Red Deer-Mountain View Member of Parliament Earl Dreeshen says he is disappointed a Conservative motion calling for the carbon tax to be removed from all heating fuels failed to pass in Parliament on Nov. 6.
The vote saw 135 Conservative and NDP MPs voting in favour and 187 Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs voting against.
“We had heard rumblings earlier that the Bloc was going to support the government on it, and therefore the results were the way they were,” Dreeshen told the Albertan. “It was an opportunity because they (Liberal government) had recognized the harm it (the tax) was doing in the Maritimes, but it has a similar effect of the rest of Canadians.
“It is not as though heating is one of those things we can avoid when it comes into the winter months.”
The federal Liberals recently announced a three-year pause on the carbon tax on home heating oil. The move has prompted premiers and opposition MPs to call for all home heating fuels, including natural gas, to be similarly paused.
The prime minister has reportedly said the government does not plan any further carve-outs of the tax on home heating fuel.
Asked if he believes the carbon tax is an effective way to fight climate change as the federal Liberals contend, Dreeshen said, “Our basic premise has been that the carbon tax is not an effective method, and it is something that is just adding to inflation. It is causing a lot of people a lot of pain.”
The carbon tax will be an election issue when Canadians next head to the polls, he said.
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