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.

Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to take part in this debate since it is an essential debate for the future of Canada and, let us be honest, for the future of the planet. We are talking here about the vision, the perspective we have when it comes to Canada's natural resources given the challenges we are facing with climate change, which is real.

First, let us begin by defining what is at stake. Climate change is real. Humans are contributing to it. Humans therefore need to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, ultimately, reducing pollution. Over the eight years that this government has been here, what is Canada's record?

Using a mathematical and scientific process, the United Nations, or UN, which is not just any old organization, analyzed 63 countries around the world to see which nations were most effective at countering the effects of climate change. After eight years of this Liberal government, Canada ranks 58 out of 63 countries. That is not our statistic. It did not come from overly conservative observers. It did not come from climate deniers. No, it came from people in the UN. They handed out their report card: After eight years of the Liberal government, Canada is ranked 58 out of 63 when it comes to effectively fighting climate change.

Will people be surprised by this disappointing result given that the government had pumped itself up and bragged about their ambitious targets?

“Canada is back.” That is exactly what the Prime Minister said eight years ago in Paris. People all around the world applauded that Canada was back. However, after eight years, Canada is way back, at number 58 out of 63. That is the result of policies based on ideology, not on pragmatism and practice.

That is why, sadly, Bill C‑50 follows once again in the same Liberal tradition that this government is imposing on Canadians. In other words, the Liberals think that they are the only ones who know what to do, that they will tax everyone and that is going to reduce emissions.

After eight years, that is not what happened. This government has never met its targets. The rare times when there were reductions was, unfortunately, during the pandemic. If the Liberals' game plan is to bring Canada back there and shut down the economy for a few months, that is not exactly the best thing to do. We can all agree.

It is obvious that introducing carbon taxes is not working. That is the reality. Why is that not working? Because we would need all 195 countries in the world to have carbon pricing systems that were equivalent everywhere, with the same requirements everywhere and the same challenges everywhere The problem, however, is that the big polluters, the big emitters, starting with our biggest neighbour, do not subscribe to this system. This is a prime example of how important geography can be. The United States of America is our main neighbour, our main economic partner and our main competitor. Here in Canada, we are always quick and proud to lecture those around us. We tax people. We tax businesses. We tax wealth creators. We tax job creators. As a result, people go elsewhere instead of investing here. We are shooting ourselves in the foot. It is better to go elsewhere. That is the problem with this dogmatic approach.

Our approach is much more concrete, pragmatic and effective. It will deliver tangible results. On September 2, 2,500 Conservative supporters from across Canada gathered in Quebec City for our national convention. We had not had this type of event in five years. We were all under the same roof. The event took place on the evening of September 2 in Quebec City. I am from Quebec City. I am very proud to say that.

On September 2, there was a milestone speech by the future prime minister of Canada, the hon. member for Carleton. He is the leader of the official opposition today, but he will be the next prime minister. It was a milestone speech, the Quebec speech. It framed where we want to go with the next Conservative government, and when he talked about climate change, the leader was crystal clear that the real impact of climate change has to be addressed. That is what he said. This is why we recognize it, but we want to address it with pragmatism, not ideology.

The speech given in Quebec City is a big part of the history of Canadian politics and it will make its mark like many other important speeches in our history. That is why it will be remembered as the vision that the party had when Canadians gave us the honour of putting their trust in us to form the next government.

What was said in that speech?

The first pillar is that climate change is having a real impact and that it must be addressed. We need pragmatic measures to deal with climate change. Rather than imposing taxes, we are going to encourage people, through tax incentives, to invest in new technologies, research and development and measures that can be immediately implemented to reduce pollution. That is the objective. It is all well and good to brag about lofty principles and say that we are going to reduce emissions by 2.3% compared to what happened in 1991 because it was different in 1996, and so on. That is all theoretical. The reality is that there is pollution and we want to reduce pollution.

When we talk about reducing pollution, it is a never-ending story. We hear that we need to reduce, reduce and reduce. If we can reduce by 20% this year, then great and congratulations. What will be done on January 1 to continue to reduce pollution and emissions? Our plan is based on incentives in research and development to help reduce pollution. This is the first pillar.

The second pillar is to give the green light to green energy. People have projects ready to go right now. They want to invest in green energies and they want to do research and development, but there is too much red tape. We need to act efficiently. I would like to provide a very specific example. Quebec is currently engaged in a lively debate about the future of hydroelectricity. Should we relive the great 1950s, when we gave the green light to so many hydroelectric projects in Quebec, or should we do things differently? This is an ongoing debate. Does everyone know that, through Bill C‑69, the federal government has given itself the right to veto hydroelectric projects in Quebec? This is slowing thing down.

We want to do the opposite and speed up the process of giving people greater access to green energy. When I say “green energy”, I am talking about hydroelectricity, geothermal energy, solar energy, wind energy, as well as nuclear energy. These are all avenues that we need to explore further with new technology to make them more efficient and more accessible to Canadians. That is where it can happen.

The third pillar is that we must be proud to be Canadian, proud of our know-how, our energy and our natural resources. Yes, Canada is rich in intelligence. Yes, Canada is rich when it comes to researchers, natural resources and energy. Yes, as Canadians, we must prioritize these Canadian assets and export this know-how. We have extraordinary know-how in hydroelectricity; we are the best in the world. We should be exporting that know-how.

The same thing can be said of natural resources. There is a lot of talk about the electrification of transport. I, for one, am a supporter and I believe in the future of electric cars to combat the greenhouse effect. However, this requires lithium. We have lithium in Canada. Why is it taking years to get shovels in the ground? We need to speed things up.

That is why we should be proud of who we are. That is why we need to green-light green energy. That is why we need tax incentives to accelerate research and development. Concrete, realistic, responsible, pragmatic measures will enable us to fight the harmful impacts of climate change. For the past eight years, the Liberals have opted for their carbon tax and the second tax that, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, will cost over 20 cents a litre, or 16 cents plus tax. We know the Bloc Québécois had two opportunities to say no to the first carbon tax and the second one. Twice, the Bloc Québécois lent its full support and voted with the Liberal government to keep both taxes.

