Bill C-50

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act

An Act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy

This enactment establishes an accountability, transparency and engagement framework to facilitate and promote economic growth, the creation of sustainable jobs and support for workers and communities in Canada in the shift to a net-zero economy. Accordingly, the enactment
(a) provides that the Governor in Council may designate a Minister for the purposes of the Act as well as specified Ministers;
(b) establishes a Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council to provide the Minister and the specified Ministers, through a process of social dialogue, with independent advice with respect to measures to foster the creation of sustainable jobs, measures to support workers, communities and regions in the shift to a net-zero economy and matters referred to it by the Minister;
(c) requires the tabling of a Sustainable Jobs Action Plan in each House of Parliament no later than 2026 and by the end of each subsequent period of five years;
(d) provides for the establishment of a Sustainable Jobs Secretariat to support the implementation of the Act; and
(e) provides for a review of the Act within ten years of its coming into force and by the end of each subsequent period of ten years.

Second Reading

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands had an opportunity to ask a question. If he has more questions or comments, he should wait until the appropriate time.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada spent billions of dollars having the backs of Canadians and protecting against the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs during the pandemic, so the member is wrong on that point.

The member is also wrong in his assessment of the legislation. There are many things within it to ensure that we have a good transition. Whether the Conservatives like it or not, at the end of the day, there will be a transition period. They might have to be dragged screaming and kicking into the new world. We, as a government, believe there is a role for the government to ensure that this transition takes place in such a way that middle-class jobs, which are important for the future in Canada, are going to be there.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, yet again the NDP had to use its power to even get this bill in the House. Different regions have different needs, and I hope the member understands that.

I have spoken to the importance of the need for the Kivalliq hydro-fibre link project to be supported, which would help Nunavut in the switch to the use of sustainable energy. Currently, Nunavut relies on diesel. All of Nunavut's communities are using diesel power, and the Kivalliq hydro-fibre link project would help transition to sustainable energy.

Does the member agree, and will the Liberal Party be sure to help Nunavut in the switch to sustainable energy by helping to support the Kivalliq hydro-fibre link project?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the member's comments at the beginning of her question. Yes, the government is only able to do what it is doing today with respect to this bill because we were able to get support from the New Democratic Party in getting the bill to committee. Canadians will benefit as a direct result.

The Prime Minister, along with other ministers, such as my colleague from Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, the Minister of Northern Affairs, travel up north a great deal. The council membership would take into consideration things such as indigenous communities and different regions of the country. The member is right: There are so many opportunities across Canada in terms of the energy transition and good-quality jobs for all regions of the country.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, as climate-fuelled wildfires ravage the country, this bill is barely better than a blank piece of paper. The so-called action plan the member speaks about is not even due to be written for more than two years. Who knows who might be on the partnership council that is being spoken about?

Will the parliamentary secretary commit to making sure the biggest oil and gas companies in the country are not sitting on this so-called council?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I am not the one who actually gets to appoint the members to the council, but I believe that having the first report presented to Canadians in 2025 is the responsible thing to do. We have to create the council, and I think it would be premature to present a report before providing the council the opportunity to work with the different regions, to have the different stakeholders sit around the table and have those healthy discussions that are going to be important. This is the type of council that is going to play a critical role, in terms of the type of direction we are going to be going in, as a government, to continue to support some fantastic initiatives, whether they are tide waters in Atlantic Canada, electric batteries in the province of Ontario, hydro in Manitoba or the potential in the north and on the Pacific coast.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Speaker, our government was elected in 2015 to reduce poverty. In Canada, 2.3 million people were lifted out of poverty from 2015 to 2021. We have seen our unemployment rate go to historic lows. We still have a very tight labour market. We have seen strategic investments by our government, such as in UTIP, for the training of apprentices across the country. We have seen strategic investments to build a strong economy, whether they are in the electrical vehicle sector or in the supply chain for the agro-food sector. Bill C-50 is just another layer of the foundation to continue to build a strong, robust and growing economy.

How does the member see Bill C-50 benefiting workers in his home province of Manitoba?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member raises a good point. I would like to emphasize one aspect, which is that if we take a look over the last number of years, prepandemic, what was created by the government working with the different stakeholders, Canadians, small and big businesses alike, was somewhere in the neighbourhood of just over a million jobs generated. That would be from 2016 to prepandemic. Then, because of the support programs and working with a team Canada approach, we were among the fastest countries in terms of restore the jobs that were lost during the pandemic.

