Senator Plett: Obviously, you’ve gone to the same school of economics as Justin Trudeau. The budget doesn’t balance itself, even if you and he believe that it does.

Leader, I will put this on the record because it is important. Liberal MP Ken MacDonald said that a constituent called him and said that she could no longer afford home heating oil. She said:

I go around my house with a blanket wrapped around me. The only time I get to have beef or chicken is if my niece or nephew invites me out to Sunday dinner.

Senator Gold, this is as a result of your regressive carbon tax. The MP tells this story to everyone he meets in the Trudeau government. He said:

At first, some people said to me, like, there’s nobody living like that . . . And I said, “If you don’t think people are living like that, you’re not living in the real world.”

I would suggest that to you and to the Prime Minister as well, Senator Gold: If you don’t believe that people are living like that because of this, you are not living in the real world.

Leader, I agree; the Prime Minister is not living in the real world. A year ago, 39 members of his cabinet spent over $46,000 on catering for a three-day trip to discuss affordability — $46,000 to discuss affordability. Is that an example of living in the real world, Senator Gold; yes or no?

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Senator Gold, as Prime Minister Trudeau shows no sign of understanding how his inflationary carbon tax is hurting families all across our country, it is clear that he is not interested in listening to Canadians — or even to one of his own members of Parliament.

Senator Gold, a Liberal MP from Newfoundland and Labrador, Ken McDonald, said this about the carbon tax in an interview earlier this month: “We are punishing the rural areas of our country and the most vulnerable people in our society.”

He is right, leader. Why doesn’t the Prime Minister understand this? Is it because he has never had to worry about how he will feed himself or wonder how he will pay for a roof over his own head? Is that why he won’t axe the tax?