Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, now is probably as good a time, and specifically right now, to remind this House that just about every member on that side of the House ran, of course, on a carbon tax. They had some way of going about it where people would collect green points that would go toward some sort of government-run Amway catalogue where they could collect some sort of greenie things that would be selected by the government.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, we have made significant progress to help seniors since 2015 and these efforts have reduced poverty for seniors over 65. The facts are that the GIS increase helped lift 45,000 seniors out of poverty. Restoring the age of retirement back to 65 prevented 100,000 seniors from falling into severe poverty, against the wishes of the other side, I should say.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, we have an opportunity, with this legislation, to make sure workers are at the centre of the most important decisions in the biggest challenges facing this country today.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not find anything particularly paternalistic about this government's or any government's talking directly to workers, and I do not need anybody to tell me that I cannot do that. I also do not find it necessarily duplicative because some other government had spoken to them as well.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a huge competitive advantage to make sure not only that workers are at the table but also that they are helping us lead these decisions. That in itself is a competitive advantage. It is a competitive advantage when we put in place the mechanisms to make sure that they do have that voice, that it is heeded and that they lead.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, Bea Bruske, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said that workers have raised their voices and have helped make the sustainable jobs act a reality, and that Canada's unions are proud to work with the government to develop legislation that focuses on workers.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, I remember when the Atlantic accord came about. It came about because of the good work of prime ministers like Brian Mulroney, excellent politicians like Pat Carney and, of course, the indomitable John Crosbie. One of the things that the Atlantic accord fundamentally does is acknowledge the jurisdictions of the provinces and the federal government.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, time is of the essence here. The Inflation Reduction Act has passed in the United States. It is perhaps the single greatest industrial policy, and probably the single greatest piece of legislation, that has been passed in any democracy in the world on the issue of energy transition.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, I would say to the hon. member, “Believe it.” I am a lot less interested in using phraseology that appeals to Geneva or others, and there has been some consistency in phrases that the member likes or perhaps some union leadership likes. I am interested in the membership of the those unions.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, Bea Bruske, the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said that this would be a big win for workers and that workers have raised their voices and helped to make the sustainable jobs act a reality. We did not just come up with writing this off at committees. These are things we developed after a great deal of consultation with workers themselves, so these are the mechanisms that would give them a voice.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, this is very much a process, and process can be incredibly important. I do not want to presuppose what workers are going to say about how they want to get this done. I have talked to a lot of oil and gas workers, both in my constituency and in my time as natural resources minister.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, when I look at the other side, I am looking at the kings of red tape when it comes to energy production. One of the first things I was so happy to do was with respect to exploratory well environmental assessments on our offshore, off Newfoundland. The assessments were at 300 days per exploratory well until the Conservatives got in power and somehow magically found a way to triple that time to 900 days to make an exploratory well, which is a simple drill that goes into the sea bed to see if there is oil there.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not want to enter into the psychology of the Conservative Party. Therefore, I thank the hon. member for the question, but I will refuse the attempt. Let me just say this. I would like to comment on his last point, if I could, as that is really what is at the heart of what we are proposing to do here.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, let me speak to the hon. member's mentioning of the phrase “just transition.” There is a very simple reason why I do not like using “just transition” and it is because workers hate the phrase “just transition”. I do recognize that the International Labour Organization created it.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act  Mr. Speaker, the pearl-clutching. If the members on the other side had not moved concurrence, maybe we could have been debating this last night. However, they used procedural games to avoid debate, and here we are happy to take questions on a very important matter. I would also take issue with the fact that the Supreme Court, in its opinion, did a slam dunk or that a fulsome 100% judgment was rendered from the other side.