Employment Insurance  I guess the reason to borrow this is to create a diversion from the reaffirmation at the Liberal convention of the carbon tax. It is not any better an idea the second time around.

Liberal Party of Canada  Speaker, tax, tax, tax, that is the mantra of the Liberals, who held a unilingual English love-in in Vancouver. The Liberal leader, who is the father of the carbon tax, still does not want to acknowledge that this tax hurts people. During the most recent general election campaign, Canadians rejected this tax on everything. When I say everything, I mean everything: fruit, vegetables, cereal, goods and public transit.

Finance committee  A tax of 10¢ a litre, which is currently existing under the federal excise tax, is equivalent to a carbon tax of $42 per tonne. If you apply $42 on everything else, what would happen in our calculations is that instead of raising $5.1 billion under the federal fuel excise tax, one could raise $17 billion under a full-blown carbon tax that would be based on consumption.

Finance committee  The system starts by placing a limit on greenhouse gas emissions, and companies are forced to deliver those reductions, whether through improved performance on-site, by purchasing credits, or by purchasing credits in the market. A carbon tax cannot offer certainty about the volume of reductions it will achieve, but unlike a cap and trade system, a carbon price or a carbon tax does provide price certainty. A carbon tax of $30 per tonne, for example, would create a strong economic incentive for companies to undertake emission reductions that cost less than $30 per tonne, because by doing so, they avoid paying the tax.

Finance committee  I don't think this is a matter of principle; I think it becomes a matter of practical politics. Carbon taxes are good. To get them in place, whatever it takes.... If that means reducing other taxes so that the carbon taxes are revenue neutral, that's pragmatic politics. If it means devoting the revenues to environmental causes, people tend to see that connection.

Taxation  During the 2006 Liberal leadership race, he said, “We've also got to have popular, practical, believable policies that may involve some form of carbon tax”. Last December he said, “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”. This month he said, “We will have to raise taxes”. Does the government agree with the Liberal leader when he says, “We will have to raise taxes”?

Taxation  From increasing the GST, to ensuring the end of the universal child care benefit, to imposing a job-killing carbon tax, it is clear that the Liberal Party is out of touch with Canadians. The Liberal Party recently reaffirmed its economic clumsiness when its leader announced, “We will have to raise taxes”.

The Environment  We are getting it done on the environment, but the big questions are, why did the NDP oppose $1 billion for green infrastructure, why did it oppose $300 million for eco-energy retrofits, why did it oppose $1 billion for infrastructure on carbon capture and storage, and does it support the job-killing carbon tax of the Liberal leader?

Liberal Party of Canada  Recently the Liberal leader said “We will have to raise taxes”. Raising taxes, imposing a job-killing carbon tax, increasing the GST and doing away with the universal child care benefit, that is the Liberal way. Can we imagine the action plan of the Liberals during tough economic times, discouraging economic growth and taxing Canadian families?

Liberal Party Leader  He has also stated “We will have to raise taxes.” What taxes does he want to raise? A carbon tax? A crushing tax on businesses? We have no details on this new Liberal policy. What is the truth? What taxes would be raised? Who would be affected? How would he go about raising these taxes?

Business of Supply  Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his excellent question. Why is the Liberal leader intent on imposing a carbon tax and increasing the GST, taxes which would both affect disproportionately families, workers and seniors in Quebec? I would like him to tell me. When does he intend to increase our tax burden?

Taxation  Speaker, in November 2004 the Liberal leader called himself a “tax-and-spend, Pearsonian, Trudeau Liberal”, but that was then. In 2006 he fathered the Liberal carbon tax, but that idea is no longer popular, please ignore it. Last December he said, “I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table”, but that is not quite what he meant. This month he said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

The Economy  We are helping Canadians who are hardest hit by this global recession. In contrast, the Liberal Party has promised to impose a job-killing carbon tax, to raise the GST and to end the universal child care benefit. In a pattern of announcing policies that will hurt Canadian families, the Liberal leader recently said, “We will have to raise taxes”.

Taxation  They like high taxes and their leader just last week said, and I want to repeat the quote that he made, “We will have to raise taxes”. I respect their honesty: raise the GST, impose a job-killing carbon tax, and take away the universal child care benefit. They have tried to deny all of these statements by trying to cover it up after they accidentally blurted out the truth. There is a reason they are called tax and spend Liberals.

Taxation  Canadians are troubled that the party opposite thinks that taking money out of the pockets of Canadian families is something that will help the economy recover. Now we know that the Liberals will raise taxes, impose a carbon tax, raise the GST, and end the universal child care benefit. The Liberal Party needs to be clear with Canadians. The leader should stand up in the House today and tell Canadians how much he will raise taxes, and who would be forced to pay them.