The Liberals plan to move quickly to have the Ukraine free trade bill debated again and put pressure on the Conservatives to support it, as MPs return to Parliament on Monday the House of Commons after the holiday break.
The bill to implement an updated free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine became an unexpected political issue in the fall, when Conservatives voted against it in protest of carbon pricing.
Ukraine has had a carbon price since 2011 and Canada since 2019, but the updated free trade agreement calls for both countries to promote carbon pricing.
Conservatives say they voted against the bill only because they won’t support any promotion of carbon pricing and have shown no signs of wanting to budge.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives will waste no time proposing a carbon pricing carve-out for farmers, with the potential to poke more holes in one of the Liberals’ signature climate policies.
The Conservative carbon pricing bill, aimed at removing certain additional agricultural fuels from carbon pricing, has been amended in the Senate and will face further debate Monday morning.
Several Ukrainian organizations in Canada criticized the Conservatives for voting against Ukraine’s free trade bill and the Liberals seized on it, accusing the Conservatives of pandering to right-wing American commentators and politicians who sided with Russia rather than Ukraine in the conflict.
Liberal House Leader Steven MacKinnon said the bill would soon come up for debate, as would legislation to implement the fall economic statement and legislation banning the use of replacement workers. in most federally regulated workplaces.
Mr. MacKinnon said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had a choice to make regarding Ukraine.
“You know, we’re the only ones who aren’t ridiculing his position on this,” MacKinnon said.
Mr. Poilievre said the Conservatives will enter the session with a relentless focus on passing Bill C-234.
Gasoline and diesel used on farms are already exempt from carbon pricing because for the most part there are no alternatives. The bill, introduced by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, also aims to remove carbon pricing for natural gas and propane.
The bill passed easily through the House of Commons almost a year ago, with support from all parties except the Liberals. But the Senate voted to amend the bill in December, leaving only propane intended for grain drying exempt.
Mr. Lobb said Sunday that he had rejected those amendments, telling reporters that he expected them to return to the House as originally written.
This bill must now be debated in the House of Commons and, if passed, it will put Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a delicate political situation.
Both have pledged to no longer exempt from carbon pricing after deciding in October to remove it from fuel oil for three years. The move, which they said was intended to give oil users more time and money to replace their oil furnaces with electric heat pumps, drew significant political criticism.
While fuel oil is more common in the Maritimes, the Liberals have been accused of pandering to the region’s demands to regain votes.
Affordability and drug insurance in discussions
Mr. Poilievre will begin 2024 in Parliament the same way he did the year before, focusing like a hawk on the cost-of-living concerns plaguing Canadians, which range from housing affordability at grocery store prices.
His decision to do so throughout 2023 saw him surge to the top of the polls, leaving Mr Trudeau’s Liberals scrambling to catch up.
“The Conservatives will fight throughout this session,” Mr. Poilievre told his caucus on Sunday.
“Abolish taxes. To build houses. Fix the budget. Stop crime. »
Attracting Canadians concerned about crime to their cities is another major Conservative goal, as is growing support among the country’s working class, particularly in ridings held by the New Democratic Party (NDP) and Liberals in northern Ontario, interior British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
Regarding the Liberals’ bill to ban the use of replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces, the Conservatives have not yet stated their position.
The New Democrats and the Liberals continue to negotiate on what a first drug insurance program could look like.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said working with the Liberals on pharmacare legislation was like fighting eels covered in oil.
Mr. Singh told a town hall in Edmonton, where the New Democrats held a caucus retreat last week, that he took the description of the eel from his party’s health critic, Don Davies, who was negotiating a framework bill with the government.