Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for a "massive pressure campaign" to push the governing Liberals to help pass a piece of legislation that would remove the carbon tax from fuels used in some agricultural activities.
"My message to Canadians is: Call your Liberal MP, tell them to get Justin Trudeau out of the way," Poilievre said about the prime minister, during a news conference in Vancouver on Monday.
Poilievre was speaking in favour of a private member's bill put forward by Conservative MP Ben Lobb. Bill C-234 passed the House of Commons in March, mostly supported by opposition parties. It's now in the Senate, but procedural wrangling has delayed a vote on it until later this month.
The bill would remove the carbon tax on natural gas and propane used in such activities as irrigation, grain drying, feed preparation, and heating and cooling barns and greenhouses.
Poilievre pledged "to work with all Canadians over the next weeks to mount a massive pressure campaign, just as we did on home heat, to take this tax off."
The proposed legislation comes as the government deals with the fallout of its decision last month to pause the carbon tax on home heating oil. The federal Conservatives and some premiers have pushed for that exemption to be expanded beyond oil, to all fuels used for home heating.
Trudeau has firmly closed the door on any further exemptions.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has similarly drawn a line in the sand on new carve-outs. "As long as I'm the environment minister, there will be no more exemptions to carbon pricing," he told The Canadian Press last week.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking at a news conference in Vancouver on Monday, urged Canadians to put pressure on the government to allow the passage of a bill that would remove the carbon tax on fuels used for some farming activities.
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