That is not the approach we recommend. We believe that Canadian know-how, smarts and natural resources are the best way to face the challenge of climate change.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is all fascinating, and the member can ask about it tomorrow, but we are debating Bill C-50 and there is absolutely nothing about it in the question.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-50, which, as a part of this government's agenda of the unjust transition, threatens to do irreparable harm to the people in my communities and across this country.

I will be splitting my time with the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

The so-called sustainable jobs act, which is part of the unjust transition, represents a clear and present danger to the livelihoods and prosperity of hard-working people in my community and in communities across this country. No amount of flowery language crafted by high-priced, Ottawa-based consultants can change the fact and mitigate the very real message being sent to people in my region and across the country, which is that their jobs and their livelihoods are simply not a priority for the NDP-Liberal government.

The legislation before us is a new iteration of the same failed policies that seek to create a taxpayer-funded secretariat of government-appointed elites in Ottawa to decide for the people of my region and of regions across Canada what is best for them and what policies would be imposed on them to meet the Liberal government's arbitrary targets. This is fundamentally unjust. It would lead to significant losses in incomes, to losses in jobs and to losses in livelihoods in my region and across the country. It is clear that the NDP-Liberal government simply is not worth the cost.

I have clear evidence that this is the case, because this is exactly what happened in my region just a few short years ago. The NDP-Liberal government has not learned any lessons from the previous failures of the unjust transition. That failure led to taxpayer-financed corporate bailouts that cost my region thousands of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue for my local municipalities. The counties of Parkland and Leduc are just two among many across this country that lost a considerable amount of revenue. This is revenue that has not been replaced, leading to higher taxes on people who have lost their jobs. Some people worked for 20 years in the coal-fired power plants, and then the government shut them down. Members of the government did not even listen to the recommendations of its own previous secretariat and its report on the coal transition. It did not listen to it, and the consequences for my region were very real, as I said.

The accelerated phase-out of coal mandated by the Liberal government and its NDP allies cost my community dearly. However, it did not even result in a drop in coal consumption around the world. In fact, coal consumption has gone up around the world. The only achievement of the phase-out is that workers in communities in my region and across the country lost out so that the rest of the world could keep burning coal and keep emitting more greenhouse emissions while my area was left out and suffered so much.

In the wake of the decision of the Liberals and the NDP to accelerate the phase-out of these plants, I met with union representatives and with workers' representatives. They told me that it did not live up to expectations, because the government promised it was going to have retraining and jobs for these people whose jobs it transitioned out of existence. These were people who were earning high five-figure and low six-figure jobs, many of them unionized jobs. Do members know what kind of jobs this government paid to retrain them for? They were jobs that paid $30,000 or maybe $40,000 a year. They were not unionized jobs. These were jobs that are not sustainable to support families, jobs that did not enable people to pay their mortgages or car payments. Since so many people in our region were affected by it, when they were trying to sell their home so they could move to an area where they could get a better-paying job, they could not even sell it, or had to sell at a loss. That is the consequence, and this is a government that has not learned from it.

Let us be clear on what the sustainable jobs plan is. In no uncertain terms, it is an attempt by the government to shut down Canada's oil and gas sector. As always in the case of a government with an ideological agenda, the ends justify the means. However, what are the means when it comes to this legislation and the government's agenda?

The unjust transition would help destroy around 170,000 direct jobs and displace 450,000 workers who are currently directly and indirectly employed in our traditional energy sector. In fact, across all sectors of the economy, the unjust transition would risk the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians in every province, across many sectors, including energy, manufacturing, construction, transportation and agriculture. For a government that claims to be evidence-based, these are facts that it either completely ignores or, at worst, feel are justified in order to implement its warped anti-energy ideology. The term “sustainable jobs” could simply be replaced with what it really means, which is jobs that do not exist in our oil and gas sector.

This is extremely short-sighted, because our crude oil and natural gas, and the millions of products that are created from these resources, are entirely sustainable and will be for decades to come. They are not only sustainable, but they also create the highest-paying jobs in the country and provide the greatest economic return of any sector in Canada. In fact, our oil and gas sector is so important that it is the bedrock of our country's economy. Twenty-five per cent of our exports are related to the oil and gas sector. Without it, our trade deficits would be massive. Our dollar would collapse if we did not have it. This would increase the cost of importing goods like food, fuel and pretty much everything else.

Our inflation rate, which is already at record-high levels, would rise even further as our purchasing power collapses. Imagine the catastrophic increase in fuel, groceries and all imported goods if we did not have oil and gas exports propping up our dollar and supporting our economy. The consequences would be catastrophic. It would impoverish not only western Canadians but also Canadians who rely on the purchasing power of our energy-backed Canadian dollar. Inflation would skyrocket, and then the Bank of Canada, in order to get that inflation under control, would have to raise interest rates even further, interest rates that are currently not sustainable for most families in our country. This would lead to more Canadians losing their homes at a time when Canadians are already losing their homes. It would also lead to many families going bankrupt, small businesses collapsing and ultimately, an unacceptable drop in economic growth in our country.

Ironically, this accelerated phase-out of our oil and gas sector, and its resulting impacts, would undermine our efforts to actually make our country have a stronger, greener economy. The commodities we need in order to support wind power, solar power and other clean energy projects are made out of steel, copper and lithium, and these things are priced in American dollars. It would cost Canadian tech manufacturers far more money to produce the manufactured goods here in Canada, and we would not be able to benefit from that. If we have a stronger Canadian dollar with a strong, sustainable energy sector in this country, then we can support the investments needed to make our country greener.

Any serious attempt to grow the renewable energy sector in this country must be led by private industry. In fact, the oil and gas sector is already leading the charge in innovation, and environmental and social responsibility. It is the single biggest investor in clean energy technology in this country. It accounts for about 75% of total investment in this country.

According to Chief Dale Swampy of the National Coalition of Chiefs, “We are the leaders in environmental protection. If you meet with the Canadians who run the oil and gas sector, you'll see that they are just like you. They are concerned about the environment, about safety, about integrity. They'll do whatever they can to protect our country.” Chief Swampy is right. According to another analysis, conducted by the Bank of Montreal, Canada is already ranked as having the top environmental, social and governance profile among the world's top 10 oil and gas producers.

