The Conservative Party of Canada has joined the chorus of calls across the country for the federal government to exempt home heating from the federal carbon tax. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre introduced a motion for debate on the floor of the House of Commons Thursday, and it will go for a vote Monday.
Souris-Moose Mountain Conservative MP Robert Kitchen explained what the initial announcement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contained, that ignited the whole controversy.
“What the Prime Minister did was he came out and said that there would be a three-year suspension on home heating oil – that was number one,” Kitchen said. “Number two, he said that there would be a 10 percent increase to their rural rebate. Number three, that there would be the creation of a program that will reward Canadians who sign up to switch from home heating oil to a heat pump, basically putting out up to $10,000.”
Since that announcement was made in Atlantic Canada last week, the Prime Minister has come under fire from all sides. Here in Saskatchewan, Premier Scott Moe announced he was directing SaskEnergy to stop collecting the carbon tax on home heating starting January 1st. The move has seen support from across the country.
The motion put forward by Poilievre is a non-binding resolution, which means that if it passes it won’t necessarily mean an end to the carbon tax on home heating. However, the Conservatives hope it will put even more pressure on Trudeau to make the changes they are looking for.
“This Prime Minister talks about a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian – that's one of his biggest sayings,” Kitchen stated. “Well, if a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, then we should all be treated equally. When you’re taking a carbon tax off of a heating source, then it should be taken off of all heating sources. That’s what our motion is about – let’s be fair to all Canadians and take it off of every source.”
The Conservatives are also willing to go to the polls over the issue. Kitchen noted this would be the easiest way to see what the nation wants – to have a carbon tax, or to scrap the carbon tax.
As for the motion that is in the House?
“Once the vote is done, it’s a question of will the government actually listen to what was said?”, Kitchen asked. “We know in the past that they haven’t because there’ll be many times when we’ve passed, unanimously, motions that should be taken, where they’ve just totally ignored it.”
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