Finance committee  Having been given very little information by the government, we are forced to rely on other mechanisms to ensure that parliamentarians of the future will be given more accurate information when it comes to what many are calling the carbon tax cover-up. Allowing for a continued discussion on these points, I do hope members, rather than allowing this particular amendment, would allow for sooner reporting rather than later. I hope all of us as parliamentarians would advocate that reporting back to Parliament is a good thing.

Business of Supply  Wait, it does have that information; it just will not share it with us. It is part of the carbon tax cover-up. Why will the federal government not reveal that information to us?

Business of Supply  Last week he said that whatever their plans were, which he still will not divulge, and which is sort of like the carbon tax cover-up, they would not cost taxpayers a thing. However, a couple of days after that, the infrastructure minister indicated that it would cost taxpayer. Canadians just do not know what those costs will be after there is a deal.

The Economy  Inflation is above 2%. Canadians cannot afford to pay any more, so why do the Liberals not end the carbon tax cover-up and tell us how much this tax will cost the average Canadian family?

The Environment  Why will the minister not defend my province of Saskatchewan and give us the numbers on the carbon tax cover-up? People in my province of Saskatchewan deserve the numbers.

Business of Supply  If, as she seems to believe, the truth of her position is self-evident, then why can she not remove the blackouts on the carbon tax information and what we have called the carbon tax cover-up? Why can she not show people the evidence that she finds so compelling? Why does she need to resort to incredulity and pejoratives instead of simply showing the information and making the argument?

Business of Supply  First, all Canadians should be very concerned and offended by the lack of transparency on this particular initiative. The Conservative shadow minister for finance has regularly pointed out the carbon tax cover-up. The finance department knows the numbers. The finance department has calculated the numbers in terms of the cost for individuals and families. When it was asked for that information, the government released it, but blacked out all of the information.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that the public is on the side of protecting the environment and moving forward on good environmental practices. What the public does not support is the carbon tax cover-up, with prices going up to heat our homes and drive our cars. It is hurting fixed-income and low-income Canadians, particular seniors. That is what is happening. I am hearing from my constituents that a gasoline price approaching two dollars a litre, which is what is being discussed, is not what they want.

Business of Supply  We set targets to continue to reduce them, targets that the member's government has now accepted, admitting that our approach to our targets were the right ones. I have to congratulate the member on his candour. He said, “There is...a carbon tax cover-up.” It is very rare that a speech by a backbench government MP becomes famous or infamous. However, I can tell him that his intervention will be made famous, and we will do everything we can to help.

Business of Supply  Here in Canada, government has the responsibility to tell people what it will cost before people are required to pay. That is why we are going to continue to fight against this carbon tax cover-up. The carbon tax is only one area where the government is raising the cost of living. Eighty percent of middle-class Canadians are paying higher income tax today than when the Prime Minister took office.

The Environment  Saskatchewan is taking this Liberal Prime Minister and his greedy government to court to stop this punitive tax. In court, the Liberal carbon tax cover-up will be exposed. Why wait until Saskatchewan wins? Will the Minister of Environment come clean today and reveal the cost of the federal carbon tax on Saskatchewan families? No, she will not.

Finance committee  We have a minister who, under about a dozen questions, refuses to answer basic questions about what this tax will cost. This looks like a cover-up, the carbon tax cover-up, and after receiving a dozen questions from me, you won't answer, Minister. Maybe you'll answer Mr. Albas' questions.

The Environment  The government has admitted, through its officials, that it has calculated how much its carbon tax would cost the average Canadian family, but for some reason it will not release it to Parliament, or worse, to the people who have to pay that tax. Will the government relent today and end the carbon tax cover-up, and tell Canadians what this tax will cost them?

The Environment  In other words, it is a regressive tax that will transfer money from those people who can least afford to pay. Why will the government not come clean and put an end to the carbon tax cover-up?

Business of Supply  Speaker, to pick up where I left off when we switched to members' statements, we were discussing the motion moved by my colleague, the member for Carleton, that the House order that all documents be produced in their original and uncensored form indicating how much the federal carbon tax proposed in budget 2018 will cost Canadian families in order to put an end to the carbon tax cover-up. I was just talking about a memo we obtained through an access to information request. The memo was about the impact of carbon pricing on households' consumption expenditures across the income distribution.