The Liberals and NDP are criticising Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for his absence from the House of Commons amid his party’s attempt to delay government legislation, CBC News informed.
Poilievre declared Wednesday that his MPs would introduce “thousands of amendments” to legislation to keep Parliament sitting over Christmas if the Liberal government failed to repeal some of its carbon tax.
You will have no rest until the tax is gone.
The Tories, who gained 135 votes in the House, are forcing a postponement of the election, with the party stating it would lead to a 24-hour vote that would likely last until Friday night and halt the Liberal agenda.
Poilievre held a fundraiser in Quebec City on Thursday night and then spent time with members of Montreal’s Jewish community at a synagogue recently targeted by Molotov cocktails, local media reported.
Aware of this, MPs still took note of his absence from the House on Thursday night, with some starting to chant “Where’s Pierre?” Conservatives responded by chanting “Where is [Justin] Trudeau?” as the Prime Minister was also absent earlier in the evening. However, he arrived afterwards. Deputy Speaker Chris d’Entremont promised to remove MPs if the chanting continued.
Rules passed after the pandemic allow MPs to vote virtually through an app; Poilievre, Trudeau and other MPs did so several times on Thursday night.
Government House Leader Karina Gould also criticised Poilievre’s absence, speaking to reporters ahead of Thursday night’s voting marathon.
“Here he is yesterday claiming to Canadians that he’s going to hold this government to account. Well, let’s see if he shows up to vote.”
NDP House Leader Peter Julian also told reporters about the absence of Poilievre.
The fact that Mr. Poilievre doesn’t even have the courage to be here with the members of Parliament that are here all night shows how artificial his latest blocking tactic is.
The Conservatives say they will use their tactics until the Liberals remove the carbon tax from all home heating energy sources. The Liberals also would need to spin a bill to give carbon tax credits to some farmers and exempt all Indigenous people from the carbon tax. The C-234 legislation would remove the carbon tax from most natural gas and propane used on farms. Other farm fuels, such as diesel and gasoline, are already exempt from the tax under the liberal tax regime.
The Conservatives’ Private Members Bill passed the House without the support of the ruling Liberal Party, but it received more scrutiny after the Liberals announced a three-year carbon tax exemption for heating oil.
The Senate voted 40 to 39 in favour of amending the bill to restrict the exemption to only propane used for grain drying. If the bill passes as amended, the carbon tax would still apply to heating barns and greenhouses.
Ben Lobb, the Ontario MP who put forward the bill, stated Wednesday that he was “disappointed” with the Senate’s changes.
“The amendment that was passed last night in a way guts the bill and really diminishes the opportunity that was there, so close to have a good result for Canadian farmers.”
If the bill passes its third reading in the Senate, it will return to the House to consider the changes made by the upper chamber.
