Debates of Nov. 7th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, there is an equality and equity thing happening here. Treating all folks equally when they start out unequal just perpetuates an inequality.

It costs four times as much to heat one's home on heating oil as it does on natural gas, and that is a particular problem when one lives in a region like mine that does not have access to natural gas. Let us pick up for those people hardest hit. Let us make sure they get the break they deserve.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the member for South Shore—St. Margarets and his neighbour to please take the floor when a question comes to them. Then we can listen to the answer without any problem.

The hon. member for Kenora.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has paused the pain of his carbon tax for 3% of families in areas where he is plummeting in the polls. The Liberal rural affairs minister says that if others wanted a similar pause, well, they should have elected more Liberals. The people of Thunder Bay—Rainy River did elect a Liberal MP, yet they are not seeing this pause.

Just yesterday, that member had an opportunity to vote to take the tax off and keep the heat on, but he voted against our common-sense motion. Why is the government so committed to quadrupling the carbon tax that the member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River left the people of northern Ontario outside in the cold?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, we put forward a plan that addresses affordability in the long term for vulnerable Canadians who are suffering from high costs associated with home heating oil, which have accelerated significantly in the last two years. We have done it in a manner that is consistent with the fight against climate change, a fight that is not just Canadian but is also happening in countries around the world.

I would say that it is the height of hypocrisy for the member opposite to be talking about this, a price on pollution that they endorsed in their campaign platform. It was part of the basis on which he was elected to the House.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, they have absolutely no plan for affordability, which must be why the Prime Minister has paused his carbon tax pain for 3% of families. However, people in Thunder Bay—Superior North want to know why their MP, a Liberal minister, was not able to get the same pause for people across northern Ontario. Just yesterday, she had the opportunity to vote to keep the heat on and take the tax off for people across northern Ontario.

Again, why is the government so committed to quadrupling its carbon tax that the member for Thunder Bay—Superior North was forced to leave the people of northern Ontario out in the cold?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times, it is shameful that the party opposite has no plan to address a crisis that is facing all of humanity. I would tell colleagues that, in the modern age, having recognition and acceptance of the realities of climate change is critical to having an economic plan that can be relevant for the future.

What we hear is that the Leader of the Opposition will cancel the Volkswagen battery manufacturing plant, that he opposes offshore wind and hydrogen development in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, that he would get rid of the Canada Infrastructure Bank and that he would eliminate the small modular reactor project at Darlington. He is opposed to everything. At the end of the day, he has no plan for the economy and he has no plan for the environment—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I urge all members to listen to their whips' instructions about keeping quiet in the House.

The hon. member for Drummond.

Canadian Heritage

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 547 people working at TVA lost their jobs on Thursday, the darkest day in the history of Quebec television.

The federal government has to realize that Bill C-11 and Bill C-18 will not be enough. The government has to launch a $50‑million emergency fund for news media. It has to hold a summit next spring at the latest with all industry stakeholders to find long-term solutions to ensure the survival of our media outlets. Their future is at stake, and the time to act is now.

Will the minister create an emergency fund and hold a summit?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have witnessed the impact of the crisis on media outlets across the country. That is why we introduced support programs.

I am obviously very shaken by the news of the 547 jobs lost. We will keep working on the various proposals. We are examining every option for supporting the media.

We now see the results of the Conservatives' constant filibustering in an attempt to prevent us from modernizing our laws. Had we been able to do it in 2020, when we first introduced the bill, those jobs might not have been lost. That is entirely on the Conservatives.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports successful immigration. We are saying it loud and clear. That is why we want immigrants to be able to find housing. We want them to have access to a family doctor. We want their children to go to school in nice classrooms, with all the professional support they need. We want them to be able to learn French, because that is the key to flourishing in Quebec. That is what integration capacity is all about, all of that.

Will the Liberals finally understand that they are jeopardizing all that by setting immigration targets that are in no way in line with our integration capacity?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say a big thank you to our colleague for raising the issue of housing. It is both important and timely.

This morning, we announced that Canada Lands Company will build 28,000 new homes over the next five years, including 5,000 new affordable housing units, which is twice the amount that has been built in the past 30 years.

This is a clear example of how municipalities, non-profit and for-profit organizations and the Canadian government can work together to create more affordable housing for more people in this country.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have no idea what Quebec's integration capacity is. Why is that? For one thing, they did not consult the Government of Quebec before coming up with their immigration targets. For another, because of the Canada-Quebec accord, they are refusing to consult any Quebec organization that does not have a Canada-wide mandate.