Not only would this bill and the government's agenda do irreparable damage to our own economy, but it would also have consequences that would be felt internationally. Russia's illegal invasion on Ukraine last year underscored the dangers of relying on dictatorships to fulfill our world's energy needs. When our allies have come asking for Canadian energy, the Prime Minister and the Liberal-NDP government have continually turned them away. Just today, I read that the United States is lifting sanctions on the despotic Venezuelan regime, which has repeatedly fixed elections and violently quelled dissent. America and the world are desperate for oil and gas. They are desperate for oil and gas from Canada, and we are the only country turning down the invitation to be part of the global energy solution.

Let us use Germany as an example. It is one of our closest G7 partners. The chancellor came to Ottawa, pleading for Canadian natural gas in order to cut his country off from dirty Russian energy. Germany is a country that, I read recently, has had to restart its coal-fired power plants just to make up for its shortfall in energy. We could be providing low-cost, clean Canadian natural gas. What did the Prime Minister say to the German chancellor? He told him that there was no business case for liquefied natural gas. Likewise, when the Japanese prime minister came to Canada earlier this year, the Prime Minister dismissed his request to help bring Canadian energy to Japan, and he offered just his signature platitudes.

Our allies do not want platitudes. They want Canadian energy. The conclusion is clear: On this side of the House, we believe that as long as the world needs traditional sources of energy, Canada should continue to develop and export its energy sources. Let us let the world's energy market be dominated by a democratic country for a change, one with the highest environmental standards and human rights standards. Let it be Canadian energy for a change.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the member referenced his colleague from Timmins—James Bay. I sat on a committee with him, and we studied this issue. I know that he is passionate about this, in terms of the role that workers would play in Canada in transitioning to a clean economy.

I certainly hope they will support Bill C-50, knowing what it means for Canadians generally, not just in how we reach that net-zero economy but also in how we strengthen it going forward in resource development and how we strengthen jobs for so many Canadians who need those good-paying skilled jobs that they could have right in their own communities and regions.

I am excited about what Bill C-50 would allow us to do in Canada. It would allow us to lead the way to a clean economy that we have rarely seen in any generation. We are a part of making this happen, and my guess is that, if they are passionate about this, they should get on board and make it happen, not sit on the sidelines and just be critical of it. It is going to happen with or without them. If we take an active role, we can make this work, stronger and better, for Canadians.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Labrador, NL]

Mr. Speaker, it is important for all Canadians to feel that their voices are heard.

Through this process, we not only had consultations with all provinces and territories, but we also had consultations with indigenous groups, labour unions and industry, representing thousands of Quebeckers in that process. Their voices were very strong in terms of the input they had into the legislation and how they see Bill C-50 rolling out. Most importantly, their voices were strong in how they see themselves in what would happen in the clean economy and in the transition to new energy developments across Canada and to a net-zero economy.

Quebec has a major role to play in that, as my colleague would agree. We are looking forward to having their support and the support of the people of their province to ensure that they, too, would have the opportunities afforded through a clean economy and clean energy economy into the future.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask my colleague basically the same kinds of questions I asked her colleague earlier. In the opinion of the officials who presented Bill C‑50 to us, Quebec's specific situation was not considered at any point in the process of drafting this bill.

We can do something about that, however. We can do better. We suggest that the government introduce an element of asymmetry into Bill C‑50 that would make it compatible with the Canada-Quebec agreements.

I do not expect my colleague to say yes and agree with me. However, I would like to know whether she can commit to defending this idea within her caucus.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern Affairs and to the Minister of National Defence (Northern Defence)]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague's contribution with respect to Bill C-50 was really informative and interesting.

First of all, I would be remiss if I did not mention that I am speaking today on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

Bill C-50 has been circulating within this country for the last 18 months or longer. It has been a topic of conversation for industry, experts, unions, workers, provinces, territories, committees, think tanks and task forces. This is not something that the government all of a sudden brought to the House of Commons. A tremendous amount of energy, support and careful thought have been invested into developing Bill C-50.

We know that Canadians and the rest of the world are investing toward a low-carbon economy. We are taking our lead from climate experts, from businesses and financial leaders, and from employment and labour specialists. These are people who work in the net-zero economy, who work in the energy sector today and are looking to where they would be working in the energy sector in the future. They want to grow with these opportunities and be a part of launching Canada into being a leader in a net-zero economy. They do not want to be on the sidelines and they do not want to be left behind. They want to be front and centre, and they want to be a part of this movement.

They all agree that the global transition to net zero has the potential to help drive Canada's continued prosperity toward well-paying, high-quality jobs for many generations to come. This is not just for this year, next year or the next five years, but future decades in Canada for which this would have an impact.

We are also taking our cue from the tens of thousands of Canadians who participated in these public consultations. They made sure their voices were heard. They gave us very critical and needed insight and perspectives into where those skills and trades are today, where they see them going in the future, and most important, how they would be included and play a role. That includes representatives from rural and remote communities, as well as from unions, indigenous groups, industry, provinces and territories. All of the stakeholders have participated in bringing forward the legislation before the House today, and that, in itself, speaks volumes as to where Canadians are today in a net-zero economy and the energy transition.

One of the most important conclusions drawn from these engagements was that, for an energy powerhouse such as Canada, there will be an overall increase in jobs for Canadians. As we continue to diversify our energy mix to include more clean and non-emitting energy resources, many of the experts and pundits are even predicting that we will have more new jobs than we will have workers to fill them.

That is a familiar story for Canadians today. The government's sustainable jobs plan is specifically intended to help address these challenges by working to grow the size of our labour force to include more youth, new Canadians, under-represented groups and others who want to participate in this economy in Canada.

We have already made historic investments. This is not new for us as a government. We have been making investments to build a stronger and more inclusive diverse labour force, including, for example, the work that we are doing for a sectoral workforce solutions program. This is nearly $1 billion in investments to help keep economic and low-carbon sectors current and ensure that their workforce is emerging, that it is a workforce that is needed and that we are meeting the demands.

We have put $55 million into the community workforce development program. This was to help communities connect with employers, with workers and with future jobseekers to determine where these skilled trades are going to be and how they prepare for them. For someone who is coming out of school today, where are those clean tech, net-zero economy jobs going to be in 24 months, four years or six years?

