I would like to add that Mr. Kmiec’s subamendment clearly refers to the carbon tax, but also to the fact that the government is out of touch with Canadians. My comments are therefore entirely appropriate.
We're talking about being out of touch and we're talking about coalitions. The NDP is tied in with the Liberals on the common working man. I've visited union shops and work sites and other places, primarily in British Columbia, with the Conservative leader, and people there are expressing their frustration. They're talking about the cost of living, about the carbon tax. They're telling me how hard it is. They have trucks, and some of them have firearms for work, and they're feeling the pinch. My riding is traditionally more blue collar, although now it's quite mixed, but the working men and women have had it.
When I was on Vancouver Island, a gentleman came up to me and introduced himself. He was actually a former NDP cabinet minister, and he told me that he had joined a Conservative board, a Conservative riding association. He said it was because the NDP—the NDP-Liberal coalition—had totally lost their way. He said they'd gone woke and were not in contact and not connected and didn't understand the working person.
Look at the map. Look at the 338. Obviously it's just a picture of where things are at right now, and it's not certain that this is what the election is going to be, but just look at where things are at. People are frustrated. Do you get the message?
In British Columbia, if the polling is correct, the Liberals and the NDP are looking at a massive loss of seats. I know each party has their own strategists, but they had better be looking at things.
Mr. Kmiec mentioned that they are looking at the polls. The premiers are looking at how people feel about the carbon tax, and 70% of Canadians don't want it.
Up until about a week ago, NDP Premier David Eby was touting the carbon tax. Last March, I believe, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre asked him to join seven other premiers to join him in opposing the increase in the carbon tax on April 1.
What was his response? This was the CTV News headline:
'Baloney Factory': Eby mocks Poilievre letter asking B.C. to join carbon price fight
A letter from Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to British Columbia Premier David Eby, asking him to help halt a federal carbon price increase, was dismissed by Eby as a “baloney factory” campaign tactic.
Poilievre's letter sent Friday [said that] the 23 peer cen rise amounts to an extra 18 cents on a litre of fuel, and people B.C. and Canadians cannot afford it.
Poilievre's letter said the carbon pricing system set up by Trudeau is an imposition on the provinces that requires them to accept an ever-increasing levy.
“I don't live in the Pierre Poilievre campaign office and baloney factory,” said Eby. “I live in B.C., am the premier and decisions have consequences.”
Let's fast-forward to a week ago. What did he say? He said he would remove the government tax if the federal government removes the requirement. He said, “...the context and the challenge for British Columbians has changed. A lot of British Columbians are struggling with affordability”. Well, this didn't happen in just the past four months. This has been going on for quite some time. It's a very interesting choice of words.
He says “the context has changed”. What happens to be the context? The context is that he's in the midst of an election that the NDP thought they were walking away from with a massive majority, but the B.C. Conservatives are now breathing down their necks. The Mainstreet poll showed them ahead at 46% to 44%. There are other polls that show them behind. One party's ahead and one's behind. Basically, they're panicking in the NDP war room. That's why they're throwing out the carbon tax. They said, “Okay. Well, what do we have to do?” This is panic. People can see through it.
I know that Jagmeet Singh with the NDP has said they're going to reconsider the carbon tax. That's good. Let's reconsider it and let's go to an election.
I also want to tell the Bloc Québécois that this is not a tax that only affects the rest of Canada, and not Quebec. Per capita income is also going down. The carbon tax is having an impact. Things are hard for Quebeckers in their province, just as it is for Canadians in the rest of Canada.
Of course, as Conservatives, our strategy will be to blame the Bloc Québécois for keeping this government in power in Canada. This political party—I’m talking about the Liberals—is the costliest and most centralist in Canada’s history. In my opinion, giving money and power to the federal government runs entirely counter to the Bloc Québécois’s ambition, which is independence. They’re the ones holding things up now. It’s expensive to vote for the Bloc.
I thank the committee for listening to me. I wish you all a good day.