Debates of March 31st, 2023

Public Safety

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, although the work of the commission has concluded, we know that the grief and loss of the families and communities will remain forever.

Yesterday, we received the report from the commission. It is a road map to pursue necessary changes, whether within the RCMP or in regard to semi-automatic firearms or gender-based violence. We will work closely with all involved to pursue these reforms, because that is what Canadians expect and deserve.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, I said there was a crisis with stabbings across the country. People are being stabbed in broad daylight. The Prime Minister stood up and said not to worry; he is going to ban hunting rifles, even though it is knives that do stabbings, not hunting rifles. It is not the Inuit hunter in Nunavut who is causing stabbings in downtown Vancouver.

All of these facts angered and frustrated the Prime Minister. He became visibly upset and ran out the back door. He has not been back since. The Prime Minister was obviously frightened and concerned by that debate—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition knows the rules and that we do not mention the presence or absence of members in the House.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Madam Speaker, is the Prime Minister okay, and will he ever be back in the House of Commons to debate me?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I asked the hon. member to be wary of the rules, and the hon. member repeated comments that he knows are against the rules. We will take one question out of the next round of Conservative questions.

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

Climate Change

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the IPCC has just tabled its synthesis report on climate change, which it called a “survival guide for humanity”.

Greenpeace said, “This is the final warning...for this decade [which] will have impacts for thousands of years”.

However, the federal budget still provides at least $37 billion in fossil fuel subsidies. Ottawa is still trying to greenwash pollution from dirty energy.

When will the federal government realize that its short-sighted budgets risk ruining the planet for thousands of years?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, all members of this House know that we are working very hard to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector. We are going to be capping oil and gas emissions. We will be implementing a clean fuel standard and a clean electricity standard. We are going to be investing in carbon capture and storage. Very importantly, we are going to be eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, and we are going to be doing that two years in advance of the predicted schedule.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, not only does this budget not decrease fossil fuel production, but it relies on climate change for future fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic.

Équiterre stated, “We are deeply concerned about planned investments in future Arctic offshore oil and gas development.”

Greenpeace said, “We are concerned to see new subsidies for oil and gas companies making record profits.”

When will Canada stop driving the planet into the ground for the benefit of oil companies?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question. The fact of the matter is that the government has already invested over $100 billion in this country's clean economy.

In the budget tabled this week, we committed to increasing the country's clean electricity capacity. We are going to harness hydrogen as another source of clean energy.

We are here to build the economy of the future with Canadian workers, and we will continue to use—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

Telecommunications

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, with prices skyrocketing, Canadians expect this government to work to make their life more affordable, but the Liberals have let families down time and time again.

This time, they gave Rogers and Shaw the green light to continue gouging Canadians on their Internet and cellphone bills. We are already paying some of the highest prices in the world for these services. The Liberals are letting business leaders get rich at the expense of Canadian families.

Why did the minister and the government let Canadians down?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. However, I think he missed this morning's press conference. This morning, we said that Canadians asked us for one thing: to lower the price of telecommunications services in Canada.

The best way to do that is to have competition, and we need a fourth national player to do that. Not only will we have a fourth national player, but we also imposed 21 conditions in an unprecedented contract with Canadians. We will be there to ensure that this contract is respected to lower prices in Canada.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I know the minister has said he is going to watch this Frankenstein deal like a hawk, but he has left Canadian consumers to the buzzards. In fact, the minister has given the green light to Rogers and at the same time given the red light to his own industry committee and the Competition Bureau, which has been opposed to this.

For decades, Liberal and Conservative governments have allowed these massive telco companies to make huge profits off the backs of hard-working Canadians. This is a disaster that will end with less competition, massive layoffs and higher prices. Why have the Liberals thrown in the towel, sided with the telco CEOs and stuck Canadian families with higher prices and the bill?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I have enormous respect for my colleague, but when we gave the red light, we did not approve the transfer of licence from Shaw to Rogers. That was very clear. Instead, we listened to Canadians, something that everyone in this House should do. Canadians have told us one thing: Bring prices down and have more competition. The way to do that in Canada is to have a fourth national player. That is why we imposed conditions. We want lower prices for Canadians, and we will be watching them like a hawk.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Madam Speaker, as farmers look to begin seeding, input costs—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I advised members that I was going to take out the next question from the Conservatives and I am taking it out. As members know, it is the prerogative of the Chair to determine who the next speaker is, and my prerogative is to choose the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa.

Carbon Pricing

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are tripling their carbon tax, and tonight at midnight they will carry out their plan by raising the carbon tax again. Gas is going up, home heating is going up and groceries are going up.

Gladys emailed me the other day saying that she cannot afford this tax hike. She said, “We cannot afford more useless taxes.”

Will the Liberals stand up for Canadians like Gladys and cancel their plan to increase the carbon tax tonight at midnight?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member is from my home province of Manitoba and will know that Manitobans will receive $1,000 in climate rebate cheques over the next year. They will receive those cheques quarterly.

The hon. member will also know that there is a cost to climate change. We in Manitoba have had two one-in-300-year floods, costing $1 billion each. Agriculture has been dramatically impacted. We have had 1,700 people driven from their homes due to floods. There is a cost to climate change and we are addressing—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Madam Speaker, as farmers look to begin seeding, input costs are top of mind. They have already been losing tons of money under the carbon tax, but the Liberals are going to raise it again at midnight tonight.

What makes it worse is that the Minister of Agriculture voted this week against an exemption for on-farm fuels. Even the Liberal chair of the agriculture committee voted with the Conservatives. He gets it, so why does the minister keep voting against farmers but is supporting the increase in the carbon tax at midnight tonight?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear my colleague talk about input costs. Input costs have risen, and not because of any taxes but because of demand.

I hope the hon. member will support the budget, as we have increased interest-free advance payment programs by up to $350,000, something the Conservative members have supported in the past. I hope they will support the budget.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives know that technology, not carbon taxes, will improve our environment, yet every time the Conservatives question the carbon tax or point out the costs, the Liberals stand up and point out some person who has lost their house in a recent fire, flood or hurricane as a reason to raise the carbon tax. The carbon tax will only make these people poorer.

The Liberals tell us that effective tonight, they will be raising the carbon tax again. When will they cancel this disastrous plan?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, as I said yesterday, something is not sinking in. The climate rebate will make eight out of 10 families better off. That is in a PBO report.

What will not leave people better off is investing in cryptocurrency. I gave the Leader of the Opposition two or three times to apologize for his very reckless advice to Canadians, but it really underlines that the opposition has no plan for the economy, no plan for the environment and certainly no plan for climate change.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Madam Speaker, while the Prime Minister stays in a swanky $6,000-a-night hotel struggling with just one butler, Sue, a senior in my riding, sees herself working three days a week. Why? It is because this costly NDP-Liberal coalition is set to raise its carbon tax again at midnight, meaning that Sue and all Canadians are going to pay more for heating, eating, driving and living. Perhaps it should focus on a real climate plan instead of punishing Canadians with a carbon tax.

Why will this costly coalition—