Taxation  Speaker, last May, CTV's Craig Oliver asked the Liberal leader, “Now you were the first leader as a candidate leader to talk about a carbon tax, and you took a little bit of heat for that. Do you still believe in a carbon tax? Of course you do?” The Liberal leader replied, “I do, Craig. I learned that there's no punishment more severe in politics than being the first guy with a good idea”.

Taxation  This is the same Liberal leader who describes himself as a “tax and spend Pearsonian-Trudeau Liberal”. He fathered the Liberal carbon tax. He said, “We have also got to have popular, practical, believable policies that may involve some form of carbon tax”. He is also considering a hike in the GST, saying, “I am not going to take a GST hike off the table”.

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Canadians will teach them a lesson because they lied to Canadians during the last election. Do the opposition members have an economic plan? Let them go to Canadians with their carbon tax. They should not try to bring something through the back door to Canadians. They should not try to bring the carbon tax to Canadians. They should not bring that economic stimulus that will be a disaster for this country.

Taxation  This is in stark contrast to the Liberals, who over the weekend reaffirmed their commitment to raising taxes on Canadians. The Liberal leader supported the risky carbon tax scheme during his first leadership race, and the Liberals adopted the carbon tax policy again at their convention. We also know that they want to increase the GST and end the universal child care benefit.

Seal Hunt  To get to the question around the high cost of living, when we are dealing with the high cost of living in the north, we depend on the seal hunt. Not only that, the carbon tax proposed by the Liberal government would increase the cost of food even more. Does the member realize the impact this would have on people in the northern communities and in outside communities, whether it be the seal ban supported by their senator and/or the carbon tax?

Taxation  Which taxes would he raise, by how much and who would be forced to pay? On Saturday his party answered with a resolution favouring a carbon tax. That is, of course, a tax on home heating and on transporting goods like food. The Liberal leader fathered the idea when, during the 2006 leadership race, he said, “We've also got to have popular, practical, believable policies that may involve some form of carbon tax”.

Leader of the Liberal Party  He calls himself a “tax-and-spend, Pearsonian, Trudeau Liberal." He invented the Liberal carbon tax. He said, “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”. He said, “We will have to raise taxes”. This weekend the Liberal Party voted again in favour of a carbon tax. If the media will not report these inconvenient facts, will the parliamentary secretary?

The Environment  Speaker, while this government is continuing to work towards a North American plan to reduce greenhouse gases with the United States, the Liberal Party, in Vancouver, celebrated the return of the green shift's carbon tax. It is back. Yes, it is true, the carbon tax is back. Can the Minister of the Environment remind Canadians why they completely rejected this plan only seven months ago?

The Economy  Over the weekend the Liberal Party reaffirmed its commitment to taxing Canadians. The Liberal leader supported the risky carbon tax scheme during his first leadership race and the Liberals have once again adopted a carbon tax policy at their convention. We also know that they want to increase the GST and they want to end the universal child care benefit.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading System for North America  Today, when I hear Liberal members tell us that they support the establishment of a cap-and-trade market, of a cap on emissions, or of a carbon exchange, I cannot help but think that this is not what they proposed in the last election campaign. They did not talk about a carbon exchange but, rather, about a carbon tax. I have not heard the Liberal Party, and we have not yet read their election platform. Nothing says that they would not want to impose a carbon tax, instead of promoting a carbon exchange, as proposed by, among others, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP.

The Environment  We are constructively engaged in every forum and in every way. Then we have the Liberals who support a carbon tax, who support NDP tiddlywinks bills, and now, according to the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, support pumping raw sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. These are the sum total of the Liberal policies: tiddlywinks, carbon taxes, and incremental--

Liberal Party of Canada  Speaker, we have been hearing about the kitchen cabinet the Liberals have formed and here is what we have had a taste of: Last fall they cooked up a carbon tax and gave Canadians a serious case of election indigestion. It turns out the coalition sandwich was not a hot item on the menu either. Come budget day, the Liberals got themselves into a real stew when they allowed a distinctly regional flavour to prevail over other important ingredients.

Business of Supply  Furthermore, Canadians may once again feel the sting of that old favourite, the regressive carbon tax. No wonder many Canadians are demanding more fulsome answers on what the Liberal plan actually involves. Which taxes will the Liberals raise? Will they implement the carbon tax? Will they hike the GST?

Business of Supply  As members know, it is his party that suggested that the GST should be increased again from the reductions that we as a Conservative government have implemented. It is also his party that came forward and suggested a carbon tax. It is also his leader who very recently suggested that taxes in Canada are supposed to go up, not down. How does the member justify that patent hypocrisy to, on the one hand, say that it is more efficient to harmonize the GST and PST because it will lower the overall tax rate and yet, at the same time, suggest that taxes in Canada should be increased, whether it is carbon taxes or the GST?

House debate  Only a few short years ago he characterized himself as being a “tax and spend Liberal”, his words not mine. Also, he has advocated, as has the rest of his party, that they bring forward a carbon tax. That was the previous Liberal leader's pet project in the last election. He was the father of the doomed federal carbon tax that the Liberals were projecting. As well, the Liberal leader and the rest of his party criticized us for lowering the GST from 7% to 5%.