Liberal Turned Independent MP Kevin Vuong Slams Liberal Government For Pushing 2nd Carbon Tax

Independent Member of Parliament Kevin Vuong from Spadina-Fort York, has been hitting his former Liberal party colleagues for their insistence on passing a second carbon tax, on top of an economy already mired in inflation. 

Vuong was elected under the Liberal’s banner in 2021, but during that campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared that Vuong would not be allowed into the Liberal caucus if he was elected. This was because during the 2021 federal election it came out that Vuong had been charged with sexual assault in 2019. It all should have ended up being a non-story seeing as the charges against Vuong were quickly dropped; anyone familiar with Canada’s legal system should be aware of how overwhelming the evidence of someone’s innocents has to be in order for prosecutors, especially in Toronto, to drop charges. 

Regardless of what the truth was, Justin Trudeau in a tight race with then-Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole decided to throw Kevin Vuong under the bus.

The silver lining for MP Vuong is that his newly-found freedom as an Independent MP now allows him to now speak honestly about what he sees as economically-corrosive decisions the Liberals are currently making. 

A couple of days ago in Parliament, Vuong cited a report from Ross McKitrick which found that the Liberals’ proposed “Clean Fuel Standard” tax would raise Canada’s home energy costs by 6.5 percent, a crippling increase for many families already struggling to pay for groceries. 

Vuong then notes that real inflation on food products is sitting at 11.4 percent before asking the government why they are stacking extra costs on Canada at a time like this. 

The response he receives from the Liberals’ Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault is limp and demonstrates the hollowness of the Liberals when it comes to affordability issues. Guilbeault tries to cite the damage forest fires and other natural disasters have done to justify the need for a second carbon tax, which has no realistic way of stopping any of the disasters he mentioned. Guilbeault seems to think that environmentally-focused taxes are a net benefit to society, based on intentions alone.

Obviously, it makes Kevin Vuong’s attack on the Liberals’ climate agenda all the more potent knowing that he was elected as a Liberal in a downtown Toronto riding. It is likely that Vuong’s question put to the Liberals reflects the opinions of his Toronto constituents and current backbench Liberal MPs who are likely not looking forward to running for reelection on Trudeau’s economic record. 

It is good to see a former Liberal MP use their power in Parliament to demonstrate that the Conservatives are not just partisanly opposing Justin Trudeau’s climate agenda, but that Canadians from all political backgrounds are concerned with the way Trudeau has been handling the economy. A recent poll found only 66 percent of Liberal voters are confident in Trudeau’s ability to handle the economy, and Kevin Vuong likely embodies the 33 percent who cannot bring themselves not support the Prime Minister.