The Liberals Admit Carbon Tax Failure

Plus challenging the Liberal immigration minister, 1 in 6 Canadians working hungry, and more

The Liberals Admit Carbon Tax Failure

It is panic mode in Ottawa. Down in the polls amid a worsening economic crisis, and after spending years denying that the carbon tax was driving up the cost-of-living, the Prime Minister announced a three-year pause to the carbon tax on heating oil in all jurisdictions under the federal carbon price scheme. The rebate payments will also increase to offset the costs rural residents are facing, starting next April after yet another carbon tax increase over the New Year. The main beneficiary of this policy is Atlantic Canada, which has been central to the collapse of the Liberals’ poll numbers and has seen a small minority of its MPs publicly oppose the carbon tax.

However, ignore his rhetoric and focus on what he means. The Prime Minister has essentially promised that if he is re-elected, the carbon tax will return. Do not forget that just a year ago, the Prime Minister and his MPs in Atlantic Canada voted to keep the carbon tax. They voted to raise it to 61 cents a litre. In fact, every single Atlantic Canadian Liberal MP voted in the House of Commons to tax your food, your heat, and your gas time and time again. Upon realizing he was facing electoral oblivion, he decides to make this grand gesture, attempting to convince Canadians that he truly cares about their livelihoods and economic concerns.

This was a major reversal of years of consistent, ivory tower Liberal talking points claiming that the carbon tax was good for Canadians and what they wanted. Just from the past few months alone, their MPs made the following statements on the tax.

• “Over eight out of 10 households receive more money back than the carbon price will cost them in a given year.” - MP Adam van Koeverden (Liberal, ON), Sept 28

• “I would say that we are very cognizant of the need to address affordability issues. That is why eight out of 10 Canadian families actually get a rebate that is more than they pay.” - MP Jonathan Wilkinson (Liberal, ON), Sept 21

• “At the same time we are putting a price on pollution right across the country, we are delivering more money back to Canadians in the jurisdictions where the federal backstop is in place. That is more money in the pockets of Atlantic Canadians starting this July as we fight climate change” - Prime Minister Trudeau, June 21

• “We also have a budgetary initiative that will have, and has had, a very positive impact on Canada's environment and the people of Canada, which is the price on pollution. The Conservatives call it a carbon tax.” - MP Kevin Lamoureux (Liberal, MB), June 8

• “In the Atlantic provinces, where heating oil will be subject to carbon pollution pricing for the first time next winter, most households in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island that will pay the federal fuel charge will receive more in climate action incentive payments than they will pay for the increased costs associated with the federal fuel charge.” - MP Francisco Sorbara (Liberal, BC), June 1

They can no longer deflect. If these statements on the rebates were true, then there would have been no need to pause the carbon tax on heating oil. The fact is they have lied, time and time again. They were repeating these lies up until the afternoon of October 26, despite numerous reports from independent bodies like the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who demonstrated the carbon tax will cost the average family up to $1500 more in taxes than they will get back in rebates. When these reports are highlighted, the Liberals claim that the reports did not take all factors into account, such as “long-term environmental sustainability.” The same Liberals under whom emissions have gone up and up and up.

The Liberals also cannot hide behind environmental justifications any longer. Homes that use heating oil will no longer pay a carbon tax. But homes with natural gas, which is the primary method for many homes across Canada and is also 30% cleaner on an emissions per gigajoule basis, will pay a carbon tax. An exemption on only heating oil was deliberate. Heating oil as a share of residential primary heating affects the provinces in which he gets larger vote shares. Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba will not receive the same break that those in Atlantic Canada received. The Prime Minister is not doing this because he finally saw the light and the error of his ways. He is doing this because he realized his political future is at jeopardy. He only acts in your interests when his own interests are threatened. Otherwise, he was content to continue repeating his lies about the tax, which will still be imposed on your gas, diesel, and on the farmers who grow the food and truckers who ship it. He made sure that this temporary pause will not help 97% of Canadians. Note that he said nothing about the second carbon tax that is still being implemented.

It has been eight years of this Liberal government, where life costs more and work doesn’t pay. Housing costs have doubled. Crime, chaos, drugs and disorder are now common in our streets. It is time to bring back common sense to Ottawa. Conservatives will bring home lower prices. Our common-sense plan will keep the heat on the Prime Minister, and axe his carbon tax to lower gas, heat, and grocery bills. This week, I had the opportunity to question the Liberal government on their carbon tax failures in Parliament. Click below to hear their responses.

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Challenging the Liberal Immigration Minister

The Liberal government claims that building housing is a priority. They even hosted a lavish Cabinet retreat over the summer, getting experts to brief them on the housing crisis they’ve overseen for eight years. Yet, the immigration minister does not even know how many construction workers came to Canada this year, nor the number of trades workers since they got into power. After 8 years of this NDP-Liberal government, it is clear that housing will never be a priority. This government is just not worth the cost. Watch below as I question the immigration minister.

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1 in 6 Canadians Working Hungry

In 2023, more Canadians visited food banks than any other year since Food Banks Canada began their report in 1989. There were an astonishing 1.9 million visits to Canadian food banks in March alone. This is an increase of 32 percent from last year and an increase of 79 percent compared to 2019. One-third of the food bank users are children. From 2014 to 2015, Food bank usage went up 3.3 percent - the same time period this year saw a 32 percent increase, the largest since food bank usage has been measured in Canada.

A further 18.4 percent of people in Canada now live in food-insecure households across our country, with the report saying that “many people who never thought they would need to turn to a food bank are walking through our doors for the first time.”

Life has become so expensive in Justin Trudeau’s Canada that Canadians are having to choose between eating and other necessities. One food bank user in Nova Scotia said that “seniors are having trouble with home heating and many times have to choose between food and heating.” Another respondent from Ontario said that “the housing crisis and the high cost of rent in the city of Ottawa has families spending the majority of their income on housing, leaving little for other day-to-day costs including food.”

Another respondent in British Columbia spoke about the crisis in affordability, saying “the cost of housing is indescribable. Many of our users are paying 50% of their annual income in rent, providing they can find accommodations.”

For some Canadians, no matter how hard they work they still don’t know where the next meal will come from. One respondent in Alberta said “I have seen many new clients that have never accessed a food centre before. Many are working families with children that just aren’t able to make ends meet due to inflation, and the increased cost of rent, food, and fuel. Rental housing is very difficult to find and has gone up significantly.”

You can read the full report below.

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Finance Minister Called to Testify on Canadian Participation in Communist-controlled Bank

Earlier this year, the highest ranking Canadian at the AIIB Bank announced his resignation, saying the bank was compromised by the Beijing communist government. The Liberal government forced Canada to join in 2016 and this past June, they abruptly stopped all cooperation with the compromised AIIB bank calling for a review of funding. Since then, the Liberals have faced no accountability for their prior funding of the AIIB. No news since then and now I’ve forced the finance minister to come to committee and explain what’s going on with the investigation.