Conservative MP Damien Kurek (Battle River-Crowfoot, AB) was removed from the House of Commons on Wednesday for using unparliamentary language by calling the prime minister a liar.“He lied,” Kurek said after leaving the chamber.“The prime minister promised the Senate would be independent, but the actions this past week prove that is a complete farce. We know he bullied his senators.”On Tuesday, the Senate voted 40 to 39 in favour of making changes to the Conservative-sponsored Bill C-234, which amends the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act to reduce carbon tax charges for farmers.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, an amendment to the bill was put forward by Senator Pierre Dalphond (QC), who was previously the president of the Quebec branch of the Liberal Party. This amendment received support from senators appointed by the Liberal Party.“The prime minister himself was on the phone over the weekend telling them they had to gut Bill C-234,” said Kurek. “The prime minister lied. His minions continue to lie.”“I will not apologize to that prime minister when he continues to lie,” said Kurek. “It is the truth. I will not apologize.”Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not provide a comment. It's worth noting that, in 2014, he expelled all senators from the Liberal parliamentary caucus.Of the current 94 senators, 64 were appointed by Trudeau. However, some of these Senators identify as "independents" or "progressives" and have not opposed any measures proposed by the Liberal government.Bill C-234 proposed to suspend carbon tax charges on farmers’ use of propane and natural gas to heat livestock barns and run grain dryers. The Commons passed the bill last March 29 by a 176 to 145 vote with support from Conservative, Bloc Québécois and New Democrat MPs and three Liberal members: MP Kody Blois (Kings-Hants, NS), chair of the Commons Agriculture committee, MP Robert Morrissey (Egmont, PEI), chair of the Commons Human Resources committee and MP Health MacDonald (Malpeque, PEI).Senators changed the bill, keeping carbon tax charges for heating barns. On Wednesday, the MP who sponsored the bill Conservative MP Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce, ON) mentioned that these changes would cause a delay of several months before C-234 could return to the House.“We’re not quite at the last out in the ninth inning,” said Lobb. “It might be the top of the ninth.”“It is still going to be quite a long ways,” said Lobb. “Obviously, the amendment that passed really did a lot of damage to the full intent of the bill.”“Liberal-appointed senators who voted for the amendment, I really don’t know what they are thinking,” said Lobb. “They really missed the boat on this one and could have provided a great opportunity for farmers.”In 2021, the Commons passed Bill C-206 sponsored by the Conservatives. However, it did not become law because the Senate let it lapse. In a report from 2020 by the Budget Office, they estimated that providing tax relief for farmers related to carbon taxes would cost approximately $59 million each year.
