House votes down motion demanding Senate pass farmers’ carbon tax exemption

The motion Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre brought forward on Tuesday got NDP support, but it was defeated on Wednesday afternoon when the Bloc and Liberals voted against it.

A Conservative motion demanding the “unelected Senate” immediately pass a bill exempting more farm fuels from carbon pricing has failed, with the Bloc Quebecois saying it could not support what it called a Tory intimidation campaign.

The motion Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre brought forward on Tuesday got NDP support, but it was defeated on Wednesday afternoon when the Bloc and Liberals voted against it.

It would not have been binding on the Senate but would have put some political pressure on senators, whom the Conservatives accuse of holding up the bill against the will of what the Tories stress are “elected” members of Parliament.

Bill C-234, introduced last year by Conservative MP Ben Lobb, passed the House of Commons in March with all but Liberal support. It would exempt the natural gas and propane that farmers use to heat buildings and dry grain from the carbon price for at least eight years.

Poilievre has made getting rid of carbon pricing his number 1 goal, and earlier this month, his party launched a full-scale campaign to get the bill passed.

It must pass a final vote in the Senate before it can become law. But if the bill is amended, it will need to be sent back to the House of Commons for approval.

The Tories have raised concerns that such amendments would allow the government to prevent the bill from ever reaching a final vote. And they have accused the government of conspiring with some senators to make that happen.

The government and the accused senators, who were appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the advice of an arm’s-length advisory board and sit as independents, deny the accusation.