Poilievre’s Home Heating Fuel Tax Exemption Motion Defeated in House

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 exempt home heating fuel from the federal carbon tax has been defeated by MPs in a House of Commons vote on Oct. 24.

The vote was defeated 116-202, with the majority of Liberal, NDP, and Bloc Québécois MPs voting against it, while all the Conservative MPs taking part in the vote were in favour of the motion. Independent MPs Alain Rayes and Kevin Vuong also voted for the motion.

“Liberal-NDP #CostlyCoalition votes to TRIPLE carbon taxes on your home heating,” Poilievre wrote on Twitter following the vote.

Poilievre introduced the motion in the House on Oct. 20, saying that Canada “is the only G7 country to have raised fuel taxes during this period of record high global fuel prices.”

The text of the motion said that energy analysts have predicted that Canadians could see their home heating bills rise by 50 to 100 percent on average this winter.

The motion also noted that the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew Furey, had written a letter to the federal government on Sept. 2, 2022, asking for a carbon tax exemption on home heating fuels.

“A year ago today, the maximum price of furnace oil in the Province was 97.91 cents per litre. Today’s price is 155.70, which is an increase of nearly 60 percent,” Furey said in the letter.

“Your proposed federal carbon tax increase on furnace oil would result in an additional 17.38 cents plus HST. Added to today’s price, [the carbon tax] would result in a total cost increase of 80 per cent compared to one year ago.”

Liberal MP Kwen McDonald, who represents Avalon, Newfoundland and Labrador, was the only member from his party to vote in favour of the motion.

Poilievre previously presented a motion on Sept. 27, seeking to stop further increases in the federal carbon tax. The text of that motion said the government’s plan to increase the carbon tax in April 2023 “will fuel inflation.” That motion suffered a defeat in a House vote of 209–116 on Sept. 28, with the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois uniting to vote against the Conservatives.

Conservative MP Tako Van Popta took to social media to condemn the Liberal government following the vote on the new motion on Oct. 24.

“Winter is coming and prices of everything have gone up,” he said. “This gov’t rejected our motion to give Canadians a tax break on home heating fuel. They don’t hear the voices of average hard-working people who are struggling to make ends meet.