Mr. Speaker, “a betrayal”; that is how Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has described the Prime Minister's disgraceful carbon tax ultimatum, issued at the very moment that Canada's premiers were already meeting to discuss climate change strategies.
While the provinces are working hard to co-operate and collaborate on strategies to fight climate change, the Prime Minister prefers to issue unilateral ultimatums in an area of clear provincial jurisdiction.
As we have already seen, the Liberals' continued hostility toward the energy industry has already cost thousands of jobs across the country.
In my own riding of Regina—Qu'Appelle, dozens of workers at EVRAZ Regina were laid off this August from their jobs manufacturing steel pipe for energy pipelines. Now thousands more jobs will be threatened across Saskatchewan and the country. Worse, the Prime Minister is promising that he will unilaterally impose a Saskatchewan-specific tax.
Make no mistake, the Prime Minister's Ottawa-knows-best scheme of proposing a massive carbon tax is a cold-hearted attack on working families.
I call on the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle to do the right thing. He should stand with his premier, with his province, and quit the Liberal caucus—