The government has been very much focused on job creation. This legislation would even go further than that. It would recognize that, as we get closer to that net-zero economy, we need to focus a lot more attention on the types of jobs of the future. That is why we are creating the council and having the secretariat. That is why there is a need for the strategic plan, and this is a government that is going to get the job done.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite would have us believe that Bill C-50 is about creating sustainable jobs, when in actual fact it is not even a plan; it is a plan to get a plan. It is the typical Liberal tactic of saying, “Let us get a bunch of well-paid LIberal insiders to be on a council to advise the government on what the plan might be. Then let us pay another high-paid Liberal insider to be the secretariat, so that two years from now, when they figure out what the plan is, it will happen.” However, nothing says that they do not have a plan like a bill that says it is a plan to get a plan.

Would the member admit they do not have a plan for sustainable jobs?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is a bit much, hearing from the Conservatives about our not having a plan when we are still waiting for Conservative policy on the environment. I remember the plan Conservatives had on the price on pollution, which they call the carbon tax. I have highlighted it before. That was their plan, and they advertised it to every Canadian. It was their election platform, where they said that they supported a price on pollution. Do members remember that plan? What has happened to it? Today, the Conservative Party, en masse, has had a conversion. They now say that they do not support a price on pollution.

The only consistency is that the Conservative Party continues in a reckless fashion, and people need to be aware. People are taking a risk when they talk to the Conservatives. If they want to focus on growing Canada's middle class, they can take a look at what Bill C-50 would do: It would create opportunities for good solid middle-class jobs well into the future.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am going to be splitting my time with my good friend and colleague, the great member for Foothills, who is from the great province of Alberta.

Before I get started, let me give another shout-out to another fellow Albertan, another colleague in this House who has done incredible work on this unjust legislation, the member for Lakeland. She has been an absolute advocate not only for our province but also for our world-class and world-leading energy sector.

The world needs more clean, responsible low-carbon energy. Not only does the world need Canada's world-class energy, but Canadians need it too. They need it not only to heat their homes, keep the lights on and fuel their vehicles, but for the economic benefit it brings.

After eight years of the incompetent Liberal-NDP government, it is just not worth the cost for Canadians or our resource sector. Canada is last among developed countries for GDP per capita growth. Canadians are suffering with the worst GDP per capita growth rate since the Great Depression, or since the 1930s. GDP per person in Canada today is just under what it was halfway through 2018. That means Canada has had five years' worth of economic productivity wiped out.

According to the OECD, Canada will remain last among developed countries for GDP per capita growth through 2060. The government has been doing one thing really well, which is chasing investment out of our country. As our leader once said, all of our exes are running away to Texas.

The costly Liberal-NDP coalition has not just been chasing investment out of our country, but chasing out jobs, people and talent as well. People do not want to move to this country because they do not see a future here anymore. When my family came here as immigrants, there was a hope in Canada that if one put in hard work, one would be able to see the fruits of that labour. However, after years of the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister, all that hope has been wiped away by bad economic policy that has told the world that Canada is not open for business anymore.

This unjust legislation would further hurt Canada's economy and reputation on the world stage, as if the Prime Minister's reputation has not already damaged Canada enough.

The Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada was formed just a few years ago to advocate against the government's anti-competitive and antiworker policies. Now half of its manufacturer members have already moved or are moving their operations out of Canada.

The green industry in Canada will not even make a dent in the kind of economic development and growth needed for recovery. In 2007, the clean-tech sector was 3% of Canada's GDP. Today, even after billions and billions of tax dollars and government subsidies and billions more in private sector investment, it is still only 3%, and 1.6% of employment.

Despite the anti-energy agenda by the Liberal-NDP government, the unconstitutional “no more pipelines” bill, Bill C-69, the tanker ban bill, Bill C-48, cancelling Energy East, cancelling Keystone XL and not building any of the 18 LNG projects proposed when the Prime Minister took office, Canada's energy sector still represents 10% of our GDP and, with the related manufacturing that comes with it, contributes over $120 billion to our economy. Canada needs its energy sector to be strong to attract businesses, investments and jobs in order to get our economic growth and productivity back on track.

The Liberal-NDP government loves nothing more than to vilify profit or the success of large Canadian industries. When it comes to Canada's energy sector, it is like a sport for the left to see who can hate it the most. There is a big cost to these failed Liberal-NDP policies, these anti-energy and anti-Canada policies. These attacks will throw at least 170,000 people out of work across the country, many of them in my home province of Alberta and many in my riding of Calgary Forest Lawn. They will displace another 450,000 workers and risk the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians in all provinces and sectors, regardless of whether they are working class or middle class.

We know that people would lose jobs with the unjust transition the left is proposing. We already saw it in Ontario under Kathleen Wynne with the green energy program, which killed off nearly 100,000 jobs directly. The 50,000 green jobs those Liberals promised to create never materialized. In Alberta, the Rachel Notley NDP, in 2015, implemented a just transition, and in small mining towns like Hanna, just north of Calgary, workers were promised new green jobs once their coal mining jobs were wiped out. Just as in Ontario, over 1,000 workers left town because the jobs that had been promised were not there. This was in a town of just under 3,000 people, and 1,000 were driven out of work and out of town.

