Madam Speaker, after eight years, this tired NDP-Liberal government has become increasingly desperate. The Prime Minister has come to resemble one of those wacky, waving, inflatable tube guys outside car dealerships. His hands flail about as the political winds push him around randomly.
Year after year, the Prime Minister has claimed that if he did not punish low-income Canadians with higher energy prices, it would lead to the extinction of the human race. In reality, his regressive carbon tax has become a meteor headed for the Liberal Party. That is the only reasonable explanation Canadians can take away from the decision to cut the carbon tax on home heating oil. He only cares about the survival of the Liberal Party.
Canadians can see through the Liberal talking points and simplistic slogans. They know the Prime Minister is being inauthentic when he talks about affordability. Even the Liberals know it. Why else would the former parliamentary secretary provide fake numbers to this House about the cost of the Prime Minister's third family vacation in a year?
What is even more remarkable is that the Liberals knew what the impact of bringing in the carbon tax and carbon tax 2 would mean for Canadians struggling to put food on the table. They knew it and they did it anyhow. These Liberal ministers knew it would hurt Atlantic Canadians. They spelled it out in black and white. I know because I quoted it back to them.
This is what I said during an adjournment debate one year ago
The Liberals' new fuel standards regulations clearly state that the cost will be borne disproportionately by rural Atlantic Canadians, yet Liberals claim that nobody uses home heating oil any more. The Liberals are clearly gaslighting Atlantic Canadians, then charging them a carbon tax on that same gas.
Before any of the Liberals get up to spread more misinformation, I challenge them to read their own regulatory analysis. This is not Conservatives saying it, and it is not the Parliamentary Budget Officer. These are the Liberal government's own words. It said:
It is estimated that provinces in Atlantic Canada would be more negatively affected by the proposed Regulations. This is largely because the Atlantic Provinces use more [light fuel oil] for home heating than other provinces.
It later said:
This may be most acute for seniors living in the Atlantic provinces, where they account for a higher share of the total population compared to other Canadian provinces and are also more likely to experience some of the highest energy expenditures in Canada proportional to income.
The NDP-Liberal government knew the second carbon tax would hammer Atlantic Canada. The radical socialist environment minister knew his policy would hurt seniors on fixed incomes. He knew his policy would hurt lower-income Canadians. He knew it and he did it anyway. What did he do when the price of energy shot up in Atlantic Canada this summer? He claimed that this was all the fault of the companies and not his carbon tax and clean fuel regulations. It is another example of Liberal gaslighting, except this time it was the Liberal caucus who were taken for a ride.
The environment minister has known for years that his energy regulations would hammer Atlantic Canadians. He knew the costs would be passed onto consumers. He knew it and he pushed them through anyhow.
The socialist environment minister has devoted his entire life to putting his radical vision for the environment ahead of people. At least he is honest about it. What excuse do the Liberal caucus and the parliamentary secretary have for adopting this regressive policy?
