(Ottawa) All 159 Liberals abstained from voting on the New Democratic Party (NDP) motion calling on Ottawa to impose a surtax on “excessive profits” from big box stores, including grocery stores, oil companies and banks.
Posted yesterday at 4:58 p.m.
The motion was defeated, receiving the support of only NDP, Bloc and Green MPs, but no Conservative MPs.
According to preliminary results from the House of Commons, 60 MPs voted for the motion and 114 against.
All eyes were on the Liberals as they announced in the morning that they had reached an agreement with the New Democrats to stay in power until 2025.
The New Democrats took advantage of their opposition day on Monday to propose that the next federal budget subject certain companies that “exploit people” to a 3% surtax on their profits exceeding one billion dollars.
The surcharge would have been used to help those struggling the most to “make ends meet” by sending checks directly to families or investing in programs that would lower the cost to families, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said.
During the fall election campaign, the Liberals promised to tax banks and insurance companies more, angering the country’s financial sector.