Conservatives Release Plan to Cancel the Trudeau Carbon Tax and Tax Foreign Oil Imports
Plus Liberals and Bloc Shutdown Committee Investigations on Sexual Misconduct Allegations in the CAF, The Equalization and Transfers Fairness Act, Federal Budget to be Released Monday, and more
Conservatives Release Plan to Cancel the Trudeau Carbon Tax and Tax Foreign Oil Imports
On Thursday, April 15 the Leader of Canada’s Conservatives, Erin O’Toole announced the Conservative plan on the environment for the next election campaign. In short, it will abolish the Trudeau carbon tax, place a tariff on foreign oil imports and introduce personal low carbon savings accounts entirely managed by individual Canadians, not the federal government.
The main feature of the Conservative plan is the introduction of low carbon savings accounts where every dollar you spend on carbon pricing on products will remain with the consumer to use on green renovations and purchases. These new accounts will allow a Conservative government to dismantle the federal carbon tax bureaucracy and end the backstop that forces a carbon tax on unwilling provinces, like Alberta. It will also end the escalating carbon tax that goes up every year.
Low Carbon Savings Accounts
Albertans have repeatedly rejected the heavy-handed Trudeau carbon tax. As it stands, the carbon taxation scheme imposed on Alberta by the federal government takes money out of the pockets of families and small businesses and sends it to Ottawa where it is then redistributed back in the form of tax rebates to only some individuals. This disproportionately impacts Albertans who are trying to provide for their children or keep their businesses up and running during these tough financial times. The Conservative plan will work with provincial governments to eliminate the Trudeau carbon tax and introduce low carbon savings accounts that will give individual Albertans the freedom to invest in green upgrades while not punishing those who depend on oil and gas to fill their vehicles and heat their homes. These accounts will work like the INTERAC system managed by the major financial institutions in Canada. Essentially, every dollar spent by a consumer would stay with the consumer instead of going to federal coffers to then be returned only to low-income Canadians as a tax rebate. Consumers will be able to use these savings to then make green purchases like retrofits for their homes, an electric or hybrid vehicle, or environmentally friendly goods like a roof made of recycled materials. This change will put Alberta consumers back into the driver’s seat and give them control over how they want to make environmental-friendly choices that work for their families, not what works for the Trudeau government. Rather than punishing Albertans for heating their homes or driving to work, this Conservative plan offers a new savings tool where you the consumer have the final say in where the money goes.
Taxing Foreign Oil Imports
The Conservative plan also calls for a climate border tariff to be introduced in cooperation and coordination with the United States, so that foreign products imported into Canada from jurisdictions with worse environmental standards, like the People’s Republic of China, are finally made to pay for polluting. This will put an end to companies leaving Canada to avoid tough environmental rules and keep heavy industry in Canada on a level playing field with international competitors. This will also, finally, tax foreign oil imports. To us Albertans, this was the most damning and maddening part of Trudeau’s carbon tax that forced our ethically produced energy to compete on an uneven playing field against Saudi Arabian, Venezuelan, and other oil imports where the environmental standard is far, far lower. The idea of a climate tariff was first described in detail by Nobel-prize-winning economist William Nordhaus, and it will ensure that Alberta energy jobs stay in Canada.
Reaching the Same Goals With Less Pain
The Conservative plan was reviewed by the same modelling company that the federal government has used for their federal carbon tax. Navius Research is a BC-based company that reviews climate policies for the federal government and provincial governments. They ensure that whatever policy is set actually achieves its goals. Navius determined that the Conservative plan would attain the same substantial emission reductions as the Liberal’s current plan by 2030, but that the Conservative plan will boost the economy and create private sector jobs. The Liberals only have one anchor in their plan, a carbon tax, that will keep increasing and cause massive job losses and continued harm to Alberta’s economy. Navius Research has analyzed and validated that the Conservative plan achieves the same goals without huge government intervention and economic loss.
Alberta’s energy sector cannot survive another four years of a majority Liberal government. Should they win another majority then they will indeed phase out energy jobs. As Conservatives, we have often tried to reuse and recycle old ideas on this political file without success. This conservative environmental plan will cancel the Trudeau carbon tax, create personal low carbon savings account returning every dollar to consumers, dismantle the carbon tax bureaucracy, tax foreign oil imports, and reach the same 2030 targets the Liberals adopted from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Conservatives must earn the right to govern from Canadians and Conservatives must do so before the Trudeau Liberals are able to tack another half-trillion dollars to our national debt. This is the bold plan we need to do it.
