Conservatives launch marathon voting session over Liberal refusal to scrap carbon tax
Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives have launched an overnight marathon voting session in the House of Commons, after signalling they'd be making good on their threat to delay the government's agenda over their opposition to the carbon tax.
On Thursday evening, the Conservatives began calling what could total to more than 100 votes on line items from the Liberal government's latest spending plans.
Following the debate and failed vote on the Official Opposition's last "supply day" motion of the season—once again calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to scrap the carbon tax — MPs moved to consider the latest batch of supplementary estimates for 2023-24, triggering what could be an estimated 27 consecutive hours of votes.
"This evening we'll be dealing with the supply bills. You may know by now that Conservatives have put on a number of opposed items in an effort to highlight the pain that the Liberal carbon tax is imposing on Canadians who are struggling with food prices at grocery stores," Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said after question period, setting up the session.
He said the Conservatives would be willing to back down and allow the estimate process to proceed in "an orderly and timely manner," if the government pushed the Senate to repeal the amendment that essentially gutted a backbencher's farm fuel carbon tax carve out legislation.
"If not, in order to ensure Canadians understand the devastating impact the carbon tax will have on them, we will be voting around the clock until this government gets it through their minds, that the carbon tax is causing all this misery on Canadians," Scheer said.
The supplementary estimates are a document that outlines additional government spending, and before this spending package can be voted on, the rules state MPs have to deal with any "opposed votes." There are currently more than 100 "opposed votes" posted by the Conservatives, which as a procedural tool forces the House to take a specific position on various line items from the estimates.
As a sampling, the Conservatives have asked for votes on repayments to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.; CRA, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and Canadian Food Inspection Agency operating expenditures; funding for the RCMP, CSIS and the Communications Security Establishment; and grants and contributions to Health Canada.
Just before the procedural showdown started, Government House Leader Karina Gould proposed the House sit until midnight, and then suspend to provide MPs a "health break," before picking back up at 7 a.m. on Friday. The Conservatives rejected that offer.
"I think that is something that is inappropriate, and they should quite frankly be ashamed about," Gould said. "The Conservatives are only here to obstruct."
The marathon voting session kicked off at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. As of 11:30 p.m. ET with just a fraction of the votes completed, MPs appeared poised to burn the midnight oil. They could end up voting well into Friday, which is typically a shorter sitting day allowing MPs to travel back to their ridings in time for weekend constituency events.
POILIEVRE ACCUSED OF 'GASLIGHTING'
Poilievre fired a warning shot about throwing up all possible procedural tools they have in their arsenal, when speaking to his caucus on Wednesday.
"We're going to put in thousands of amendments at committee and in the House of Commons, forcing all night round-the-clock voting to block your $20 billion of inflationary spending and the rest of your economically destructive plans, until you agree to our demand to take the tax off farmers, First Nations, and families," Poilievre said Wednesday.
Poilievre was not in question period on Thursday, travelling to Montreal to attend a Conservative Party of Canada fundraising reception at a steakhouse, as well as a menorah lighting to mark the start of Hanukkah.
"So here he is yesterday claiming to Canadians that he's going to hold this government to account, that he's going to do these things. Well, let's see if he shows up to vote or not, or whether he's out there raising political funds," Gould said, accusing him of "gaslighting Canadians with this attempt."
When the first vote that kicked off the session came up, on his proposal to "axe the tax," Poilievre did participate, electronically. He continued to cast his votes that way as the evening went on, but was expected to join in-person overnight.
Gould said she's confident the rest of the Official Opposition motions will fail as the government and "reasonable opposition parties" will "stand against bullies," and "keep working in Ottawa as long as it takes."
"They're proposing over 100 cuts," Gould said. "This is typical of the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre … We've seen this playbook from the extreme right wing of the Republican Party that has tried to shut down the U.S. government and now Pierre Poilievre and his caucus are trying to bring those same tactics here to Canada."
While the stakes are higher given votes on government spending are generally considered matters of confidence, thanks to the pandemic-era invention of an electronic voting application, MPs are able to register their yeas and nays from anywhere in the country.
The early evening votes saw most MPs voting from their seats in the chamber, but numbers dwindled some as the night went on.
This is not the first time the Conservatives have used this procedural tactic to prompt overnight vote-a-thons. In 2021 there was a 21-hour procedural standoff over the Liberals' handling of the Jaspal Atwal India incident, and in 2019 they led a record-setting voting session over the SNC-Lavalin scandal.
In both past examples the hours-long procedural showdowns ended with little fanfare or policy change, beyond leaving MPs and Parliament Hill staff bleary-eyed and with less House time left to pass priority legislation.
ALLEGATIONS OF 'ABUSE' AT COMMITTEES
This session is just the latest in increasingly heated exchanges in Ottawa.
Overnight, the House Natural Resources Committee broke what had been a months-long Conservative-led filibuster over legislation focused on jobs in the energy sector.
