QUESTION PERIOD — Environment and Climate Change
Carbon Tax
October 5, 2023
My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
There are three things that are very important in Canadians’ everyday lives: mortgages, groceries and gas. Clearly, all three are essential to their survival.
Over the past year, and especially over the past few months, the Trudeau government’s lack of leadership has resulted in mortgage payments jumping by 30% to 40%, groceries going up by 50% on average, and gas prices skyrocketing.
Justin Trudeau’s team is raising taxes on gas and groceries, and that is making everything more expensive. Senator Gold, will your government axe the carbon tax once and for all and give Canadians some breathing room?
Thank you for your question, which you prefaced with a list of many of the issues Canadians are facing.
As I said earlier, the government believes that the carbon tax is a tool that is consistent with traditional economic models — conservative ones, I might add. The carbon tax is one of several other tools, such as support to help Canadians cope with the housing crisis and the cost of living.
At this point, the government has no intention whatsoever of getting rid of this important tool.
Senator Gold, I am pleading with this government. Canadians are having a hard time heating their homes and putting food on the table for their children. They’re having a hard time getting from their homes to work, very often costing them more to get there than what the work actually pays.
When will this government lift its boot off the throat of working-class Canadians and allow them to breathe during these terribly difficult times which your government has created and contributed to in creating this inflation?
Thank you for your question. The government is pursuing policies, programs and investments to help Canadians through these difficult times. I have outlined them on many occasions in this chamber, and, with the time allocated to me, I will not repeat myself. I will leave it for you to repeat the same question over and over again. I’m afraid that the facts and my answers will speak for themselves.
