Evidence of meeting #106 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was subamendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you, Mrs. Zahid.
I have ruled the subamendment is in order, and Mr. Redekopp is speaking on that subamendment. He's not speaking out of order.
Mr. Redekopp, please carry on.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
What Canadians have told me.... Why I keep coming back to the carbon tax and why we think it's relevant to add into this motion is the opportunity to have an election based on the carbon tax. That is what people are telling me. I believe that's what Canadians want the opportunity to do.
My colleague mentioned a very interesting thing. He mentioned, first of all, that many of the provinces—I think it might be all of them now—are opposed to the carbon tax, including, specifically and most interestingly, British Columbia.
I just want to highlight that point because British Columbia was really the birthplace of the carbon tax. It's where it first started and where it was first implemented. It's so interesting how right now—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
On a point of order, Ms. Kayabaga, please go ahead.
I have almost seven minutes to finish this committee.
Liberal
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
I go back to the point that this subamendment is out of order because it seeks to direct a future committee to report on something that the House, and you, cannot bind in a future Parliament. This makes no sense.
We're sitting here discussing Bill C-71 and you're entertaining a motion to direct a future Parliament. That is something that you, yourself, cannot do as chair, Mr. Chair, respectfully.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Madam Kayabaga, the committee is in control of its own things. We do not direct Parliament what to do at this point in time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
If some of the members do not support what is in the subamendment, they can vote it down when the debate collapses.
Right now, I have six minutes.
Mr. Redekopp, the floor is still with you, unless you want to bring....
The only way it can end is an adjournment from Mr. Redekopp.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
I know this seems like a very touchy issue to the members across from me, but I just want to remind them that it wasn't that long ago, back in June, when there were members on their side.... Mr. Chiang particularly was telling us great stories. I recall an interesting story about a car accident. I'm still a little confused as to how he didn't inform his wife about that in a timely manner. I'm still confused about how he didn't get into trouble for that.
I think I might need some marital advice from you because it seems like you cracked the code there somehow.
Anyway, my point is that when all of that was going on—and it went on and on—we didn't disrupt Mr. Chiang. We let him speak and tell his story.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Yes, we actually were concerned, but we gave him that courtesy.
I was speaking about British Columbia, the carbon tax and how interesting it is to me that the birthplace of the carbon tax in Canada actually has now said that it would rather do something different. It has recognized that the carbon tax is actually a problem. It's a little ironic because, as we all know, there's an election happening in British Columbia. It's ironic that the NDP no less would suggest that the carbon tax is a bad thing.
It proves a couple of things. It proves that the carbon tax is in fact a very bad tax. It costs everybody a lot of money. It makes life very expensive. It makes everything unaffordable, and it actually doesn't help the environment.
I think we can learn also from this that people actually can learn and evolve in their thinking. I'm encouraged, I guess, that even an NDP premier and an NDP government can actually see the light and understand that maybe there are other ways to accomplish things. Sometimes you get your head so buried in one particular issue that you forget about that. That's what the carbon tax has become for the NDP. It has become a huge liability and I just find that interesting.
That's why in many places across Canada—I think every province now—and pretty much anywhere you go to speak, you will find many people who are very much struggling with the carbon tax and very interested in having a say and in having a chance to speak to it through an election to tell the Government of Canada what they think about a carbon tax.
I'm pretty confident that I know the answer to that question, but the only way to know for sure is to have a carbon tax election. That's why we have this subamendment that we would add to this motion that would say to report this to the House, “and after a carbon tax election is held so that Canadians and Québécois can vote out this tired, out-of-time NDP-Liberal coalition government”.
As I said, this is what I'm hearing from people. This is what people want to see.
With that, I will end my time and we can move on to the next speaker on the list.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you.
Mr. McLean, go ahead, please. You have about three minutes right now before either we suspend the meeting or—
Conservative
Greg McLean Conservative Calgary Centre, AB
That won't be enough time to say what I have to say about this. I support this subamendment to the motion that's on the table here.
I think that anybody who hasn't paid attention to the fact that Canadians want an election on the carbon tax at this point in time has clearly not paid attention to their constituents all summer long. Having been out there at numerous fairs, I can guarantee you that it is no longer at all about the issues. It's “Can you please get rid of these people who are making life more expensive, primarily through the carbon tax?”
I challenge my Liberal colleagues across the table, as well as my NDP colleagues. Are you actually so tone-deaf that you don't want to put this in front of Canadians and you want to continue to keep your feet in the sand and pretend that this is not the major issue facing Canadians today or that they don't actually want to have a say in how they're paying these taxes?
We've had the Parliamentary Budget Officer here giving clear indications that the government has been misleading Canadians for a long time now about how much this tax is actually costing them, and that's where a political price is going to be paid.
That's one of the reasons Canadians are fed up. If you told Canadians, “This is what this tax is costing you. This is how much inflation it is costing you. This is what it's doing to your buying power in terms of groceries and everything else you can buy that's supplied in society, because everything has a carbon footprint”, then they would accept that as being honest and being forward-looking as far as what they can do to help the environment goes. However, they have been completely misled, and now Canadians across the country are well aware of that. They know they've been misled about the cost of this carbon tax. They see it in the price of everything, in the inflation that's gone up and in the mounting deficits that this government is running. They definitely want their say on that, and in a democracy their say happens in an election.
I know people are pounding the pavement in Calgary Centre, saying, “Please do something to stop this government from moving forward any further on this.” The tone-deafness of this government is beyond the pale, and I think the subamendment to the motion, Mr. Chair, exemplifies that very clearly. Let's get to an election on this issue, because you cannot continue to divide Canadians around other issues when this has been the major issue facing them, their pocketbooks, their families, their jobs, their lifestyles, their homes and their food for so long now.
Can we please move forward and actually get this subamendment passed so that we can deal with this in a proper way by having an election for all Canadians?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you, Mr. McLean.
I have one more minute. I'm going to give the floor to Mr. Dalton.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Thank you very much, Chair.
As a member for British Columbia, which you are also, I can't express in a sufficient way the pain that British Columbians are feeling economically. They're feeling it from all sides. They're feeling it with the housing costs. They're feeling it with taxation, but the carbon tax really just highlights it. It's like the tip of the spear.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Those were truly excellent statements about a file that really matters to me, even though it does not apply to Quebec. In any case, it is 5:30 p.m.
September 16th, 2024 / 5:30 p.m.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Mr. Dalton, I'm going to suspend the meeting unless you want to bring a motion to adjourn the meeting, because the floor is with you.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
There is a motion to adjourn the meeting.
I will ask the clerk to take the vote.
(Motion negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)
I'm going to suspend the meeting.
[The meeting was suspended at 5:32 p.m., Monday, September 16]
[The meeting resumed at 11:05 a.m., Thursday, September 19]
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
I call this meeting to order. Good morning.
We are meeting in public. Welcome to the continuation of meeting 106 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
I would like to remind all participants of the following points: Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking, and please address all comments through the chair.
Members, whether participating in person or by Zoom, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as well as we can.
Thank you for your co-operation.
I see that Ms. Jennifer O'Connell is replacing Ms. Kayabaga. Welcome.
Mr. Dalton, you are becoming a regular member of this committee.