‘Trudeau can end it all’: Conservative carbon tax filibuster stretches into second night

With no signs either side is ready to retreat, the marathon voting session in the House of Commons has stretched into its second day after MPs stayed up all night rejecting Conservative attempts to defeat government spending plans over the Liberals’ refusal to scrap the carbon tax.

“We are just about halfway through this axe the carbon tax voting marathon… we have successfully killed a day of government business. This is one less day that Justin Trudeau will have to implement his destructive agenda,” said Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer, speaking to reporters just before noon on Friday. “That’s what this is all about.”

After starting at 6 p.m. ET Thursday, as of 6:05 p.m. ET on Friday MPs had made their way through 112 of the 120 “opposed votes” on various line items from the supplementary estimates voting non-stop for more than 24 hours. 

Once these motions are disposed of, the Commons still needs to move through several actual government spending items, bringing the total votes to 137, which has close Hill watchers estimating this saga could stretch late into Friday.

“Trudeau can end it all. He can stop this right now if he chooses,” Scheer said, a suggestion Trudeau unabashedly dismissed, telling CTV News as he dipped out of the chamber for a reprieve that he has no intention to back down.

“No, we’re not axing the tax,” Trudeau said.

It’s nearly noon, the voting continues, on now to “opposed vote” No. 84 and Scheer just said Trudeau could “stop this all” if he wanted.

Trudeau, just prior: “No, we’re not axing the tax.” https://t.co/FqnqOohBAq

— Rachel Aiello (@rachaiello) December 8, 2023

During his scrum, Scheer faced questions about the numerous budget bits his party has voted against overnight, from economic support for farmers, housing and hurricane Fiona rebuilding efforts, to enhanced operating budgets for CSIS, the RCMP and CBSA. The supplementary estimates send streams of funding to keep the lights on at various departments and to keep certain programs up and running. 

In response, Scheer said the Conservatives are “voting against Justin Trudeau’s economic agenda… just doing it in a little bit of a different way,” and will “keep doing this” through the day.

Though, in voting against funding for the Department of National Defence and the work the Canadian Armed Forces are doing to train Ukrainian soldiers, it’s not just the ire of the other parties Poilievre’s team has sparked.

“For the second time this month Conservative MPs undermine support for Ukraine,” said Ukrainian Canadian Congress President Alexandra Chyczij. “Canada’s support for Ukraine should be unanimous and beyond political games.”

“You know, we’ve seen Justin Trudeau when he faces enough pressure, flip-flopping… So you know, this is part of that, putting that pressure on Justin Trudeau, and to highlight for Canadians that this fight is happening, that we are on their side and we are going to do everything we can to axe the tax.”

LIBERALS, NDP QUESTION TACTICS

While this rallying cause appears to be keeping Conservatives invigorated, Liberals and New Democrats have questioned why, after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre made a big show about threatening to ruin Trudeau’s holidays, he hasn’t been in the chamber the whole time.

Poilievre—McDonald’s in-hand and fresh from a fundraiser and Montreal menorah lighting— did take part in-person overnight, as did the prime minister. But, both have also opted to utilize the electronic voting option to continue registering their “yea” or “nay” votes for stretches.

“I have to say, like what the Conservatives are doing right now is so silly and absolutely ridiculous. This is not leadership. Mr. Poilievre continues to gaslight Canadians for clickbait. What he is doing is not going to accomplish any of his objectives,” Government House Leader Karina Gould told reporters on Friday.

“They can keep us here all day, we will be here because we are going to stand up to them as bullies and we are going to continue to stand up for Canadians,” she said, adding that Liberal morale at this stage is “so strong” in resisting Poilievre’s attempts to take a page from their American counterparts and “shut down the government.”

NDP House Leader Peter Julian summarized what’s been on display so far as a $1 million dollar stunt, citing the costs to keep the House of Commons up and running and all the essential support staff paid.

“What Conservatives have done is they voted to gut funding in a whole range of areas… I don’t think this serves Conservative MPs well,” Julian said. “What he was trying to do was cancel Christmas, but what he’s really done is cancel his own credibility.”

‘ALBERTA BEEF’ AND OTHER COPING MECHANISMS

Showing some levity about the procedural shenanigans pushing of serious government business, MPs have been sharing some of the ways they’re coping with running on little to no sleep.

“I consumed a lot of Alberta beef last night,” Scheer quipped, after a reporter asked about the late-night McDonalds brought in to the opposition lobby.

“I’ve almost finished signing my holiday cards,” said Gould. “There’s lots of coffee and tea in the lobby that’s helping keep many of us awake.”

Others have opted to use the hours in the chamber—where technically it is still Thursday— to catch up on emails, reading, or their social media feeds.

As the night turned into day, offering some procedural humour, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie quipped that based on his quick math the Conservative tactic won’t take them all the way to Christmas as Poilievre had postured.

“I wonder, are there some other votes we’re not aware of that the leader of the Conservative party is, or did he mislead Canadians?”

Liberal Whip Steven MacKinnon piggybacked on this, adding “there may not be enough votes to get us to Christmas but we on this side will be jingle bell-ing our way through this recorded vote.”

When all is said and done, potentially 27 hours or so after the confidence vote-a-thon all began, the Liberals spending package is expected to pass.