We are way ahead of the game on what needs to be done for workers in Canada to make this transition. Of course, we have many other programs, some that are supporting indigenous organizations, industry employers and a number of them supporting the Canadian labour market.

I come from an energy producing province, a province that has found its wealth in the oil and gas sector. Now we are seeing new opportunities on the horizon for hydrogen development, wind development, solar power development and tidal power development. We are seeing an opportunity before us today that a decade ago we did not even think was possible. We know it is the future for our economy. As a province, we know we need to move where the trends and new jobs are going to be, those new revenues. If we are to have a sustainable economy in Canada, we need to be prepared to make this transition.

We are not only an oil and gas producing province; Newfoundland and Labrador is a major generator of clean energy. Did we lose jobs because we went from diesel generation to the largest hydro development projects in the country? Absolutely not. We imported jobs by the thousands to do those developments, to build those projects. Now we are sustaining hundreds of more jobs in those sectors. This is not something new. Just like when we made transitions 30 years ago, we are making transitions today.

What I do not understand is why the Conservatives are not supporting the transition to a net-zero economy, knowing it is going to bring sustainable economic development and good jobs for Canadians who want to work in all regions of Canada and for those who want to be able to stay at home and have a well-paying job.

In fact, I was amazed when I looked at some of the reports and studies that were done. One was by Clean Energy Canada, a think-tank based out of Simon Fraser University. It talked about the number of new jobs that would be created in the clean energy sector alone, about 3.4% every year over the next decade. We are talking about increasing jobs by 46% in sectors like hydrogen and clean electricity. These are not small numbers. These are hundreds of thousands of new jobs for Canadians who will be graduates of high schools and college programs. Not only that, it is coming at a time when we are seeing a lot of skilled workers in the energy sector retiring and leaving the industry.

It is a great time to be proactive in Canada, and that is what our government is doing. Bill C-50 is the benchmark for those things to happen. I can guarantee, from a province which is now excited about hydrogen and offshore wind, as well as from other regions of Atlantic Canada that are moving forward with projects like this as well, that we are not only seeing the thousands of jobs that come with it, but seeing a sustainable, tremendous future for Atlantic Canada, for Newfoundland and Labrador in sectors like this. It gives us hope and optimism that we have not had for a long time.

We are getting a clean environment, a net-zero economy, great jobs and are giving Canadians an opportunity to stay and work at home. I do not see any reason anyone would vote against that in the House of Commons.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for giving me another opportunity to speak to Bill C‑50, which I gave a speech about a few days ago.

I would like to ask my Liberal colleague a question. How is it that this bill was drafted without taking into account the existing job training agreements between Ottawa and Quebec?

These agreements have been around for 25 years. How can the government come up with a bill without taking into account Quebec's reality?

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-50, An Act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Second Reading

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Labrador.

I am delighted to be standing here today to discuss Bill C-50, a bill that would help ensure Canada's workers are equipped with the skills and training they need to help our country seize the economic opportunities ahead of it. The fact is that as the world advances toward a net-zero future, we need to skate where the puck is going. I will give members a good example from my riding.

The Government of Canada invested to help Algoma Steel, the second-largest steel producer in Canada, bring its operations into the next era by phasing out its thermal coal furnaces and putting electric arc furnaces in their place. This means more clean air in my community. It is the equivalent of taking nearly one million gas-powered cars off the road. It is amazing. It means a healthier workplace for our steelworkers as well.

Like the sustainable jobs act, this investment was about creating new, well-paying jobs that benefit our economy. People in the community have started calling this investment “generational”. I have talked to steelworkers, and they know that if their grandkids choose to work in the steel industry in Sault Ste. Marie in the district of Algoma, because of this investment, they can do so.

There are industrial facilities like Algoma Steel in many parts of our country, from material to energy to manufacturing. Investors want to power their plants with clean energy, while minimizing emissions and maximizing their high-quality material production.

Members should not just take it from me: The president of the Business Council of Alberta said, “The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources that the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals.” Clearly, it is imperative that we advance technology and skills to get good projects built, while fighting climate change.

On the investment and research side, we are working hard to make sure that Canada is at the front of this global race for clean technologies. The Government of Canada is approaching this thoughtfully, through measures such as our hydrogen strategy, a clean electricity vision paper and our recently released carbon management strategy, which will help us secure sustainable jobs in such sectors as cement and steelmaking.

As we work to become leaders in the clean technology sector, we also need to make sure that our people are equipped to lead. Within the Canadian sustainable jobs act, the government would create a future where the Canadian workforce can thrive as it meets the world's growing demand for low-carbon energy, resources and solutions. It is a future where the challenge would not be finding good, well-paying jobs. Instead, the challenge would be keeping up with the demand for skills development and training programs to help Canadians fill them.

Bill C-50 provides an important opportunity to create a legal framework for action that fosters the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic prosperity across Canada. This legislation already reflects the feedback we have received from workers, labour organizations, experts, indigenous peoples, provinces and territories, and many other stakeholders.

This legislation would help us do two things. These things are not negotiable if we want workers to succeed in a low-carbon economy.

The first thing it would do is put Canada's workers first. To put it simply, as the government invests in the growth of our energy sector and other low-carbon industries, this legislation obliges the government to bring Canada's accomplished and motivated workers along with us. We are starting this dream together in a good place.

Workers in the conventional energy sector are already well-positioned to succeed in growing clean technology industries such as hydrogen. This is based on a recent state-of-the-industry report from Enserva, which found the following:

...people involved in energy development will be at a huge advantage in terms of jobs and skills as the underlying technical skills required to extract, develop, produce, process and export oil and gas are transferable to different forms of energy, such as wind, solar, biomass and LNG.

While this gives Canadian energy workers a reason to be optimistic, we still need the legislation to ensure that the government has a plan to provide them, their families and their communities with the related supports they need.

The second thing this legislation would allow us to do is to assure existing and potential investors that our workforce is fully up to supporting emerging low-carbon projects and priorities. We must continue to motivate investors to back the businesses that will grow tomorrow's low-carbon economy, while investing public funds into a wide array of sectors and projects.