As a result, only 6% of the groups that were consulted were from Quebec. The Liberals refuse to talk to Quebec and Quebeckers, so it should come as no surprise that their immigration targets are out of sync with our integration capacity. Will the minister go back and do his homework?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, not only is the member out of touch with Quebeckers, but he is out of touch with the news. Today we learned that Quebec is in need of workers. How can we address the labour shortage? Immigration. It is not the only solution, and I agree with the member that it needs to be successful immigration, but according to today's news, Quebec's GDP is lower than expected because of the worker shortage. The solution to the labour shortage is immigration, which will most certainly by successful.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois separatists joined the Liberals yesterday in voting down our motion to axe the carbon tax on home heating for all Canadians. Quebec, however, endorsed a statement released jointly with the other provinces that supported our initiative.

The Bloc Québécois is working against the Premier of Quebec and for the Prime Minister of Canada. Who would have though it possible? What concessions did the Bloc Québécois get to keep this incompetent and costly Prime Minister in power?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am a big fan of Infoman. Last week's program featured a segment on half-truths told by the Conservative Party of Canada. Not once but twice during the program, Infoman found that a statement made by the Conservatives was false. The Conservatives say that carbon pricing has a 16% impact on inflation, but that is untrue. According to Infoman, that impact is 0.15%. The program corrected a number of falsehoods. It is well worth watching.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is funny. Now Infoman is guiding the federal government. Hello to Infoman.

The problem is that after eight years of this Liberal government, a new coalition formed yesterday, the Bloc-Liberal coalition. The Liberal-NDP coalition was bad enough. Now we are stuck with a coalition of sovereignists and separatists who are supporting the Liberal government to keep it in power for another two years.

Canadians and Quebeckers have had enough of this government's extravagant spending. What did the Bloc Québécois get in compensation for agreeing to make a deal with the Liberal Party?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that there is a coalition in the House: There is the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, the Green Party and the New Democratic Party, who all believe that climate change is an existential challenge. The one party in the House that does not believe it is the Conservative Party. There are four parties in the House who think we should do something to fight climate change, that we should put a price on pollution, that we should encourage clean technology and the electrification of transportation. There is one party in the House who does not believe in any of that and that is the official opposition, the Conservative Party of Canada.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, voting for the Bloc Québécois is costly, and we proved it again yesterday. The costly new Bloc-Liberal coalition voted against our common-sense motion that would have enabled Canadians across the country to stay warm this winter. We cannot say it enough: The Liberals and the Bloc voted together to radically increase the carbon tax on the backs of Canadians. They are not worth the cost. Voting for the Bloc Québécois is costly. What concessions did the Bloc Québécois win by agreeing to keep this incompetent Prime Minister in power?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, look who has come out of the woodwork. Where was our colleague this summer when the rivers were overflowing? Where was he this summer when the forest fires were burning? Where was he when people were being displaced pretty much everywhere? The Conservatives, with their regressive policies and their climate change denial, want to try to set us back. They want to take us back to the Stone Age.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this incompetent Prime Minister, he has found a new partner. Yesterday, the costly new Bloc-Liberal coalition voted to keep the carbon tax on home heating for all Canadians. It is truly shameful.

For the second time, what concessions did the Bloc Québécois get to keep this incompetent Prime Minister in power?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from people who think that human beings and dinosaurs coexisted or that The Flintstones TV show is a documentary.

We are going to fight climate change. The Conservatives want to make us backtrack on fundamental rights, guns and the environment. They want to take us back to the Stone Age.

Climate Change

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing announcements at every turn, photo ops and great speeches, but despite all that, the commissioner of the environment is giving the Liberals a failing grade on the climate crisis. Canada is going to miss its target because we are still waiting for the oil and gas emissions cap. Under the Liberals, more public money is going to fossil fuels than in any other G20 country. That is unbelievable.

When will the Liberals wake up and take this crisis seriously? Will that be when the planet goes up in smoke?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague bothered to actually listen to the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development's press conference he would have heard him say—and these are his words—that the plan we presented last year is the best plan to fight climate change in the history of this country. I did not say that, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development did.

Can we do more to fight climate change? Of course. Would I be pleased to work with him, with the Bloc Québécois and with the Green Party so that Canada can move faster and go further in the fight against climate change, in spite of the Conservative Party of Canada? Absolutely.

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are out of touch with Canadians struggling to find a home they can afford. They just handed over six parcels of federal land to wealthy developers, and only a small fraction of the homes built will be affordable. We are in a housing crisis. Rent is through the roof. Canadians are having to make impossible choices. Some end up living in cars or on the street.

Canada needs at least two million non-profit homes, so why are the Liberals, yet again, putting profits over people having an affordable home?