The Conservative MP for Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame is calling on Liberal representatives to speak out against the upcoming increase to the federal carbon tax.

The 23 per cent hike will come into effect on April 1, something that has caught the ire of many political figures, including Premier Andrew Furey, who wrote the Prime Minister to pause or scrap the increase.

Trudeau accused Furey of bowing to political pressures and says they will not put a hold on increasing the carbon levy.

A vote on the tax increase is taking place this week, and MP Clifford Small is calling on Liberal MPs to vote in the best interest of their constituents.

“Folks are sent to Ottawa to represent their constituents in Ottawa,” says Small. “Well, they should actually represent them and vote the way that their constituents would want them to vote.”

In the past, Avalon MP Ken McDonald was the only Liberal to vote against carbon tax increases.

Premier Andrew Furey’s argument for putting a halt on carbon tax increases is “just wrong,” according to the federal environment minister.

Furey wrote Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week asking that the increase scheduled for April 1 be paused. That suggestion, however, was quickly shot down by Ottawa.

One of Furey’s arguments against any increase has been that the cumulative cost of the carbon tax on the various means used to get product into the province, such as trucking companies and Marine Atlantic, will be too much for people to handle.

That is not true, according to Jonathan Wilkinson

He points to studies that look at both the direct and indirect costs, such as those done by the University of Regina and the University of Calgary, and argues that they are “very clear on these points.”