Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would love to see my colleague Mr. Dalton listen to what I'm going to say—he will contradict himself 200%—but I believe he prefers to run away. Come back.
Mr. Chair, I'm really puzzled.
I am truly disappointed to see that our Conservative Party colleagues are trying to topple the government, rather than prioritize Canadians’ interests. They're going from one province to the next.
When we see that Canadians need to improve their lives after the global economic difficulty, from COVID until now, when we see the interest rates drop two times and continue to drop, that will elevate the lives of Canadians.
They are just looking at their own interest, and they are not taking into consideration whether the people of Canada would like to have an election in these difficult times. I believe if you go from coast to coast, the majority of Canadians don't want to have an election now. They would like all parties in the House to work to make their lives and the lives of Canadians better.
Let me go point by point.
My respected colleague Mr. Kmiec was talking about receiving a letter from school boards asking for the removal of the carbon tax. He said that would help students go to school.
When the government proposed a bill in order to bring free meals to students and to have $10 day care for every child, they voted against it. In the interests of the schools, the parents and the students, they should have voted yes. When it comes to improving the life of Canadians, when we presented dental care, if they cared about Canadians they should have voted yes but they did the opposite.
When we talk about the environment, we have to prepare this country for generations to come, for our children and our grandchildren to have clean air, clean drinking water, a green economy and green infrastructure, yet in every single bill, they voted against this. What they do is to declare something and then do precisely the opposite.
Regarding my good friend Mr. Dalton—and I hope he is here—this is from his portfolio from when he was in the British Columbia legislature. I would like his colleagues to listen and understand what he said in 2017:
Our government made the decision to implement a tax on carbon....
Our carbon tax appears to be working. Independent studies have found that between 2008 and 2012, fuel use in B.C. dropped by 16 percent per capita. In 2015, a review of seven independent studies suggested that B.C.'s carbon tax has reduced emissions in the province by up to 15 percent....
We view this tax as a tool to change behaviour and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
This is what Marc Dalton said in the British Columbia legislature on February 27, 2017.
I hope he has listened to this and will give us an answer.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.