Liberals survive non-confidence vote on carbon tax with Bloc, NDP backing
John Paul Tasker | CBC News | Posted: March 21, 2024 4:34 PM | Last Updated: March 21
Poilievre, Conservatives urged MPs to topple government over pending increase to carbon levy
The Liberal government survived a non-confidence motion on the carbon tax Thursday with the backing of the Bloc Québécois and NDP.
Earlier in the day, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged MPs to back his motion to topple the government over its planned increase to the carbon tax.
In response, the Liberals painted Poilievre as a climate change denier intent on letting the planet burn while dismantling a tax-and-rebate program that pads people's pockets with quarterly cheques that mostly offset the carbon levy.
If Poilievre's motion had carried and a majority of MPs had voted no confidence in the government, this Parliament would have been dissolved and the country would be heading into an election.
Poilievre was not in the House of Commons when the motion faced its final vote. He was scheduled to be at a fundraiser in Toronto.
Tax hike will increase fuel prices
Poilievre kicked off the debate by painting a bleak picture of Canada under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — a place where, he said, inflation has battered pocketbooks and some food bank shelves are empty as people scramble to cope with high inflation.
He argued the planned increase to the carbon tax will only make things worse.
The April 1 tax hike will increase the cost of fossil fuels; consumers are expected to pay about three cents more for a litre of gas than they do now.
The government's Canada carbon rebate is designed to make people whole for additional costs imposed by the carbon tax.
Ottawa sends cheques to families in the eight provinces where the federal tax is in place.
The consumer tax, the centrepiece of the Liberal government's climate plan, makes oil, natural gas and propane and other fuels more expensive to encourage Canadians to choose cleaner, greener sources.
Carbon tax not useful, Conservatives say
"We cannot in good conscience stand by while this prime minister imposes more misery and suffering on the Canadian people," Poilievre said.
He said MPs should pass the non-confidence motion to "restore this country we love."
WATCH | Poilievre emphasizes affordability during debate on non-confidence motion:
The party's deputy leader, Melissa Lantsman, said Trudeau is carrying out a "war on the middle class."
She said the carbon tax isn't all that useful as a climate-fighting tool because Canada's emissions haven't declined meaningfully.
Canada's emissions ticked up slightly last year — an increase driven largely by higher emissions from oil and gas production.
The government maintains the country is still on track to meet its 2030 climate goal of reducing emissions by about 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
"The tax isn't worth the cost and neither is this prime minister," Lantsman said. "The Canadian people are tired of being taxed to death."
She said Liberal MPs and their NDP supporters "shouldn't be afraid to let Canadians have their say."
"Let Canadians weigh in," she said. "Have the guts to stand up and vote against their boss today."
Liberal MP defends carbon tax
Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to government House leader, defended the carbon tax regime.
He said Conservatives are "spreading a lot of myths" about the levy.
Citing data reported by the Parliament Budget Officer (PBO), Lamoureux said "the reality is over 80 per cent of Canadians will receive more money back from the rebate than they are actually paying for a carbon tax."
He said dumping the carbon tax would "ruin" the rebate and leave some Canadians worse off.
"Why does the Conservative Party want to continue to mislead Canadians. Do they really think they're that stupid?" Lamoureux said. "They want to get Canadians upset — they want them mad."
He mocked the Conservatives over their opposition to the tax, pointing out that they campaigned on a carbon levy in the last federal election.
"Today's Conservative Party is a MAGA right-wing party," he said, citing former U.S. president Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.
WATCH | Liberal MP calls Conservative non-confidence motion on carbon tax 'foolish':
In a fiery session of question period Thursday afternoon, Conservative MP Andrew Scheer, the party's House leader, said the government has overseen "failure on top of failure."
He called Trudeau a "high-carbon hypocrite" for vacationing in Jamaica last Christmas while touting a tax on fossil fuels.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson shot back, saying dismantling the carbon tax and ending the associated rebates would be irresponsible for the environment and a financial blow for most Canadians.
"These people are going to make poor people poorer," Wilkinson said. "They're going to sacrifice the future of our children. Shame on you!"
WATCH | PBO says carbon tax 'least disruptive' way to reduce emissions:
Conservatives have no climate plan, ministers say
Poilievre's Conservatives have said little about what they'd do on the environment file if elected. Wilkinson claimed the party is intent on "letting the planet burn."
"That's their strategy — inaction," added Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, calling Poilievre the country's "chief inaction officer."
Facing pointed questions from the Tories, Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings said people in her Newfoundland and Labrador riding are not facing economic ruin from the carbon tax — they will actually get a boost from the rebate.
This year's payments will total more than $715 for a single person in a rural area of that province.
"It's putting more money in the pockets of so many Canadians," she said. "We're there to help Canadians every day. I wish the Conservatives were."
But Poilievre pointed to a different PBO report on the carbon tax. That report said that when the knock-on economic effects of the levy are taken into account, most households actually see a net loss.
The PBO said the tax will have a negative effect on the larger economy, leading to a loss of employment and investment income for some families.
The federal rebates won't be enough to offset both the tax and the slightly lower incomes some Canadians will collect as a result of the levy, the PBO said.
Poilievre cites separate PBO report on carbon levy
"Sixty per cent are paying more in carbon tax than they get back in rebates," Poilievre said, citing that report, which takes a more holistic view of the carbon tax and its impact.
"I've read this into the record time and time again."
NDP MP Charlie Angus said Poilievre is leaving "poor schleps" on the party's backbench to supposedly "bring down the government" while he's scheduled to be in Toronto at a fundraiser.
He said Poilievre lives in a "19-room mansion with his own private chef" — a reference to the leader of opposition's Ottawa home — and is no friend of the working class.
Angus said Poilievre has said nothing about price-gouging grocers or fuel refiners — entities the NDP blames for recent price increases.
"They are climate deniers. And there's a reason they're climate deniers — they don't have a plan because it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker," Angus said of the Conservatives.