Senator Batters: That tiny rural supplement is your government’s admission that rural Canadians are unfairly walloped by the carbon tax. While you give Atlantic Canadians a break on oil heating, this does nothing for those of us in the often bitterly cold West where we must heat with natural gas. In fact, you and your Trudeau government have stalled and gutted a bill to exempt egg operations from carbon tax as you again penalize Prairie farmers. Why does this government continue to punish Western Canadians, farmers and rural Canadians? Don’t they elect enough Liberals?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, last Thursday, after eight long years, Prime Minister Trudeau finally admitted that he is not worth the cost. Common-sense Conservatives have been saying all along that the Prime Minister’s carbon tax makes everything more expensive. He finally agrees. The Prime Minister says he’ll axe the tax, but only on home heating oil and only until after the next election and only to try to save Liberal seats in Atlantic Canada.

Leader, why not go all the way? Why not axe the entire carbon tax so families all across Canada can afford to heat their homes, drive to work and feed themselves?

Hon. Denise Batters: Senator Gold, we in Saskatchewan have long been keenly aware of the fundamental unfairness to rural Canadians of Trudeau’s punitive carbon tax scheme. We have fought against it for seven years. Now, the Trudeau government is giving a carbon-tax break only to those who use home heating oil, which, essentially, only applies in Atlantic Canada. Is this climbdown rooted in logic or common sense? Of course not. Even your so-called Minister of Rural Economic Development admits it’s for crass politics: They voted Liberal.

The Trudeau plan is to quadruple the carbon tax. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister thinks rural Canadians should be happy with the measly extra 10 bucks a month he just announced.

Saskatchewan has had enough. If Justin Trudeau won’t exempt Canadians who heat with natural gas, Premier Moe vows he will no longer collect the carbon tax for the federal government.

Senator Gold, when will your government do the right thing and axe the carbon tax on home heating for everyone on everything?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Government leader, in March, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, released a report entitled Fueling Unfairness: Carbon Pricing and Small Businesses. This report estimates that small businesses pay close to half of the carbon tax revenue collected by the Trudeau government. However, only 0.17% of all carbon tax revenues were returned to small businesses between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 fiscal years. Clearly, the Prime Minister’s carbon tax is not worth the cost to our entrepreneurs.

Leader, why did your government use the carbon tax funding set aside for small business to pay for the rebates announced last week? Why won’t you just axe the tax to help small businesses across Canada that are struggling to survive?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): The Prime Minister’s two carbon taxes, the alcohol escalator tax, increased payroll taxes and red tape, skyrocketing rent and interest rates and small business owners being accused of being tax cheats — this is the legacy of eight years of the Trudeau government when it comes to small business.

Leader, will your government bring forward a common sense plan to help our entrepreneurs, control your spending and set a time frame to balance the budget as the CFIB has asked?

Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal-NDP coalition finally flip-flopped on their cornerstone public policy: the carbon tax. Of course, the Prime Minister didn’t flip-flop on the carbon tax because he finally understood what future prime minister Pierre Poilievre has been talking about for years, which is that a carbon tax causes inflation, raises the cost of living and pummels poor, working-class and middle‑class Canadians — no, not at all. He flip-flopped because he saw plummeting polling numbers for the Liberal Party of Canada and desperate Liberal MPs from Atlantic Canada.

The question is this: Why just for Atlantic Canada?

Second, if Justin Trudeau has finally understood that he and his carbon tax are just not worth the cost, why isn’t he now planning to axe the tax from coast to coast to coast in order to give relief to all segments of the economy and all sectors of the population?