Madam Speaker, as I was saying, only a MAGA right Conservative, a far-right person like the current leader of the Conservative Party, would take that sort of tactic. It is a tactic coming up from the United States and being funnelled through the leader of the opposition's office, quite frankly, or at least greatly encouraged. That is why I was very serious when I posed the question to the member opposite about the degree in which that far-right element was infiltrating and playing such a strong role in policy development in the Conservative Party today.
I do not say that lightly, because all we need to do is look at what will be a very important issue in the next election, the price on pollution; the carbon rebate versus the carbon tax. I would like to highlight a couple of points on that. First is the fact that Erin O'Toole, former leader of the Conservative Party, had 337 candidates and an election platform, which indicated that they were campaigning on a price on pollution, a carbon tax. It is nothing new. In fact, I believe 17 to 19 Conservatives campaigned on it a second time.
A good number of them, including their former leader, the current House leader, campaigned on it not once, but twice. The new shiny leader comes in, that far-right MAGA guy, and what does he do? He takes this huge flip-flop on this, like a fish on a dry dock. He changed the direction and said that they would cut the tax, or axe the tax. I do not want to misquote the Conservative slogan on this issue.
Behind that slogan is a pile of misinformation. The Conservatives are spending millions of dollars promoting misinformation. They try to give people, like the residents of Winnipeg North, the impression that they have a net loss of disposable income as a direct result of the carbon rebate versus carbon tax. That is just not true, and they know that. We would think that would stop them from saying it, but absolutely not. They continue to spread misinformation. Literally dozens of economic and university professors have said that what we have said is true, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer has reinforced that. However, the Conservatives have no qualms in spreading that misinformation.
That is not what I want to share today. I want to address many of the issues brought up by members opposite. Some of this stuff may be completely irrelevant when they start with the character assassination of the Prime Minister. When they talk about the Prime Minister, they do not tell us about Stephen Harper, the person they glorify, and I can understand why. Their current leader is tied so closely to him. Not only was he in his cabinet, but before being in his cabinet, he was his parliamentary secretary.
I have this booklet and it is entitled “ Stephen Harper, Serial Abuser of Power.” People would not believe the number of scandals. The leader of the Conservative Party today is even referenced on a couple of occasions. They are talking about the filibuster in their comments. Stephen Harper and the current leader were found in contempt of Parliament. They are the only prime minister and parliamentary secretary who have been found in contempt of Parliament.
Let us fast-forward to the comments we hear from the Conservatives today. They are talking about how we have this privilege issue, and they are right. There is a privilege issue before us today. The reason it is still with us today is because the current leader of the Conservative Party has learned nothing from the past.
He is engaged in a multi-million dollar political game on the floor of the House of Commons that is in his personal best interest and in the interest of the Conservative Party. That is what we are witnessing. The leader of the Conservative Party is not putting Canadian interests ahead of his party's political interests, and that is unfortunate. This is why I call it a multi-million dollar game.
They make reference to the Prime Minister and a few of the issues to try to generate public interest. I can talk about public interest on a number of issues, in particular, with respect to the leader of the Conservative Party, who continues to refuse to get a security clearance.
One of my colleagues has suggested that the rumours are true. The rumours are that the leader of the Conservative Party is hiding something from Canadians. Something is going to prevent him from getting the security clearance and that is the real reason why he refuses to get it. After all, every other leader in the House of Commons has that security clearance. Every other leader is taking the issue of foreign interference seriously and getting that clearance.
Only the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada has chosen not to get security clearance. Why? When the Conservatives start focusing on the Prime Minister, as they have already done this morning, I suggest that they need to start focusing on their leader, because when he is too scared to get a security clearance, something in his past is going to come back and possibly haunt them. That is the real reason.
Then we had the Conservatives talk about the economy. They talk about ideas and how they want to contribute to the economy. Our inflation rate is below 2% today, which is good news. Interest rates are on a downward trajectory. I think they have gone down now maybe three or even four times. We are leading the G7 on the issue. Canada's economy is getting healthier and stronger, yet the Conservatives continue to downplay Canada's economy. It is unfortunate.
The other day the Conservatives, who have been very critical of the government's approach in regard to housing, had this big rollout of the shiny, brand-new housing policy of the Conservative Party of Canada, going into the next election. Earlier in my comments, I talked about a flip-flop. The Conservatives seriously need to do another flip-flop on this issue. Their housing announcement is a dud. It is a laughable policy. When we have affordable housing being a serious issue, the Conservative Party of Canada says that it will get rid of the programs that will address the issue. It makes no sense at all. Even within the Conservative Party members are already sending mixed messages.
Conservative members have actually written the Minister of Housing asking for more support from the housing accelerator fund. They are encouraging local governments—