Happy Wednesday!
We’ve got a pair of Motions this week and an update to C-202!
Motions
GCStrategies Inc. – Michael Barrett (Conservative, Ontario, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes)
Michael has a Motion about the ArriveCAN problem. It reads:
That, given that the Auditor General found that ArriveCAN contractor, GCStrategies Inc., was paid $64 million from the Liberal government, and in many cases, there was no proof that any work was completed, the House call on the government to:
- get taxpayers their money back, within 100 days of the adoption of this motion; and
- impose a lifetime contracting ban on GCStrategies Inc., any of its subsidiaries, its founders Kristian Firth and Darren Anthony, and any other entities with which those individuals are affiliated.
So he wants to force GCStrategies Inc. to repay the money they were paid for work on ArriveCAN and that they be barred from getting any future government contracts.
The Motion passed with 172 voting in favour and 166 opposed.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 166 | 2 |
| Conservative | 143 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 21 | 0 | 1 |
| NDP | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Sale of gas-powered vehicles – Melissa Lantsman (Conservative, Ontario, Thornhill)
For those who aren’t aware, the government is currently planning on banning the sale of all-gas vehicles by 2035. Melissa has some words about that, proposing the following:
That, given that the Liberal government is banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles that will force Canadians to buy electric vehicles, and this mandate will drive up the cost of vehicles by $20,000, in order to allow Canadians the choice to purchase any vehicle that meets their needs at a price they can afford, the House call on the Liberal government to immediately end their ban on gas-powered vehicles.
Now there’s a few notes I think need to be brought up here. First of all, as I mentioned the ban won’t be in full effect until 2035. Second, it isn’t in effect at all right now. It’s set to be a gradual increase with a minimum amount of sales of zero emission vehicles starting with 20% of sales next year. A “zero emission vehicle” counts as anything that’s electric, uses hydrogen fuel cells, or is hybrid capable of travelling at least 80km just on electric power. It’s also worth noting that this is another “cap and trade” type of deal, where a company that goes over the required minimum sales earns credits which can be put towards a future years’ sales or sold to a company that isn’t able to hit the targets. Finally, this ban is only on “light-use vehicles”. So it only affects personal vehicles, not something like a truck used for shipping.
The Motion failed with 141 voting in favour and 194 opposed.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 165 | 3 |
| Conservative | 141 | 0 | 2 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| NDP | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Green | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Bill Updates
C-202 – An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act (supply management)
C-202 passed through the Senate without change, and is now waiting for Royal Assent.
Closing Fun
And that’s all for the week! A lot of time was spent on votes around Bill C-5, but I haven’t covered that yet so we’ll look at what happened there when I get to it.
The House is now on summer break until Sept 15, so there won’t be anymore Wednesday updates until then!
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