The latest federal budget alone included $86 billion in new incentives to accelerate the growth of our clean energy sector, with new or enhanced investments and tax credits toward generating clean electricity and hydrogen, manufacturing and adopting clean technologies and advancing the viability of carbon management. This investment stands to help workers in very real ways, since the highest investment tax credits are reserved for the companies that offer the most competitive compensation packages. It is a win for investors, for Canadian workers and for communities.

The legislation has been informed by many things. In 2021 the government released a discussion paper on sustainable jobs, and we invited all Canadians to have their say on it. This led to 18 months of public consultations, highlighted by 17 round tables with a range of stakeholders and partners, including workers themselves. We also received tens of thousands—

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

Madam Speaker, I am rising today to express my serious concerns about Bill C-50. This bill is called the sustainable jobs act, which is typical of what Liberals do. They pick a name that sounds good. Who does not like sustainable jobs? I like sustainable jobs. I think all Canadians want sustainable jobs. It sounds really good, but the problem is that in this bill there is no plan to create sustainable jobs. This is a plan to get a plan.

The bill outlines how the Liberals are going to put together a council. Based on past behaviour, I suggest that it would be highly paid Liberal insiders who will get these jobs and advise on what the plan ought to be. As to the timeline of when they are going to come up with what the plan ought to be, it be should by 2025, coincidentally just after the next election.

The Liberals do not have a plan. Nothing says there is no plan like a bill that is introduced to get a plan. That is the first thing.

The second thing is the Liberals have another role, a secretariat, that is going to do some coordination, with another highly paid Liberal insider when they get the plan. The problem is that is it; that is all. It is a plan to get a plan, with some principles that are motherhood and apple pie and that we would all agree on, such as well-paying jobs, caring about the environment and the need to respect labour, all of these good things. They are all motherhood and apple pie, but the bill does not have a specific action that is going to help.

On the other hand, it is going to hurt. The analysts of the government have said that Bill C-50 would kill 170,000 direct Canadian jobs, would displace 450,000 workers directly and indirectly working in the energy sector and would risk the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians across all provinces. The bill would destroy as many as 2.7 million jobs when there is not a single action in it to create any sustainable jobs at all. That is a problem.

The other thing is that it is going to cost a lot of money. Right now the energy sector provides 10% of Canada's GDP and pays over $20 billion in taxes to all levels of government every year. Last year, $48 billion in royalties and taxes were contributed by the energy sector. This bill purports to get rid of that by eliminating the sector.

We can look at other places in the world that have come up with a sustainable jobs plan and are starting to implement it, Scotland being one example. If we took the cost per person of its plan and did the equivalent thing here, it would cost $37.2 billion. The Liberals are taking away as much as $48 billion and adding a cost of another $37 billion. If we do the math, they are increasing by greater than $70 billion the loss to the Canadian economy.

I do not know why the Liberal government cannot learn the lesson when countless people can, like former Liberal John Manley, who said that when it runs these huge deficits, it is putting a foot on the inflationary gas pedal, which is causing the Bank of Canada to put its foot on the brake with higher interest rates. This raises the cost of mortgages. Canadians are suffering from coast to coast, so definitely not only is the bill not going to create jobs, but it will come with a huge cost.

It is not like this is the first time there has been an attack on oil and gas and the energy sector. This has been a continual theme from the time I got elected in 2015. Let us start with the tanker ban, Bill C-48, to keep Canadian oil from getting out there when everybody else's ships are out there full of oil. Then we had Bill C-55, which created marine protected areas so we could do no oil and gas development there. Then there was Bill C-69, the “no more pipelines” bill, which was just called unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. All of these things were intended to be a war against creating oil and gas projects.

There is evidence. When the Liberals took power, there were 18 LNG projects on the books and there were four pipelines. Zero pipelines have been built and all the LNG projects but one are cancelled. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our friends in Germany were going to give us $59 billion to replace their Russian oil and coal with our green LNG. The Prime Minister said there was no business case, so Australia took that deal.

Then Japan came up with a similar deal and again we would not take the deal, so Saudi Arabia took it. Then came France and the Netherlands. There were all these opportunities for Canada to be a leader, supplanting higher-carbon fuels with our green LNG, the most responsibly produced product in the world with the best human rights record, but again the Liberal government refused. Instead, it is focused on its own ideology and things that it wants to do that continue to destroy the economy.

We can talk about the electric vehicle mandates. That was another great idea. Let us give away $31 billion to create 3,000 jobs. For those who can do the math, if we just gave each of those 3,000 people $10 million, they would never have to work again and there would not be any footprint. There is a total misunderstanding of how to create a growing economy.

Then there is the clean electricity standard, another hugely divisive bill that was introduced by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, clearly not understanding that where the Liberals want to go with all the electric vehicles, electricity and the grid would require building the equivalent of 19 nuclear facilities, like the one from Bruce Power. They cannot build anything, so I do not know where they get the idea that they are going to be successful in achieving that.

At the same time, they are ignoring the fact that only 7% of the public even wants an electric vehicle because the technology is not there. No one wants to be trapped in a snowstorm at -30°C because the batteries do not work. They catch fire. In addition to that, they do not have a very long range. Instead, the government decided to pick a winner and loser with the battery plants that are being built.

Now Toyota has come out with a solid-state battery, with a 1,275-kilometre range, that works at -20°C and does not catch fire. That will make our technology obsolete, with $31 billion after the fact. Maybe the Liberal government needs a few more engineers so that it can actually make science-, fact- and data-based decisions, but that is not what is happening today.

The Liberals continue to move ahead with the carbon tax and the second carbon tax, putting punishment on the backs of Canadians and achieving nothing. Emissions have gone up under the government. At the 2005 level, we were at 732 megatonnes. We needed to get to 519 and now we are at 819. They are not achieving their targets and keep putting bills like this in place, talking about sustainability, the environment and creating jobs. They are not actually achieving that.

Sarnia—Lambton has a huge oil and gas sector, but it knows how to do a transition and is doing a transition. It is creating good-paying, sustainable jobs like the ones at Origin Materials, a net-zero plastics plant in my riding. My riding has one of the largest solar facilities in North America. There is a whole bio-innovation centre that is growing different kinds of bio-facilities that are all either carbon sinks or carbon-neutral. These are the kinds of actual solutions and actions we need. That is not what is in Bill C-50. It is a plan to get a plan with nothing else. For that reason, I will not be supporting Bill C-50.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, the environment minister went to China and promoted all the great work the Communist dictatorship in Beijing was doing on the environment, yet that country is building coal-fired generation stations as we speak.

