Tory carbon tax motion passes in House

• A call for the prime minister to meet with Canada’s premiers on the carbon tax got surprising support from the House of Commons Wednesday, as the NDP joined with the Conservatives to encourage the meeting.

A Conservative motion calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with the premiers for a televised conference on the carbon tax passed with NDP and Bloc support.

The Liberals remained opposed. The motion, while non-binding, demanded Trudeau hold the meeting within five weeks.

NDP MP Laurel Collins accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of not having a serious plan to tackle climate change and said many Conservative premiers are also unwilling to tackle the issue directly, but agreed the conference would be a good idea.

“At this time bringing the premiers together with the federal government to have a conversation about climate policy. That is a supportable idea,” she said.

Poilievre introduced the motion after the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland Anthony Furey wrote an open letter to Trudeau calling for the emergency meeting.

Several other premiers including leaders in New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan have now echoed that call.

In his letter released on April 1, Furey said his government supports the goal of reducing carbon emissions, but people in his province can’t avoid the carbon tax and have no choice but to drive vast distances across the island.

“There is no rail system or subway system. Infrastructure to support electric vehicles is improving but remains inadequate through our sparsely populated land mass,” he said.

Furey said he supports the idea of pushing consumers toward low-carbon alternatives, but in his province those alternatives don’t exist.

“We need a constructive approach to decarbonize our environment without placing the burden on individual families who simply do not have viable alternative options.”

The current carbon tax regime requires provinces to either create their own system to reduce carbon emissions that meets the same reductions targets as the federal government or have the federal program imposed upon them.

The federal program currently imposes an $80 per tonne carbon tax, which translates into a charge of 17.6 cents per litre on gasoline. Canadians also receive rebates of the tax, ranging from $190 to $450 per quarter depending on what province they live in.

There are extra payments available to Canadians who live in rural areas.

In question period on Monday, Poilievre called on Trudeau to welcome the meeting.

“Everybody understands the tax is driving people to the food bank. That’s why six premiers including the Liberal premier of Newfoundland and Labrador have asked for a meeting.”