Poilievre calling on 'unelected' Senate to 'immediately' pass farm fuels carbon tax bill
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pushing for MPs to call on senators to “immediately†pass a bill that would exempt certain farm fuels from the carbon price.
The legislation he's angling to advance would eliminate the price on pollution on certain fuels used in agricultural activities, namely propane and natural gas used for grain drying, and for heating and cooling farm buildings.
Poilievre — who has accused Liberal cabinet ministers, including Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault — of pressuring senators to reject the bill, is hoping an opposition day motion he introduced in the House of Commons on Tuesday will move things forward.
- Capital Dispatch: Sign up for in-depth political coverage of Parliament Hill
- Download our app to get breaking news alerts delivered right to you
“That the House call on the unelected Senate to immediately pass Bill C-234, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, to remove the carbon tax on the farmers that feed Canadians, as passed by the democratically elected House,†reads Poilievre’s motion, which is set to be debated for most of the day Tuesday and voted on later in the week.
Bill C-234 is a Conservative private member’s bill that cleared the House of Commons last March, but has been back in the spotlight in recent weeks while the upper chamber debates some possible amendments.
It’s also become a controversial partisan football, with the Conservatives accusing the Liberals of creating carbon tax carve-outs only for people in regions where they need to shore up votes in the next election.
Poilievre kicked off debate on his motion Tuesday morning by saying the majority of democratically elected MPs have already voted in favour of the bill. In March, every Conservative, Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Green MP voted to pass the bill, in addition to one independent MP and three Liberal MPs.
Poilievre also again accused the Liberals of interfering to block it in the Senate, where members are not elected but rather appointed.
“Common-sense Conservatives have a bill that has been passed by this House, that would take the tax off,†he said. “The prime minister has deployed his carbon tax minister to pressure senators to block that bill in an undemocratic attack on the prerogative of the commoners to decide who pays what.â€
Poilievre and Guilbeault have been pointing fingers over the bill and who is working harder to influence the votes in the upper chamber.
“The Conservative Party didn’t feel that the Senate was so unelected when they tried to block the adoption of (Bill) C-69 on impact assessment in 2019,†Guilbeault said on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning. “And it’s somewhat ironic that they’re telling us to let the Senate do their work, yet they’re trying to adopt the motion that would pressure the Senate to do what they want.â€
The charged rhetoric over the bill among MPs also spilled over into the Senate this month, with two senators accusing another of physical intimidation and verbal harassment.
Conservative Sen. Don Plett has since apologized, after he was accused by Independent Senators Group leader Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain and the group’s deputy leader, Sen. Bernadette Clement, of intimidation, for yelling at and berating them, after Clement moved to adjourn debate on the bill.
But Saint-Germain and Clement also pointed to a social media post by Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer, which included their public contact information, as having led to angry and threatening phone calls and online harassment, ultimately requiring police to move Clement to a safer location.
Guilbeault and Poilievre also swapped accusations over that issue on Tuesday.
“It’s unbelievable that they seem to stop at nothing to try and get what they want, including bullying senators, independent senators,†Guilbeault said.
“I’ve had conversations with senators,†he added. “There’s a world of difference between having a conversation with someone and talking, and bullying them to try and get them to do what you want, to force them to do what you want under threat.â€
Poilievre, however, said “senators’ contact information is widely available on websites,†and that Liberals are “simply trying to distract†from the larger issue of the carbon tax.
Many senators, in the lead up to third reading on C-234, have said they want to send a message by passing the bill unamended, and avoid sending it back to the House of Commons for further debate.
“Canadians deserve to know that adjournment doesn’t mean a bill is being nixed, but that nuanced explanation wasn’t offered by people pointing the finger at me,†Clement told senators last week during a question of privilege about the harassment accusation.
“Canadians should be told the truth,†she added. “As a member of the Independent Senators Group, I vote my conscience. My vote is not whipped. I do not answer to any minister.â€
The Senate voted Tuesday evening to reject a possible amendment that would impact the bill’s sunset clause, clearing the way for possible third reading of the bill unamended, if no other amendments are introduced.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Your body, my choice': Attacks on women surge on social media following U.S. election
Sexist and abusive attacks on women, like 'your body, my choice' and 'get back to the kitchen,' have surged across social media since Trump’s reelection.
Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus was among approximately 120 people who gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil near the scene of a vicious attack against a 16-year-old in Cobalt.
Trump expected to name Marco Rubio secretary of state, reports say
Donald Trump selected U.S. Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, sources said on Monday, putting Rubio on track to be the first Latino to serve as America's top diplomat.
A B.C. woman who stole more than $14,000 in volunteer-raised funds that were supposed to be spent on school supplies and programs – including hot meals for vulnerable kids – won't spend any time in jail.
23andMe cuts 40 per cent of its workforce, discontinues all therapy programs
Genetic testing firm 23andMe said on Monday it is reducing about 40 per cent, or 200 employees, from its workforce and discontinuing all its therapies.
A 36-year-old Montreal man who was out on bail after allegedly uttering death threats against his partner is now accused of murdering her on the South Shore.
Megan Fox is expecting a baby with Machine Gun Kelly
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are expecting to grow their family. Fox announced her pregnancy in a social media post Monday.
Dr. Ronald Weiss, who performed nearly 60,000 vasectomies on Ottawa men, establishing him as the "Wayne Gretzky" of the procedure, has died.
A 15-year-old boy from Kitchener, Ont. is facing a long list of criminal charges as the Waterloo Regional Police Service wraps up a lengthy swatting investigation.
Local Spotlight
Should Toronto tear up its bike lanes to improve traffic flow? Critics say it's not so simple
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the ‘Gift-a-Family’ campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.