‘He knows his MPs are lying’

Thomas Mulcair responds to the Conservatives’ carbon tax farce.

“This is an ethical decision (Prime Minister) Stephen Harper is going to have to deal with, because he knows his MPs are lying when they say that,” Mulcair said during an appearance on the Global News program The West Block. 

The claim that Mulcair will bring in the “tax on everyone,” as the Conservatives have described a carbon tax, isn’t based on any announcement the leader has made. Mulcair has, however, supported a cap and trade plan, which allots a specific number of “pollution credits” to emitters. Those that exceed the limits can buy extra credits from those who have leftovers.  The idea is one that Harper campaigned on in 2008 and included in that year’s throne speech.  “What I talked about during the leadership, and what he talks about are the very same cap and trade system the Conservatives talked about,” Mulcair told host Tom Clark.

Colin Carrie became the latest Conservative MP to join the farce last week when the NDP leader was in Oshawa (durhamregion.com reprinted Mr. Carrie’s claim without challenging it).

Postmedia explored the Conservative claim on Friday with a relatively full airing of the applicable history.

Here, again, are the reasons why the current Conservative position is farcical.