No emergency debate on carbon price hike, Speaker tells Poilievre

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre‘s call for an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the April 1 carbon price increase will not move forward.

Speaker Greg Fergus said that the request did not meet the requirements under the standing orders of the House of Commons to trigger an emergency debate.

Poilievre had said in a statement on X that the debate was needed.

“Canadians can’t afford this. That’s why 70 per cent of people oppose Justin Trudeau’s plan to hike the tax and 70 per cent of provincial premiers, including the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, have joined the common sense Conservative movement in demanding Trudeau spike the hike,” Poilievre wrote in a letterposted on X.

Last week, Poilievre said the Conservatives plan to employ a variety of measures in the House of Commons to try to stop the annual carbon price increase.

This is the last sitting week for the House of Commons before April 1.

Additionally, Poilievre has put two motions on notice as MPs return from break week, focused on two scheduled tax and fee increases kicking in on April 1 — one for the carbon price and another for the alcohol escalator tax.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been adamant there will be no further carveouts to the carbon price and the Bloc Quebecois historically have been in favour of the policy.

The NDP have not always voted with the Liberals on the carbon price, but when asked about the current opposition to the policy last week, Singh said his party wants to see the GST removed from home heating, calling it an essential service.

On April 1, the federal carbon price is set to rise from $65 per tonne of CO2 emitted to $80 per tonne.

At the gas pump, this equals a roughly three-cent-per-litre increase to almost $0.18