The sheer number of job losses we are talking about on a national scale is devastating, especially at a time when Canadians face a cost of living crisis. Sixty per cent of Canadians are choosing cheaper, less nutritious food because they cannot afford healthy options. Millions of Canadians are visiting food banks as families choose between keeping a roof over their head and keeping food on the table. Nearly a third of mortgage holders are concerned they will not be able to afford their mortgage, as interest rates could increase monthly payments by 40% or higher.

It is not just the jobs, livelihoods and communities that suffer when the Liberal-NDP government attacks our energy industry. It is also hurting Canadian pensions. The Canadian pension plan and Ontario pension plan invest billions in Canada's oil and gas sector because they know it is a good return on investment. In fact, seven of the largest pension funds in Canada remain invested in Canadian oil and gas. By firing energy workers and attacking our world-class energy sector, the Liberal-NDP coalition is attacking the retirement security of Canadian seniors and workers.

There is a huge impact of this unjust transition on communities and Canadians. There is nothing fair, equitable or remotely just in this blatant anti-energy attack. The Liberal-NDP government, with its war on Canadian jobs and paycheques, is not worth the cost. Canadian energy companies provide good-paying jobs, even good union jobs, for Canadians.

As an example, the Keystone XL pipeline project was to employ 1,400 direct and 5,400 indirect jobs in Alberta alone. The province and TC Energy partnered with Natural Law Energy, an indigenous-led and indigenous-run company. Many of the Canadians who worked on the project were indigenous. The economic benefit for Albertans in surrounding rural communities kept people employed and businesses running.

Canadian energy companies are also leaders in the investment and development of clean technology. Seventy-five per cent of private sector investment in clean technology comes from the oil and gas sector.

Canada's energy sector contributes $48 billion in taxes and royalties to all levels of government. These continuous attacks on our energy sector drive up the cost of gas, groceries and home heating. We do not need to go very far to ask a Canadian about that. We have talked to Canadians all across this country who just last winter were hit with the failed policies of the Liberal-NDP government when we saw the cost of heating homes double and saw gas prices at record levels. All of these things are contributing to the cost of living crisis we see today with the failed carbon tax scam that the Liberal-NDP government continues to introduce.

It was not like this before the Liberal-NDP government and it will not be like that after the Liberal-NDP government, because when the member for Carleton becomes prime minister of this country, we are going to bring it home. Conservatives will bring home energy production to Canada to produce energy here and create jobs to get Canadians good paycheques instead of giving dollars to dictators. We will green-light green projects like tidal water, hydro, hydrogen and LNG. We are going to make sure that we support our seniors by axing the failed carbon tax to bring down the cost of gas, groceries and home heating and bring home lower prices. We are going to bring it home for Canadians.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I feel very confident in knowing that the Prime Minister and every Liberal member of Parliament understands and has complete faith in the CPP, the Canada pension plan.

I have a question for the member opposite, who is the finance critic. What is the Conservative Party of Canada's position in regard to what the Premier of Alberta is talking about in terms of getting Alberta out of the CPP? The member made reference to the CPP. Will the Conservatives be straightforward and transparent with what their position is in regard to the CPP and Alberta?

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, the member highlights a very important point. After eight years of the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister, Canada and its Confederation are broken. Never have we seen a more divisive Prime Minister. He has pitted region versus region, province versus province, sector versus sector, Canadian versus Canadian and even newcomers against each other because of his failed ideology.

This country was not in this horrific state when we moved here. It was not like that until these last eight years. It is because the Prime Minister wants people to be divided and wants to make sure that he is the guy seen as the giver. He wants to turn this country into a place where newcomers cannot exist or survive.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, earlier I had the opportunity to ask the Minister of Labour and Seniors why he chose to call his bill the “Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act” instead of simply talking about a just transition, which is an internationally recognized term. In fact, it was coined by the unions and subsequently endorsed by the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the European Union, to name just a few. It is the term used here in Canada.

When I was at COP26 in Glasgow, I met representatives from unions like the FTQ. These people attend this type of international meeting to ensure that Canada is taking part in the just transition. Now, however, the government is using phrases like “sustainable jobs” and telling us that workers do not like the phrase “just transition”, even though unions are made up of workers. What does my colleague think about that?

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would inform the member that there is nothing just about this legislation. When the Liberals are throwing at least 170,000 people out of work across the country, displacing 450,000 workers, risking the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians and damaging the industry that is literally holding the country up, there is nothing just about that.

I wish the Bloc would understand how much this industry can contribute to bringing down world emissions, taking dictators' dollars away and making strong, powerful Canadian paycheques instead.