QUESTION PERIOD — Environment and Climate Change
Carbon Tax
October 31, 2023
Government leader, last Thursday, after eight long years, Prime Minister Trudeau finally admitted that he is not worth the cost. Common-sense Conservatives have been saying all along that the Prime Minister’s carbon tax makes everything more expensive. He finally agrees. The Prime Minister says he’ll axe the tax, but only on home heating oil and only until after the next election and only to try to save Liberal seats in Atlantic Canada.
Leader, why not go all the way? Why not axe the entire carbon tax so families all across Canada can afford to heat their homes, drive to work and feed themselves?
Well, thank you for your question. It is not the intention of the government to axe the tax, as I’ve said on many occasions.
As many of us know, there are many challenges facing Canadians, and one of them is the cost of heating with oil. The cost is higher to heat with oil than other sources. Prices are more volatile, and folks don’t have the ability to switch to a heat pump. It’s a reality for many Canadians across the country, including Atlantic Canada. As you know if you live in the east, the percentage of folks in Atlantic Canada who heat with oil, as opposed to other sources, is much higher. That’s why the government is providing a 20% rural top-up to the Climate Action Incentive payments, giving people time and financial support to transition to more sustainable choices, such as heat pumps.
It’s a lot colder in Winnipeg than it is in Atlantic Canada, and natural gas isn’t cheap.
A Trudeau cabinet minister, the Minister for Rural Economic Development, has made it clear this is pure politics and nothing else. Minister Hutchings told CTV that Canadians need to “. . . elect more Liberals in the Prairies . . .” to get carve-outs from the Trudeau carbon tax policies — elect more Liberals.
An old saying about a carrot and a stick comes to mind, leader. Is that the role of the carbon tax, a carrot for those who vote Liberal and a stick —
Senator Gold.
The temporary exemption for heating with oil applies across the country, wherever people find themselves forced to do that without the alternatives some of us enjoy. By helping people switch through the rebates to heat pumps, the government is making sure that families across the country have an affordable and sustainable way to keep their houses warm.
Senator Gold, we in Saskatchewan have long been keenly aware of the fundamental unfairness to rural Canadians of Trudeau’s punitive carbon tax scheme. We have fought against it for seven years. Now, the Trudeau government is giving a carbon-tax break only to those who use home heating oil, which, essentially, only applies in Atlantic Canada. Is this climbdown rooted in logic or common sense? Of course not. Even your so-called Minister of Rural Economic Development admits it’s for crass politics: They voted Liberal.
The Trudeau plan is to quadruple the carbon tax. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister thinks rural Canadians should be happy with the measly extra 10 bucks a month he just announced.
Saskatchewan has had enough. If Justin Trudeau won’t exempt Canadians who heat with natural gas, Premier Moe vows he will no longer collect the carbon tax for the federal government.
Senator Gold, when will your government do the right thing and axe the carbon tax on home heating for everyone on everything?
Thank you for your question. Again, it’s not the government’s intention to axe the carbon tax, nor am I aware of any plans to extend the temporary suspension of it to other forms of heating.
I am aware of Premier Moe’s pronouncements. However, it remains the case that putting a price on pollution remains the most effective market-oriented tool to address climate change. The government is making adjustments in consideration of those who live in certain circumstances, and that is simply a reminder that the government cares about Canadians, as it does about fighting climate change.
That tiny rural supplement is your government’s admission that rural Canadians are unfairly walloped by the carbon tax. While you give Atlantic Canadians a break on oil heating, this does nothing for those of us in the often bitterly cold West where we must heat with natural gas. In fact, you and your Trudeau government have stalled and gutted a bill to exempt egg operations from carbon tax as you again penalize Prairie farmers. Why does this government continue to punish Western Canadians, farmers and rural Canadians? Don’t they elect enough Liberals?
The government’s programs, whether to deal with climate change or to assist Canadians in other respects, are designed to be fair to all Canadians.
Canadians in this diverse country live in different circumstances. Programs affect people differently. That is just the reality of living in a federal system, but, no, this is not a question of politics. It’s a question of proper administration of public policy.