After Poilievre's party put up an estimated 20,000 amendments to the 11-page "Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act," the other parties managed to use procedural rules to bulk batch vote on the proposed changes, making their way through around 200 votes around 2:30 a.m. ET.
The bill is now back on the move through the remaining stages, but NDP MP and committee member Charlie Angus described the stunt as "legislative abuse," and an example of the "degraded state of democracy that we're seeing in Parliament right now."
"Went through over eight hours of shouting and harassment… This is not what happens in Parliament. I have never seen this kind of intimidation and harassment that's been unleashed by Pierre Poilievre," Angus said.
"If anybody watched the unbelievable, childish behaviour and shenanigans that took place at the natural resources committee… you will have no doubt left in your mind that they have zero respect for this place," Gould said.
The Conservatives have characterized what went down differently, claiming it was the Liberal-NDP alliance that "under the cover of darkness" used "draconian" measures to ram through their "unjust transition agenda."
Then on Thursday, the House Finance Committee was slated to hear from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland about the increased cost to buy a home in Canada, but as soon as the rounds of questioning began, the hearing devolved into crosstalk and accusations of impropriety.
Conservative MP and finance critic Jasraj Singh Hallan kicked things off by asking if Freeland had watched Poilievre's self-described 15-minute "brilliant" housing documentary. As she began to respond, indicating she hadn't, he suggested she "like, share, and subscribe."
The back-and-forth went on from there, seeing the chair implore opposition MPs to allow Freeland to answer, "out of respect." The deputy prime minister then stated that Conservative senators have recently been reprimanded for "bullying" and "it would be terrible" to see that take place in the House.
Reflecting on the conduct on display, NDP House Leader Peter Julian pointed to the "enormous amount of taxpayers' resources" this wrangling is using up.
"Tonight we're seeing, what they're trying to do, is force all the hard working folks in the House administration — people who give their lives to preserving democracy and our Parliament — make them work all night, rather than to have some kind of negotiated, more sensible approach," Julian said.
"Mr. Poilievre is absent, he doesn't have the courage to be here in the House at the same time as he is obliging his members of Parliament to vote all evening," Julian said. "I deplore his tactics and it's not really even clear what he's trying to get at. It's just the Conservatives blocking things for the sheer delight of blocking Parliament."
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW Inside Canada's chaotic response to avian flu
A CFIA official is calling it the 'largest animal health emergency that this country has ever had to face.' A joint IJF/CTV News investigation looks into Canada's response to the bird flu pandemic, and how it's ravaged the country's farms.
What Donald Trump's election victory could mean for Canada
Following president-elect Donald Trump's decisive election victory, there are sure to be significant knock-on effects for Canada. Here's a look at the different areas in which a second Trump presidency may affect Canadians.
Cuba left reeling after Category 3 hurricane ravages island and knocks out power grid
Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island and knocked out the country's power grid.
Sleepy during the day? You may be at higher risk for a pre-dementia syndrome, study finds
If you find yourself sleepy during your daily activities in your older age, you may need to consider it more than an inconvenience — since the fatigue may indicate you’re at higher risk for developing a condition that can lead to dementia, a new study has found.
Canada's health-care spending expected to outpace economy in 2024: CIHI
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
Kamala Harris concedes: Here's what she said in her speech
Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris conceded the U.S. election to Republican Donald Trump Wednesday afternoon, telling her supporters that her 'heart is full.'
Newfoundland hockey player suspended, banned from local arena after off-ice fight with fan
A combination of a thrown stick and thrown punches have given a senior hockey player in Newfoundland a three-game suspension and an indefinite ban from one of his league's six arenas.
B.C. court allows police to apply to dispose of evidence from Robert Pickton's farm
The B.C. Supreme Court says it has jurisdiction to order the disposal of thousands of pieces of evidence seized from Robert Pickton's pig farm decades ago, whether it was used in his murder trial or not.
Why an early celebration cost a New York Jets rookie his first NFL touchdown
Malachi Corley's first NFL touchdown put him on highlight reels around the country and got social media buzzing because it didn't count.
Local Spotlight
'We put love into it': Group of N.S. women gather to make quilts for those in need
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.
Vancouver musician lands 'meaningful interaction' with Ed Sheeran after busking outside his show
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
10K hand-knit poppies displayed at the Dartmouth Cenotaph
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
'I put my whole life on hold': B.C. man embarks on Arctic to Antarctica trek
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.
Windsor teen's shredded pepperoni pizza post goes viral
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
'You look like me': 7-year-old who went viral for his Auston Matthews Halloween costume meets Leafs star
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
'You never know what you're going to find': Halifax junk remover shares some of his company's strangest discoveries
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.
'Smiles per gallon': B.C. man creates Canadian-themed art car with stuffed moose on roof
When Leah arrived at work directing traffic around a construction site, she never expected to see a van painted in all sorts of bright colours, and covered in eclectic decorations, including a stuffed moose attached to its roof.
Guelph, Ont. charitable bike repairs halted due to bylaw complaint
After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman’s efforts have ended – for now, at least.