Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday his MPs will pitch “thousands of amendments” to legislation to keep Parliament sitting over Christmas if the Liberal government doesn’t scrap parts of its carbon tax.
“You will have no rest until the tax is gone,” Poilievre said in a message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Liberal MPs.
The party maintains it will carry out its obstruction tactics until the Liberals lift the tax on all home-heating energy sources, pass a bill to grant carbon tax relief to some farmers and exempt all First Nations from the carbon levy, as some chiefs have demanded.
The Conservatives say they will demand 135 votes tomorrow on the government’s estimates, a procedural brawl over spending that could take more than 24 hours.
The party also says its MPs will introduce 20,000 amendments to the “sustainable jobs” bill, C-50, currently before the natural resources committee.
Other delaying tactics are planned for the coming days, a spokesperson for Poilievre said.
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These manoeuvres could force the government to extend the Commons sitting time beyond Dec. 15 — the day it was set to rise for the Christmas break.
“I’ve got news for Justin Trudeau,” Poilievre said in a morning address to the Conservative caucus. “You’ve ruined Christmas for Canadians. Common-sense Conservatives are going to ruin your vacation as well. 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 your economically destructive plans until you agree to our demand: take the tax off farmers, First Nations and families.”
That’s a threat to hold up the government’s fall economic statement, which calls for $20.8 billion more in spending over the next six years.
The commitment to derail Parliament comes after senators appointed by Trudeau amended part of a Conservative private member’s bill, C-234, that would have delivered a carbon tax carve-out to some farmers.
Trudeau ‘will have no rest’ until carbon tax is gone, Poilievre says
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vows to delay the holiday break for the House of Commons over the carbon tax, saying he’s ready to force round-the-clock votes on scores of amendments until the Liberals act.
Progressive Sen. Pierre Dalphond’s amendment, passed by a 40-39 vote, keeps the carbon tax exemption for grain drying but deletes the section that provided tax relief for heating barns and greenhouses.
The Tory bill deals with natural gas and propane — other farm fuels like diesel and gasoline are already exempt under the Liberal tax regime. Farmers are also eligible for a carbon rebate.
In a statement sent to CBC News, Dalphond said he pushed for this change because “alternatives and efficiencies are readily available to reduce emissions related to heating and cooling of farm buildings, as compared to grain drying.”
The Progressive Senate Group includes a former Liberal senator and more recent Trudeau appointees.
Most of the votes to amend the bill came from the Independent Senators Group (ISG), which is largely made up of Trudeau-appointed senators.
Poilievre alleged that Trudeau lobbied his Senate picks to pass the amendment, which threatens the bill’s future.
When asked if Trudeau spoke to senators about the amendment, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office pointed to the actions of Conservative senators.
“It is shameful and unbecoming that Conservative parliamentarians have tried to intimidate and bully senators into their ideological, anti-climate agenda. The prime minister engaged in no such behaviour,” Jenna Ghassabeh said.
Two Tory senators posted online the office phone numbers and email addresses of some members of the Red Chamber who have been accused of holding up the bill. The Senate Speaker admonished this behaviour in a Tuesday ruling.
Police and security officials are now investigating reports of racist threats directed at Sen. Bernadette Clement, a Black, Trudeau-appointed senator from eastern Ontario who moved to pause debate on the bill last month.
A senior government official speaking to CBC News on background did say that the prime minister “does not shy away from discussing matters affecting Canadians with fellow parliamentarians.”
The legislation has already passed the House of Commons, but Conservatives, farmers and their lobbyists fear if a Senate-amended bill is sent back to the Commons, it’ll languish and die on the order paper or be defeated under Liberal pressure.
Under parliamentary rules, Senate amendments must go back to the Commons before a bill can become law.
In question period, Trudeau said Conservatives have been “intimidating” and “threatening” parliamentarians to get them to back C-234.
Trudeau says Poilievre ‘pulling stunts’ with threat of delays
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre is playing games with threats of amendments to delay business in the House of Commons, while he added that Liberals are “here to work.”
“The only farming the Conservative Party cares about is rage farming,” Trudeau said. “All of this was just an attempt to fundraise on the backs of farmers.”
In a reference to the Conservative leader’s vehement opposition to some federal climate policies, Trudeau said Poilievre wants to take Canada “back to the stone age” by dismantling the carbon tax.
As for the threat to indefinitely hold up parliamentary proceedings, Trudeau said Poilievre “can make us work late. We’re happy to do it. We’re doing important things for Canadians while he’s pulling stunts.”
House Leader calls ultimatum ‘completely irresponsible’
Government House Leader Karina Gould said Poilievre’s actions are “completely irresponsible.”
“What Mr. Poilievre is doing right now is not leadership,” she said. “It will affect Canadians, because what he is doing is putting thousands of amendments on notice for things like the sustainable jobs act — that’s an 11-page bill. His party has put almost 20,000 amendments on there. He is not in a serious position. He is reckless.”
Gould called Poilievre a “bully.”
Gould calls Poilievre a ‘bully’ for threats to delay bills
Liberal MP and Government House Leader Karina Gould says Pierre Poilievre is “not a serious politician” for threatening to hold up business in the House of Commons, calling Conservative amendments “jokes”.
“Canadians should see him for who he is. This is not about responsible leadership, this is about playing games. Because at the end of the day, politics is a game for him and it’s about his own personal aggrandizement.”
Conservative MP Ben Lobb, who introduced C-234, said he was “disappointed for Canadian farmers” that the amendment passed and the legislation now faces an uncertain future.
“We were so close to a good result,” Lobb said.
An MP from rural Ontario, Lobb said a pork farmer in his riding recently received a natural gas bill for $4,300 — $3,300 of that charge was to cover the carbon tax.
“Obviously that’s not fair. Commodity farming is a low-margin business and every little bit helps and this would have been a great help for them,” Lobb said.
Lobb suggested it was Trudeau’s more recent appointees who got the amendment through.
The prime minister named five new senators, including former Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner, to the Red Chamber on Oct. 31.
Four of them voted last night to back Dalphond’s amendment to delete the carveout for heating farmers’ barns.
“You take those five out and the amendment would have failed last night,” Lobb said.
The Senate is also dealing with persistent attendance issues.
A sizeable number of senators are consistently absent from the chamber.
Of the 94 sitting senators, 15 did not cast a vote on the amendment last night.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
