Senator Plett: Leader, on June 13, the Liberal premier of Newfoundland and Labrador said the Trudeau government’s approach to their carbon taxes was illogical, and again I quote, “. . . it’s as insulting to us as it is simplistic.”

A liberal premier.

Earlier this year, Premier Furey was joined by other premiers of different political stripes across Canada, asking the Prime Minister to axe the tax. This isn’t a partisan issue. This is premiers from right across our country. Instead, the Prime Minister hiked his first carbon tax and added a second one, even as Canadians struggled to pay for gas to drive to work and buy food for their children.

Leader, it’s never too late to admit a mistake. Trudeau is good at apologizing. Never too late, especially when it’s causing so many Canadians financial hardship. When will the Prime Minister axe his carbon tax, which drives up the cost of gas, home heating and groceries?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, back in May, I raised with you the massive shortfall between the amount of housing the Trudeau government is promising and the amount Canada needs just to restore housing affordability by 2030. Earlier this month, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, said our country needs about 3.5 million more houses over and above what is already projected. This is roughly the same amount CMHC said we needed in a report released last year. So more than a year later, we haven’t seen progress.

Leader, your government first promised the Housing Accelerator Fund in 2021, yet it didn’t accept applications until this past July and it hasn’t built a single house. Why did it take so long for the Trudeau government to get an accelerator fund up and running during a housing crisis?

Senator Plett: Sounds like deceleration.