended the tax, saying low-emitting individuals receive a rebate and that it encourages industries to reduce their carbon footprint.

As the carbon tax plan currently stands (archived here), the levy goes up incrementally each year. However, Rob Duffy, a spokesman with CTV's owner Bell Media, said the report on Canadians not paying enough carbon tax and discussing a supposed "climate compliance fee" never aired on the channel.

"I can confirm that these posts are not authentic to CTV News," he said.

Parts of the video appear to be altered, with the sound of the reporter's speech not matching the movement of her lips. AFP was not able to find the original news clip, but a reverse image search does reveal a February 6 TikTok (archived here) which was labeled as being generated by artificial intelligence by the original poster.

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Screenshot of a TikTok taken February 17, 2025

Environment and Climate Change Canada reported the country's warmest winter on record in 2024 but predicted 2025 would be closer to average due to cooler La Nina weather patterns (archived here and here).

Despite the claims in the altered social media posts that there was no snow in Toronto in February, the metropolis has seen snowfall in 2025 (archived here), including a week of storms that led to the city's highest accumulation in three years.

Canada's opposition leader, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, promised he would scrap the carbon tax if he were elected prime minister. Candidates in the race to replace Trudeau as Liberal leader and prime minister have also said they would eliminate the levy.

Read more of AFP's reporting on misinformation in Canada here.