We could be displacing that coal with clean, green Canadian LNG. We could be exporting nuclear technology around the world to ensure we are displacing more emissions-intensive forms of energy. We could be displacing the Russian crude that is holding the European continent hostage. We could be ensuring that Canadian expertise and energy is solving the world's problems. However, under the Liberals, with their lack of an understanding of what is just in this world, we are being held back.

I would like to clarify one thing. The Liberals seem to think that somehow Conservatives do not support clean energy. That could not be further from the truth. I can say that definitively because I am a massive proponent of energy investment of all kinds. Whether that be new clean tech or traditional forums, we should be a world leader in all forums.

The difference is that the Liberal philosophy is to hold people down, hold them and drown out anything they do not agree with. That is what they believe. The Conservatives offer a clear alterative. We want to empower people to do what is best for them. We want to ensure that it is not the government that picks winners and losers, but that industry, innovators and, ultimately, Canadians to do what is best for themselves and for our country. When we are doing what is best for Canada, we are doing what is best for the world, and the entire planet would benefit from Canadian leadership.

Let us look at some of the facts. Bill C-50 could lead to as many as 170,000 jobs lost, including many of which would be in my consistency. I dare those Liberals to look my constituents in the eye and tell them why their jobs do not matter. We could see up to close to half a million indirect jobs lost. That is the whole spectrum. I am not sure if the Liberals realize this, but a lot of the clean tech jobs depend on affiliated industries that also do work in our traditional energy sector.

We also need to look at realistic outcomes to ensure that when we pass public policy in this place it will actually accomplish the objective. Nothing in this bill would benefit Canadians. Nothing in the bill would be just. Nothing in the bill would lower emissions. Nothing in the bill would lead to a prosperous future for Canadians. However, we see the government pushing forward, using manicured talking points that are somehow supposed to take the place of realistic and concrete solutions.

The facts speak for themselves. The only evidence that the Liberals could point to for even having an iota of success with emissions reductions is twofold. One is Alberta's leadership in reducing emissions, including in the energy sector. Two is the government pointing to COVID and the lockdowns associated with it as a reason why emissions went down.

It is truly shameful and a disgrace. The fact that if it were any other part of the country, we would not see Liberal members pursuing this sort of agenda. That leads me to my final point.

It should be the job of any prime minister, first and foremost, to ensure that there is national unity in our country, yet the Liberal Prime Minister and those corrupt Liberals are dividing our country. I hope it can be repaired. I believe it can be, but there are so many who are losing faith in the very foundations of our institutions, the very foundations of our country, because of an ideological agenda that is not only ineffective but is truly tearing the country apart.

The bill and the ideology need to be defeated. The members who support it need to be shown the door. When it comes to the future of our country, in every metric, this is the wrong direction. It is time for a government that can bring home a future for Canada that works.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Sarnia—Lambton.

Before I get into the substance of Bill C-50, I will state unequivocally how important it is to acknowledge the conflict that is taking place in Israel and Gaza. As Canadians, we stand with Israel and the right for it to defend itself and to look out for the many victims of this conflict.

I would note that when I asked a question a few minutes ago of the member from the Liberal Party who preceded me, he said that I did not understand what the bill was about, and they are clapping about that. However, what they are clapping for is seeing Canadians descending into poverty, because the government is forcing them in that direction. They are going to see that Canada is pushed to the back of the line when it comes to our ability to displace dictator crude and gas.

It is unbelievable the ignorance from those Liberal members who would suggest this to those of us who actually understand the energy sector, not just traditional oil and gas, although that is a big part of the opportunity that Canada offers, and the full extent of what Canada's energy future can be. Those Liberals are dragging behind and dragging us down. They should truly be ashamed of themselves. I dare that member to come to my constituency, look my constituents in the eye and tell them why they do not deserve well-paying jobs. Those members are accusing my constituents of somehow not caring about the environment. It is disgraceful, shameful and shows that they have lost the moral authority to govern on these issues, especially when we look at the results.

Let us look at the facts. When it comes to Canada's energy future, the reality is clear. Canada can be a world leader if not held back by these Liberals, whether it is the so-called just transition, and there is nothing just about it, or when it comes to the no-more-pipelines bill, Bill C-69, which we just saw thumped down by the Supreme Court and called unconstitutional because of the government's meddling in provincial affairs. The government is holding back Canada's potential to be a world leader.

Shortly after the Prime Minister was elected, he said that Canada was back. After eight years, the evidence is so very clear that he has been holding Canada back every step of the way, and the world is less safe because of it. The world has a less clean environment because of it. That is the record of the Prime Minister and the Liberals' coalition partner in the NDP. They should rightfully be ashamed of themselves.

When it comes to what we are debating today, I would encourage us to keep looking at the facts. Let us go to the conversation around net zero. Here is the reality. Canada could flip a switch today and we would reduce global emissions by 1.6%, or we could be world leaders and encourage investment in our energy sector, in our traditional oil and gas, and in clean tech, which I support.

The result of Canada reducing emissions by 1.6% would be by throwing our people into poverty, shutting down our factories, making it so nobody can afford to live in the country. The only people who would have any ability to resemble something of prosperity would be those who are connected to a Liberal government where they pick winners and losers. To achieve the reduction in emissions by 1.6% globally, we could flip the switch tomorrow. However, and this is the contrast between what Conservatives are offering and what Liberals are offering, we could empower Canadians, empower Canadian industry and use the natural resources that are so abundant in our country and reduce emissions globally by multiple factors of that 1.6% by getting our clean, green LNG to markets that currently burn coal.

The environment minister went to China, to a Communist-controlled so-called environmental forum, of which he is one of the vice-chairs, and encouraged and promoted Chinese—

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, thank you for this opportunity today to speak to an incredibly important piece of legislation, Bill C-50, Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act.

