Here’s something you don’t see every day on Parliament Hill: a backbench government MP standing up for his constituents in rural Newfoundland and Labrador by opposing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

That backbench MP, Ken McDonald, voted with the Conservatives to repeal the federal carbon tax. McDonald did so because he saw the harm the carbon tax is causing his constituents.

Trudeau and his environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, have long claimed that most Canadians will get more money back through rebates than they pay in carbon taxes.

But that government talking point is growing stale. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown the government’s rhetoric to be misleading at best.

In a report released earlier this year, the PBO shows the average Atlantic family will lose anywhere from $347 to $465 this year, even after the rebates. And that number will jump to $2,000 a year by 2025 in the region’s most populous province, Nova Scotia. 

Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Premier Andrew Furey hasn’t been buying the federal government’s rhetoric for years.

Furey wrote to Trudeau and Guilbeault multiple times asking for delays in imposing the federal carbon tax backstop on Atlantic Canada, as well as greater flexibility in implementing it.

Furey did so because he knew full well that his constituents were not better off with the federal carbon tax, even after the rebates.

In return, the Trudeau government denied all of his requests.

Days before the backstop came into effect, Furey lashed out at the Trudeau government’s divisive approach to the environment.

“I take great exception to the federal minister always forcing this into a dichotomous issue ‘either you believe exactly what we say or you don’t believe in climate change,’” Furey said. “It’s as insulting to us as it is simplistic.”

Furey was right to express his concerns. The average Atlantic household using natural gas to heat their home this winter faces a carbon tax bill of $286. And heating one’s home in Canada isn’t an optional luxury.

But until recently, no member of the Trudeau government’s caucus was willing to stand up and tell the truth about the carbon tax.

It was McDonald who finally bucked that trend. After voting on a motion to repeal the carbon tax, McDonald was blunt about his reasoning.

“I’ve had people tell me they can’t afford groceries,” McDonald said. “They can’t afford to heat their homes. You can’t make it more expensive on people than what they can handle. And that’s exactly what’s happening right now.”

The NDP voted with the rest of the government caucus to defeat the motion, but the cracks are growing. Since McDonald took a stand against carbon taxes, other Liberal MPs have come out publicly with concerns.

More Liberals are starting to see the light on carbon taxes because their constituents are hurting. Polling shows support for the Liberals has fallen considerably in the region.

A major reason why is the carbon tax. A Nanos poll released this summer shows that 73 per cent of respondents in the region said the federal government made the wrong decision in hiking the carbon tax this year.

And more than half of respondents don’t think increasing the price of gas and home heating is an effective way to fight climate change.

The PBO agrees. In a report released earlier this year, the PBO noted that “Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change.”

More than 50 per cent of Canadians now find themselves living paycheque to paycheque. Canadians cannot afford a costly federal carbon tax that cuts family budgets but doesn’t solve climate change.

It’s time for other government MPs to join McDonald and stand up to Trudeau on carbon taxes.