Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks very much to all our witnesses. It's wonderful to be here in Winnipeg, in Manitoba.
Again, I wish I could ask questions of all of you. I won't have that time, but I'll do my best to be selective and prioritize.
Before I start, we should be here to listen to folks, not to espouse our political views. That said, I need to quickly respond to what my colleague said, because I think there's some context that's important. I wouldn't want you folks to walk away with a misunderstanding of what the government is doing. It's just the underlying facts. That's all.
The assertion that the government is increasing the tax four times is simply not true. I'm happy to get data for any of you who are interested in that, but what was alleged is not true.
The second point is that what the Governor of the Bank of Canada told us just a couple of weeks ago, when he was before our committee in Ottawa—and this is on the record, so you can look it up if you're interested—was that the elimination of the carbon tax would have a one-time 0.6% decrease in inflation. It's one time. It's not annually. It's just once.
After that, the carbon tax is gone and all the benefits and impacts of the carbon tax are gone. For example, never mind the environmental impact of eliminating the carbon tax and making pollution free.... I think all the folks here agree that we need to...nobody said they're against the carbon tax. You've all said we have to.... Maybe there are ways to improve it, and I'm happy to hear them. I'm interested in hearing those things. However, you'd lose the environmental benefits of the price on pollution, and you'd also lose the rebate.
When I think of the price on pollution, I think of it as action on climate, but I also think of it as an affordability measure. I hear you about the redistribution to business—and I'm interested in hearing that feedback, so I'm not dismissing it—but the current model of the price on pollution and the carbon tax is an affordability measure that helps 80% of Canadians who have the lowest income in this country receive more than they pay in carbon tax. If you eliminate the carbon tax, as has been suggested by some, you also eliminate the rebate because you don't have the money to give back the rebate. What does that do for the folks who are struggling at food banks, the folks you were talking about, our indigenous communities or whatever the case may be?
I want to be “eyes wide open” on what we're talking about here to make sure that we have the facts straight, but also understand the implications of what's being suggested by some colleagues.
The other thing is that there's talk about other countries and the fact that they don't have a carbon tax. We made a commitment, along with many other countries, to meet net zero by 2050. That's the goal. That's what we're doing. We're trying to find the most effective way to get there, making sure that we're supporting a growing economy, a green economy and everything else, all while addressing all the concerns our business folks have raised.
If there's room for improvement, I'm interested in hearing it, but that's the target we're heading toward. I'm personally not that interested in comparing myself to other countries, unless they're going to hit that net-zero target. Frankly, some countries have a bigger carbon footprint than others, so some have to do more work than others to meet that net-zero target, but if we're going to save our planet for our children and grandchildren, we have to hit net zero. Otherwise, we're all in much bigger trouble than we should be.
With my remaining time, I'd like to ask a question of Monsieur Lamontagne.
Yesterday, in Toronto, we heard from a witness who spoke to us about the francophone community and the importance of protecting the French language. I get the impression that's what your organization is doing. That is at least one of your organization's objectives.
In my riding of Etobicoke Centre, which is mostly anglophone, there is a relatively small francophone community. Why is it important for my constituents and for people across Canada to support organizations like yours that protect the French language?