For many reasons, the people of Canada are going through challenging times. I think we can all agree on that. Many of them are unprecedented. Canadian workers and jobs, and the global economy, were heavily affected by the global pandemic. On top of that, we experienced unprecedented wildfire levels over the summer. It has been reported that there were 6,118 wildfires that burned 15 million hectares and 200,000 people were placed under evacuation orders. Experts say these were influenced by climate change.

Like the rest of the world, Canada must adjust if we want to give ourselves a fighting chance against climate change. Many Canadians have already had climate change impact their work, including workers in the agricultural, fishing, emergency services and tourism industries. There was the interruption of supply chains. Many elements of mining and mining infrastructure have also been significantly affected by climate change. I could go on, but suffice to say few sectors and few hard-working Canadians will be able to carry on as normal at their jobs or in their lives as long as the planet continues to heat up.

That has been, as noted, one of the hottest seasonal temperatures on record with warm ocean temperatures, category 5 hurricanes and many extreme weather events. We have seen them play out in the media over the last year. All of us are rightfully concerned, and should be doubling down and tripling down our efforts on fighting climate change.

With Bill C-50, our government is determined to help Canadian workers stay ahead of the curve in today's rapidly changing job market. If parliamentarians are committed to supporting Canadian workers through the transition to a low-carbon economy, we must come together across party lines and work together.

Certainly, we do not need more signs from Mother Nature that we need to do this right now. I think Mother Nature has given us plenty signs for decades now, and it is time to get on with this. I think this bill makes a significant contribution to our climate action efforts.

The need to move fast does not mean we need to do this piecemeal, or thoughtlessly or carelessly. Canadian workers, their families and their communities, whether in our largest cities or in the farthest reaches of our territories, need substantive and clear legislation that commits Canada's government to action that supports them.

This act was written after extensive consultation with the people it is intended to help, which is a primary principle of all good consultation work. It has to include the people who are most impacted. Their words assisted us in defining its purpose to help the government facilitate the creation of sustainable jobs for Canada's workers, while seizing opportunities for economic growth.

We want to provide support for workers and their communities in the shift to a low-carbon economy, and ensure transparency, accountability and ongoing engagement with Canadians across every region of the country on issues like training, workers' rights, the job market, economic growth, and, of course, reducing emissions.

This framework and all federal action on sustainable jobs would be guided by the principles enshrined in this legislation. They are principles that would strengthen our collective efforts, ensuring that all of Canada's national policies and programs, and the federal entities that carry out this work, are grounded in the fundamental values that underpin this work. This would be along with international best practices, and would be delivered equitably, fairly and inclusively.

This means that this act supports the creation of decent, high-quality work opportunities for Canadians by establishing a framework for effective action. Through this framework, we would be better positioned to address the barriers that have made it difficult for some to join the workforce. This legislation has four guiding principles developed in consultation with Canadians, built on guidelines adopted by the International Labour Organization, and tailored to fit with what Canadians value.

The first principle reflects the need for adequate, informed and ongoing social dialogue between government, workers and industry. Social dialogue is a term used by the International Labour Organization to describe all types of communications that help build understanding of and consensus about issues impacting the workforce. The government believes that this is a must if we want to shift to a low-carbon economy, to succeed for Canada's workers, their families and their communities.

The second guiding principle of this legislation is that the policies and programs that are put in place should support the creation of decent work, meaning good-paying, high-quality jobs, including union jobs. It is work that is productive and delivers a fair income. It is work that gives workers a voice in decisions that affect them.

Labour policies and programs influenced by this legislation should consider job security and social protections to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability among Canada's workers, as well as promote ongoing social dialogue. We also need the policies and programs associated with sustainable jobs to recognize local and industry-specific needs.

During our extensive consultations, Canadians told us openly and directly that they want Canada's government to acknowledge, with real action, that regions dominated by fossil fuel jobs have unique needs and opportunities. They told us that our policies need to reflect the fact that workers in high-emitting industries need pathways to low-carbon industries as the world shifts to different sources of energy. I can assure the members of this House that we hear those concerns.

Closely related to that is the need for our policies and programs to reflect workers' cultural values, strengths and potential while we create an environment where workers, businesses, investors and consumers can create sustainable, inclusive economies and societies.

The third guiding principle in this act recognizes that shifting to a low-carbon economy presents an important opportunity to improve the diversity of Canada's workforce and address barriers to the participation of marginalized and under-represented groups in the labour force.

Let me use the mining industry as an example. The industry's need to hire more workers is an opportunity to diversify its workforce. Women and people who have been granted permanent resident status in Canada are vastly under-represented in mining, making up only 15% and about 7% of its workforce, respectively.

While mining is the second-largest employer of indigenous peoples in Canada, accounting for 12% of the upstream mining workforce, the data shows us that indigenous people overwhelmingly hold entry-level manual jobs. We can and must unlock the potential of Canada's under-represented population groups if we are to have enough workers to fill all of the jobs that expect to be created over the next two decades. It is a significant number of jobs. RBC has reported that by the end of 2030, this could create as many as 400,000 jobs in Canada.

Because the need to fight climate change and expand sustainable employment is a global issue, the last guiding principle in the sustainable jobs act is international co-operation. Canada already works routinely and extensively with other countries, and we are proud that international co-operation is widely considered to be one of our strengths.

Canada is playing a leadership role on the international stage to promote an inclusive and people-centred approach, and I highlight, underline and emphasize “people-centred approach”, to the clean energy shift or transition, leading on a range of initiatives to advance sustainable jobs while promoting diversity and inclusion of marginalized groups in the clean energy sector.

Notably, Canada is leading the Equal by 30 campaign, which encourages voluntary commitments from both public and private sector organizations to work toward equal pay, equal leadership and equal opportunities for women and other marginalized groups in the energy sector by 2030. Canada co-leads the clean energy ministerial empowering people initiative with the United States and the European Commission, which brings together like-minded partners to advance people-centred transitions. There is more collaboration I could mention, but I will stop there.

In our extensive consultations with Canadians, we were told to bring our people-centred approach to our international work, and we agree wholeheartedly. People-centred legislation makes it easier for our policies to remain coherent at every level of government, but, more importantly, it is critical to ensuring that Canadians have equal access to a variety of social supports or job training and job opportunities.

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

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the honourable and esteemed member for Whitby.

