Poilievre’s Motion to Stop Carbon Tax Increase Defeated

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises to question the government during question period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sept. 26, 2022. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s motion to stop planned increases of the federal carbon tax has been defeated in the House of Commons.

The House voted 209–116 against the motion on Sept. 28, with the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois forming a united voting opposition against the Conservatives, according to the House’s unofficial voting results.

Poilievre presented the motion on Sept. 27, the text of which asked the government to stop its planned increase of the carbon tax in April 2023, saying it “will fuel inflation.”

“Given that the government’s tax increases on gas, home heating and, indirectly, groceries, will fuel inflation, and that the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported the carbon tax costs 60 percent of households more than they get back, the government must eliminate its plan to triple the carbon tax,” read Poilievre’s motion.

When presenting the motion in the House on Sept. 27, Poilievre said there is a “big logical fallacy” behind the carbon tax, which is that “it drives up the cost of domestic production and drives that production to foreign, more polluting jurisdictions that then require higher transportation costs and more emissions to bring them back to Canadian consumers here at home.”

“Our approach should be exactly the opposite,” he said. “We should bring production home: Our food, our energy, our resources, right here in Canada.”

The Canadian Taxpayer Federation says the carbon tax currently costs around 11.1 cents per litre of gasoline, but is slated to increase to 37.6 cents per litre by 2030.

Liberal MP Rachel Bendayan responded to Poilievre’s motion by calling it “an anti-climate action motion pure and simple.”

“What the motion from the Leader of the Opposition essentially says is that now is the time to give up in the fight against the climate crisis,” said Bendayan.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault criticised the now-defeated motion in a Twitter post on Sept. 27, saying that the Conservatives are “trying to cancel the price on pollution.”

Guilbeault said the motion would’ve prevented Canadians from receiving climate rebates, adding that Poilievre “wants to make pollution free for big polluters.”

Poilievre responded to criticism of the motion from the Liberals, NDP, Bloc, and Green Party by saying the increased carbon tax will give more power to Ottawa and will hurt working-class Canadians by driving up the price of gas.

In a Twitter post following the vote defeating the motion, Poilievre wrote, “Costly coalition of Trudeau-Singh vote to TRIPLE the carbon tax on gas, heat & groceries.”

He added that “Conservatives vote to cut your taxes.”

Noé Chartier contributed to this report.