Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
As I was listening to the previous question, I was reflecting on the meetings that I've had and hosted with organizations like Feed Opportunity and the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security. I've always been really honest about growing up in community housing and wanting to get involved in government to eliminate poverty. I actually think that poverty is an option, a policy choice that successive governments have made.
When I hear the Conservatives talking about food banks, as they do often—which is fair, because food banks are experiencing higher than ever volumes right now—I do take issue with how they frame that line of questioning. The reason I take issue with it is that when I meet with the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security or other poverty elimination organizations, none of them make any recommendations with respect to carbon pricing. If that's different from the testimony that has been received from the Regina Food Bank by my colleague Michael Kram, then I'd like to chat about it. I'd like to hear about the testimony and the evidence that's coming from poverty reduction experts in Saskatchewan, because perhaps they're different from the poverty reduction experts I talk to in Ontario.
My dad used to live in Regina. I used to visit often. The national championships for the sport that I love have been hosted on Wascana Lake many times, and I've spent a lot of time there. I love Regina; it's a great city. I gave the Regina Food Bank a follow on Twitter just now to see who else they follow. Indeed they follow Feed Opportunity and the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security, and I thought it would be pertinent to bring up some of the recommendations that they've made.
They made a budget letter submission, as a lot of these poverty elimination organizations do, such as the Daily Bread Food Bank and the Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security. All of these organizations make regular submissions to the federal government and ask us to consider different policy choices. Not one food bank or poverty elimination organization that I have ever talked to—and I meet with them frequently—has ever recommended eliminating the price on pollution.
Last week I was on a program with Andrew Scheer, who was here earlier, and I brought up a gentleman named Peter Gilmer. To my colleague from Saskatchewan, we have a couple of weeks at home in April, and I would implore you to look up Peter Gilmer. He lives in Regina. Peter Gilmer is a poverty reduction expert from your city. Perhaps you already know about him.
Peter Gilmer has said that an elimination of the carbon price in Saskatchewan would actually have devastating impacts on the lowest-earning individuals in Regina. It's quoted. He works in poverty elimination. None of the organizations that I've met with have suggested or cited that the carbon price is a leading cause of food inflation or that eliminating the price on pollution would help lower-income families. I want that to be on the record.
I also want to thank the officials for joining today. I want to provide Mr. Tremblay with the opportunity to elaborate a little bit more on the work they've done to ensure that the Canada carbon rebate that goes out to Canadians on the price on pollution accounts for the expense that the carbon price costs them, particularly the lowest quintile of earners in Canada.
The price on carbon has been widely regarded as a good tool and an effective mechanism for lowering our emissions. A gentleman named William Nordhaus won a Nobel Prize in proving that carbon pricing is the cheapest and most effective way to lower our emissions.
Our emissions are coming down, and they have been since 2015. That's good news for Canada. I know that the Conservatives ran their election under the failed leadership aspirations of Andrew Scheer with a plan to increase emissions. He said it again yesterday on television. He said that Canada should be allowed to increase its emissions, which is absurd. It is not our goal, and it is not what Canadians voted for in 2015, 2019 or 2021. Canadians strongly believe that we should be leaders on fighting climate change and lowering our emissions. I don't know how those failed aspirations of the former leader of the Conservative Party found their way back into the contemporary political debate, but they're here; like a zombie; they won't die.
Mr. Tremblay, let's have some words from you on how we've ensured that the price on pollution does not have a negative impact on food costs or the lowest-earning Canadians.
