Transport Committee on March 21st, 2024

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thanks.

Minister, you started this committee by saying that you didn't say what you meant in your comments, which was that your government has made the decision to stop investing in roads. First you said that you didn't say it, and then you said that you didn't mean it, and then you said that you meant something entirely different.

Then you talked about “the analysis that we have done is that the network is perfectly adequate”, and it turns out that there is no analysis or you did no analysis, or if there is an analysis, you refuse to share that analysis with anyone.

Then you said that the carbon tax was revenue-neutral. We know there is $20 billion in the government coffers, of which $18 billion is not remitted. That's not revenue-neutral, if you understand the definition of revenue-neutral.

Then you said that more families get more back in rebates than they do in paying the carbon tax. We know that the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that's not true for the majority of families where the carbon tax applies.

If you're not going to be truthful on the first four questions I'm asking, I'm going to just ask you once: Are there any circumstances that will cause you to walk back the April 1 23% tax hike that you are about to impose on Canadians, which your colleagues believe has nothing to do with roads or the cost of gas?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I'm sorry, Ms. Lantsman. We'll stop the time there.

Go ahead, Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

It's about relevance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

It's a point of order for relevance.

If we can make the link between the roads and the question, I think that would be helpful for the minister and for Canadians.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

I will make this clear one more time.

You put gas in your car to drive on the roads. I'm asking him about the carbon tax that you're about to raise on Canadian families on April 1.

Minister, do you have an answer to the question?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

First of all, I don't share your interpretation of my comments. I didn't say that I hadn't said it. What I said is that it should have been clearer. I accept full responsibility for that. I said it, and I repeat it.

As regards carbon pricing, your party and your leader never mention the increases that they receive in the rebate. Yes, the pricing will rise on April 1, but the rebate will too. In addition, your party never discusses the fact that, if we don't do it in Canada, if we don't put carbon pricing in place, it will be imposed on us by our economic partners.

Border adjustment taxes are being introduced in Europe. This means that every company that exports to Europe will have to pay a border tax if we don't have our own taxation system. U.S. treasury secretary Janet Yellen has also noted several times that the United States of America, our biggest economic partner, is also considering instituting border adjustment taxes that would apply to countries that don't have a carbon pricing system.

Consequently, we either do it ourselves or else it will be imposed on us by our economic partners. I think that if we have to choose between the two, we're better off doing it ourselves.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Minister, I'll end with this.

I would like to know if you've seen any data that suggests anything other than that 70% of Canadians—which we see in public data—are against your April 1 tax hike. Have you talked to premiers and had a separate conversation with them in any kind of way that would suggest that 70% of them aren't against the 23% tax hike on April 1? Is there anything that you have seen to suggest that any Canadian believes that what you are imposing in less than two weeks on gas, on groceries, on home heating, on families, on farmers and on first nations right across the country is a good idea?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

As your party did during the 2021 election, we campaigned on a promise to maintain carbon pricing. In its platform, the Conservative Party of Canada—

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Perhaps you want to go to another election and you'll have that chance—

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

—we talked about establishing carbon pricing. That's the commitment we made to Canadians, and that's what we're doing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We will conclude with Mr. Rogers.

Mr. Rogers, the floor is yours. You have three minutes.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Welcome, Minister, and welcome to our officials.

I would like to focus on one particular comment you made earlier. It was about the $45 million that was spent in my riding of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity in Terra Nova National Park. For the benefit of the committee, I want people to realize how significant and important that was.

That was a very dangerous piece of highway, with a single lane for passing traffic. It was very dangerous and caused the loss of many lives over the decades. The work that was done on the passing lanes has saved many lives. The single lane for passing on that highway was a very dangerous stretch that people hated to drive. Today, it's a pleasure to drive through beautiful Terra Nova National Park.

Parks Canada invested $45 million, as you said. I'd invite anybody on this committee or anybody across the country to come and visit beautiful Terra Nova National Park.

We have all the parks, like Gros Morne, and Torngat in Labrador.

The other part of the equation, minister, is this. I know that Environment Canada has been spending money through Parks Canada on other sites in the province. Could you share some examples of other capital asset projects that have been led by Parks Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Thank you very much for the question, Mr. Rogers.

In fact, yes, Parks Canada is investing in other infrastructure projects and road transportation projects in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, including upgrades to both Highway 436 in L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site and Highway 431 in Gros Morne National Park, as well as a replacement of the Western Brook bridge along Highway 430. That's $30 million of investment that will be completed in the year 2025-26.

There is a major investment for the renovation and expansion of the Gros Morne National Park Visitor Centre to improve visitor experience. That's another $12 million. Also, there's the replacement of underground services and utilities at Newman Sound campground, which required more than $60 million of investment and was completed in the year 2022-23.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Minister, on behalf of Newfoundland and Labrador, I would like to thank you for those major investments in all those parks. I appreciate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

Thank you, Minister, for taking the time to meet with us today.

With that, colleagues, we're done for the day.

The meeting is adjourned.