Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, it’s getting cold outside. Even here in Ottawa, there is no denying that winter is on its way. However, yesterday, your Liberal colleagues in the House of Commons chose to further punish hard-working Canadians by voting against our motion to remove the carbon tax from all home heating in Canada. The gimmick announced by Justin Trudeau a couple of weeks ago does nothing to promote the use of cleaner forms of home heating fuel, but does leave 97% of Canadian households out in the cold. Those Canadians are struggling not only to keep the heat on this winter but also to fill up their cars to get to work, keep food on the table and keep their barns warm to produce food that the rest of us eat. Do they not matter because not enough of them voted Liberal? Is that what this is all about, Senator Gold? Is this a bribe, Senator Gold, or a threat? Which of these two is it?

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, the only thing this tax does is punish working-class Canadians. It has created divisions in our country. Pausing the tax for one group while quadrupling it for another is completely unfair.

Senator Gold, just admit it — Justin Trudeau isn’t making decisions to benefit Canadians. He’s making decisions to try to save his sinking political ship. Also, just admit that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost for Canadian taxpayers and only Pierre Poilievre and a majority Conservative government will keep the heat on for all Canadians.

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?

Senator Housakos: Well, you have axed the tax. You’ve paused it, but for a certain segment: Atlantic Canada regarding home heating. Your minister — Minister Hutchings — was on Question Period this weekend, and she said clearly that the only reason they’re doing the segmented cut is because they’re only helping Liberal voters in Liberal sectors of the country, and if the other parts and sectors of the country want the same kind of relief, they should be voting Liberal. Is that the position of this government, or will the Prime Minister and your government reel in this minister for either lying or telling the truth?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

There are three things that are very important in Canadians’ everyday lives: mortgages, groceries and gas. Clearly, all three are essential to their survival.

Over the past year, and especially over the past few months, the Trudeau government’s lack of leadership has resulted in mortgage payments jumping by 30% to 40%, groceries going up by 50% on average, and gas prices skyrocketing.

Justin Trudeau’s team is raising taxes on gas and groceries, and that is making everything more expensive. Senator Gold, will your government axe the carbon tax once and for all and give Canadians some breathing room?

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, I am pleading with this government. Canadians are having a hard time heating their homes and putting food on the table for their children. They’re having a hard time getting from their homes to work, very often costing them more to get there than what the work actually pays.

When will this government lift its boot off the throat of working-class Canadians and allow them to breathe during these terribly difficult times which your government has created and contributed to in creating this inflation?

Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold.

In your speech on your motion to continue hybrid sittings of the Senate, you spoke of the dangers associated with honourable senators catching one or two flights to get here and walking through the various crowded airports across the country, yet the Trudeau government thought nothing of flying 300 people to meet in person in Glasgow last month at COP26, including NGO representatives, bureaucrats, politicians, journalists and more.

Senator Gold, can you tell us how much taxpayers’ money was spent by the government to enable all those people to participate in COP26? Specifically, can you table in this chamber who had their trips and other expenses paid by taxpayers so they could go? On behalf of your government participating in what ended up being a super-spreader event, according to many media reports, would you commit to tabling that information here in the Senate in an expeditious fashion?