Liberals and Bloc Shutdown Committee Investigations on the Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Former Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance
On Monday, April 12, 2021, the Liberals with the support of the Bloc Québécois passed a motion to shut-down debate on the Ottawa Liberal’s cover-up of the sexual misconduct allegations against high-ranking officers in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Here’s what we know so far, in early February allegations of sexual misconduct were levied against the former Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance by two female subordinates. Conservatives immediately came out in support of these brave women and pledged to find answers including how much the Minister of National Defence, knew about the allegations.
Soon after, news reports broke that the Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan knew about the allegations against the chief of defence staff in 2018, three years before the story broke. On February 9, 2021, Conservatives with the support of other opposition parties passed a motion calling the Minister of National Defence to appear before the defence committee. At the committee meeting on February 19, 2021, the Minister of National Defence refused to provide a straight answer as to when he was told about the sexual misconduct allegations against then Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance.
Conservative MPs refused to accept the Liberal dithering on answers for the brave women serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and passed a motion at the defence committee to call the former military ombudsman to testify before the committee. On March 3, 2021, the former military ombudsman, Gary Walbourne, appeared before the committee. In his testimony, the former ombudsman said that in 2018 he met with the Minister of National Defence. The ombudsman stated that as he reached into his pocket to pull out evidence relating to the sexual misconduct allegations the Minister pushed himself away from the table and refused to look at the evidence.
The Minister of National Defence said that he did his duty and reported the allegations to the Privy Council Office in 2018, but expert witnesses at committee explained that the Minister has the duty to investigate sexual misconduct allegations and report the results of the investigations to the Privy Council Office.
On March 5, reports leaked that senior staff in the Prime Minister’s office were made aware of the allegations against General Vance in 2018. The Prime Minister himself confirmed that he was made aware of the allegations against General Vance on March 10, 2021, in Question Period.
Who is telling the truth? On February 19, 2021, the Minister of National Defence said of the allegations, “I was as shocked as everyone else at the allegations that were made public two weeks ago.” On March 21, 2021, the Prime Minister said, “In 2018, my office was aware of the Minister’s direction to the ombudsman.”
The Defence Committee also learned that not only did the Prime Minister and Defence Minister know about the allegations in 2018 against General Vance, but they gave him a pay raise in 2019.
To end Liberal filibusters, Conservatives proposed a motion with the support of other opposition parties calling on specific senior Liberal staffers with knowledge of the sexual misconduct allegations to testify before the committee. Rather than sending the staffers, as willed by Parliament and Canadians, the Liberals sent the Defence Minister to the committee to again repeat the same talking points on April 6, 2021.
The women in the Canadian Armed Forces deserve answers. It’s clear that the Liberals are working to cover up their knowledge of the sexual misconduct allegations against Chief of Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance. The Liberal stories don’t align and further committee investigations are needed to uncover the truth.
Canada’s Conservatives will continue to work against the Liberal cover-up and get the answers we deserve.
Speaking to the Equalization and Transfers Fairness Act
On February 1, 2021, I tabled the Equalization and Transfers Fairness Act that will restore fairness for Albertans by removing the $170 per capita cap on fiscal stabilization payments, ensuring the federal government cannot unilaterally change the equalization formula, and making a successful referendum on equalization impossible to ignore.
This week, I joined Rob Boutilier at the Buffalo Tribune to discuss the specifics of the bill and how it will restore fairness for Albertans.
Conservatives Launch Petition Cut-Off Governor Generals If They Don’t Serve a Full Term
This week Conservative MP, Luc Berthold, launched an online petition calling for the government to block governor generals from receiving their pensions and benefits if they prematurely resign their posts.
Governor generals receive a five-year mandate to serve Canadians. After their term, they are eligible for yearly pensions and benefits. The previous Governor General, Julie Payette, resigned in disgrace over workplace bullying and harassment allegations that were so egregious they required an investigation. It eventually led to her resignation from office.
Sign the petition below to stop Julie Payette from receiving these pension benefits.
First Budget in Two Years to be Delivered on Monday
Despite record-breaking spending over the past two years from the Ottawa Liberals, it has been two years since the last federal budget. The federal government doesn’t need a budget to spend money, but the budget is critical as it outlines the government’s legislative and spending priorities. The Liberals are releasing their budget this coming Monday. I will be breaking down everything in the budget relevant to Albertans in my next issue of Resuming Debate. You can watch the government table the budget and the Conservative response to the budget, on Monday, April 19 starting at 2 pm MDT at the link below.
Any leader who will change his mind so drastically, from North to South, in such a short time, is not the leader I want for me. It was pretty well laid out that Albertans and many other Canadians do not want a carbon tax. What part of "NO CARBON TAX" does O'toole not understand?
With Conservatives like these, who needs Liberals!!!