Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Pursuant to the Standing Orders, I move the following motion:
That, given that the Prime Minister's temporary and limited exemption to the carbon tax on home heating oil that does not apply to 97% of Canadians, and that this announcement exposes major inconsistencies in the federal carbon tax policy, and that the Liberal government voted against a Conservative motion to extend the same exemption to all forms of home heating in Canada, and that Canada's Premiers have issued a joint statement, that says, “Premiers expressed concern that federal actions around the federal carbon tax have treated Canadians differently and expect the federal government to support all Canadians fairly,”; and given the divisive statement made by the Minister of Rural Economic Development where she stated, in response to a televised interview question on whether the Liberals were considering carbon tax relief for Canadians outside of Atlantic Canada; “…perhaps they need to elect more Liberals in the Prairies so that we can have that conversation as well”, The committee: (a) Undertake a ten-meeting review of carbon tax policy in Canada given the Prime Minister's limited carbon tax exemption, calls from provinces and Canadians struggling with the affordability crisis to remove the federal carbon tax completely, and the committee hear from the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change for two hours, the Minister of Finance for two hours, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources for two hours, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry for two hours, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food for two hours and all other witnesses the committee deems relevant, that the committee extend existing meeting times by one-hour in order to prioritize this motion and that the committee report its findings to the House; (b) Urge the Minister of Rural Economic Development to appear for two hours on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, to explain her comments.
The purpose of this motion is to get to the bottom of things. From the reports that were tabled recently, we see that, although the carbon tax policy is this government's main focus, the government is not meeting its objectives and is always missing its targets. Whatever might be said, we need to get to the bottom of things and understand why this tax approach is not helping us to meet the environmental objectives that the government has set.
If we want to undertake a serious and rigorous review of the carbon tax, we need do to it here in committee.
