MPs to vote on Poilievre’s motion to pause carbon price on home heating
MPs are set to vote Monday on a motion by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to have Ottawa extend its carbon price pause to all forms of home heating.
The non-binding motion, which means it does not need to be acted on by the government, will have the support of the NDP, which has supported the minority Liberals in key votes through its supply-and-confidence agreement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement last month that Ottawa would implement a three-year pause on the carbon price for home heating oil, which is widely used in Atlantic Canada, led to widespread criticism from premiers elsewhere in the country Canada, calling it unfair.
“Given that the government has announced a ‘temporary, three-year pause’ to the federal carbon tax on home heating oil, the House call on the government to extend that pause to all forms of home heating,” Poilievre’s motion reads.
The motion is set to face a vote after question period ends at roughly 3 p.m. Eastern.
Last Tuesday, Trudeau said “absolutely not” to the possibility of more carve-outs in the federal carbon price despite the criticisms of the heating oil plan. As part of the initial announcement, which Trudeau made flanked by Liberal Atlantic MPs, he said Ottawa would work with provincial governments on plans to subsidize heat pumps for low-income residents.
The Liberals’ 158 seats are enough to defeat the combined 142 seats of the Conservatives and the NDP, who announced they would support the motion on Thursday.
This means the Bloc Québécois could hold the balance in this vote with 32 seats — or abstain entirely.
Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet said Thursday his party has not made a decision on how it will vote but said a federal carbon price freeze would not
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