This is the first time this week I have had an opportunity to rise in the House, as I was travelling earlier this week. I want to make a comment before I speak about Bill C-50, a bill that is a positive step forward in the future for Canadian workers from coast to coast to coast.

With respect to the events of October 7, when over 1,400 Israeli citizens were killed by a terrorist organization, I wish, obviously, to condemn that to the highest possible degree. I offer my prayers and condolences to the Israeli people. As I have stated over social media channels, I stand with Israel and the Israeli people. Obviously, my prayers are for the Palestinian people as well, that a humanitarian corridor be established and that they have peace in that region of the world as soon as possible. Hamas is a terrorist organization. As someone who has lived, worked and experienced the events of September 11, 2001, I know full well some of the feelings that folks are going through these days. My thoughts and prayers are with that region.

With respect to Bill C-50, I am a member of the natural resources committee, and we will have an opportunity to bring the bill to committee to study it, to work through it and, potentially, if the members of the opposition have amendments or anything else is proposed, to try to make the bill better. That is what we are brought here to Ottawa to do. That is what our voters send us here to do: strengthen legislation and make legislation that moves our economy forward, moves our country forward and creates a better future for our children and future generations. I think all parties and all members would agree that this is the goal of everyone's being here, independent of which side of the House they sit on.

Since day one, in 2015, the government has been laser-focused on Canadians: helping Canadians, strengthening our middle class, and ensuring that those Canadians who are working hard to join the middle class have the opportunity to do so. Earlier today, I was looking over some of the statistics that we like to talk about and that I, as an economist, like to refer to. I believe that 2.3 million Canadians were lifted out of poverty from 2015 to 2021, including over 653,000 children and about 500,000 individuals who identify as being disabled Canadians. We have cut the poverty reduction rate from about 14.5% down to about 7%.

I do acknowledge the pressures that all Canadian families are facing right now with global inflation. I heard about global inflation recently, during a trip to Europe for the Council of Europe as the chair of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association. Taxi drivers were commenting about just how much prices have gone up over there, what butter and milk cost, what the average family is seeing in Europe, and what the average family is seeing in Canada.

The government understands that. We have reacted. We have put in place measures: the grocery rebate during the summertime, the Canada workers benefit and the indexation of a number of benefits that we have had here in Canada for a number of years and that we are continuing. The Canada workers benefit, which I love, goes out to hard-working Canadians wishing to join the middle class and working hard everyday for themselves and their families. It is something I admire, because those are the same values my parents instilled in their three sons. Those are the same values of hope and hard work, as I would call it today, that brought my parents here to Canada and allowed them to improve their standard of living when they immigrated here. In their simple terms, it is about “just working your butt off”, if I can use that term in the most honourable House.

The world is transitioning to a low-carbon economy, but we are still using fossil fuels. We will still be using fossil fuels for many decades to come. We have a duty to support the 800,000 or so Canadians who work in the energy industry. We have a duty to support them today and to support them tomorrow as we continue this path toward a low-carbon economy while ensuring we have the energy sources to fuel our economy today.

I think Bill C-50 is much like the work our government has done over the last eight years, working with labour, with industry and with Canadians from coast to coast to coast to bring forth legislation that moves our economy forward, that moves Canadians forward and provides a better future for us all. That is exactly what Bill C-50 is about. It is about consultation and about working together. I see the feedback from a number of stakeholders, whether they are the International Union of Operating Engineers, the president of the Business Council of Alberta, or the hon. members who have been elected from the province of Alberta. The President of the Business Council of Alberta has said that the act is a good step forward in helping equip Canadians with the skills for the jobs of our future economy. That is something very profound, and I do not use that word lightly. It is about equipping Canadians with the skill set to succeed today and also to succeed tomorrow.

As an economist, I am fully aware of what we call, according to an individual from Austria or Germany, Joseph Schumpeter, “creative destruction”: the process of innovation and technological change that leads to the destruction of existing economy structures, such as industries, firms and jobs. That has been happening for decades, if not hundreds of years, but we also know that when that happens, Canadian individuals need to ensure that they have the skill set to go to a new job, to go to a new profession or to move up the value chain in the profession they have chosen or in the sector they are in. It happens naturally, and we must ensure that Canadians have the skills to do that.

I do want to give a shout-out to Canada's Building Trades Unions. I do work with it closely. I work with a number of its member organizations, including LiUNA. As the CBTU says, it “welcomes Bill C-50, aimed at addressing Canada’s transition to a net-zero economy, which brings forth key aspects including the creation of a Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council to provide meaningful consultation during [this period].”

We need energy today. We will need energy tomorrow. However, we also know that the world and the private sector, and I love the private sector, are creating the wealth and investing in renewable energy sources around the world. We have seen it through the United States and the Inflation Reduction Act, and we are seeing it here in Canada with the ITC, the investment tax credit that we announced in our budget, very fiscally prudent and strategic measures to grow our economy and help those Canadians wanting to get good jobs and wanting to join the middle class. That is what we are about: providing good futures, providing an environment that fosters wealth creation through investment and, obviously, creating jobs with investment from the private sector.

When I think about Bill C-50, I think about what we are doing here in Canada for the electric vehicle sector. I think about the investments we have made, with a Progressive Conservative government in Ontario, for Stellantis. There are thousands and thousands of jobs being created in the Windsor-Essex region with Stellantis at its electric vehicle battery plant. Then, I think about what we have done with Volkswagen. I know that one of the members opposite, the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London, was there that day when we announced the Volkswagen investment. The most hon. member was so happy, and her mayor, who I believe is a former Conservative Party member of Parliament and sat in the most honourable House, was so happy.

That $7-billion investment with Volkswagen positions our electric vehicle sector and the whole supply chain for growth; for wealth creation, and I love wealth creation; and for jobs. It will create good-paying middle-class job with good benefits. We just saw it in the province of Quebec with Northvolt, with that investment where the Province of Quebec and the federal government are working in partnership with labour and business. We saw it in Kingston, where the member for Kingston and the Islands, along with the federal government, announced another strategic investment.

We need to support Canadians. We need to support Canadian workers. Bill C-50 is part of that support. We will be there for Canadians to ensure we invest in their skills. They can get better jobs, higher pay, better benefits, better futures today and better futures for tomorrow. I look forward to questions and comments.