In a fiery exchange at the commons government operations committee, MP Irek Kusmierczyk (Windsor-Tecumseh, ON), a parliamentary aide to the prime minister, launched a scathing critique against premiers for what he deemed as "wasting Liberals’ time" with repetitive rhetoric on the carbon tax."What the heck are they doing here on a two-hour committee meeting, talking about spewing the same lines they have said on every other platform, in the media and newspapers, bringing absolutely nothing to this discussion," Kusmierczyk said.His remarks came following testimony by premiers of Alberta and New Brunswick regarding their objections to a 23% increase in carbon tax rates effective April 1. The increase will see the charge on gasoline rise from 14.3 cents per litre to 17.6 cents per litre under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act."We heard three premiers coming here: All talk, no action, no plan to fight and address the climate crisis," Kusmierczyk emphasized. "No plan. All talk. No plan, no action. And the screaming hypocrisy of premiers coming here to decry a three-cent increase on the price of a litre of gas."He further criticized the premiers' testimony, labelling it as redundant and accusing them of monopolizing the committee's time. "There was nothing new. Everything that was said, was said in the newspapers, was said already by these premiers in the media, on television, in rallies. Nothing new. All it did was take time away from this committee."The parliamentary secretary didn't mince words, describing the situation as a "complete takeover" and alleging that the committee was being exploited for political gain. "This committee has been hijacked. Its members have been treated as door mats and this committee is turning into nothing but a propaganda tool and a soapbox for somebody’s campaigns. That is not the way it should be."However, Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary-Forest Lawn) dismissed these accusations, countering that the Liberal members were attempting to stifle the premiers' voices and avoid a substantive discussion on the impacts of the tax hike.Premiers had sought to testify at the Commons finance committee regarding the tax hike's repercussions but were rebuffed. "It was very shameful for the finance committee chair, Peter Fonseca, who went into hiding as soon as the premiers came calling," Hallan remarked.
