Trudeau is talking about chickening out on the proposed tax on heating oil, which is meant to lead Canada away from using fossil fuel for heating.

People need help in paying for heating their homes, but canceling tax incentives to avoid destroying civilization is the wrong way to do it. A better way is to give people a subsidy to help them pay the cot of heating.

The crucial point is that people should be allowed to use the subsidy for anything. So if they make heating cheaper, they can use some of that money for other things.

That subsidy system will help poor people afford heating, but still give them (and everyone else) an incentive to invest in doing the job more efficiently.