Debates of Oct. 7th, 2016

The Environment

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before going to the next question, I just want to remind everyone that I am having a hard time hearing, and no one wants to upset the Speaker, so if you do not mind, maybe just keep it down. If you have some questions, maybe some follow-up, you might want to take it up after in the lobby or outside of the House. In the meantime, screaming across the floor is not going to help things.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with you, but what people say in the House must be accurate.

Contrary to what the minister just said, we support the Paris agreement, but not the Liberals' approach.

The fact is that the government's floor price is $10 per tonne. We all know what floor price means: you can bet it will not be any lower, but the sky is the limit. The tax will go up, that is for sure.

I am going to ask my question again, and I would like to get an answer. How much more will Canadian families have to pay because of the Liberal carbon tax?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am really confused. I do not see how my colleague can say the Conservative Party supports the Paris agreement when he voted against it.

We know that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. That is why we are pricing carbon. In fact, 80% of Canadians, including Quebeckers, already pay a carbon price. The Premier of Quebec supports our position. We are working with the provinces and territories because we are taking this seriously, because we want to grow our economy, a clean economy, and because—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.

National Defence

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal platform said, in black and white, “We will end Canada's combat mission in Iraq”. Canadians were told that, instead, our troops would just be training local forces, but yesterday, Brigadier-General Dawe said that there is less need for training, and troops are increasingly on the front line engaging directly with the enemy.

Canadians were told this would be a training mission. Has the mission changed?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the mission in Iraq was always advise and assist, and it continues to be an advise and assist mission. With the evolving situation there, as we work with the local forces, it allows for the local troops to be able to take their fight to Daesh, and that is exactly what we are doing. Our troops are doing a wonderful job.

I just met with the special envoy to counter ISIL for the U.S. and he complimented our work. We will continue to work with our coalition partners to have a continued impact against Daesh.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting response but not an answer to my question.

The brigadier-general has just revealed, “The mission has changed since the spring.” We are told the mission has moved from defensive to offensive, and after promising increased transparency, the Liberals will not tell us how often our troops come under fire and how many are on the ground in Iraq.

Does the minister believe that Canadians have a right to know about the increasing risk to our soldiers in Iraq?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, when dealing with conflict and an enemy like this, the situation obviously is going to change and we adjust with it to make sure that we are an effective coalition partner.

In terms of transparency, we have been extremely open with it. Hence, the reason we actually did this technical briefing, and who better to be able to brief us on how the mission is going than our generals. I have always been open to providing information to Canadians and I will always continue to do so.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Brigadier-General Dawe confirmed that Canadian troops have exchanged fire with Daesh fighters, but he will not say how often that has occurred. Our armed forces continue to participate in air strikes, but we do not know how often.

We are told that the situation today is more dangerous and more complicated, and that it will take years to defeat Daesh.

How long are the Liberals going to keep our troops engaged in this new, more dangerous mission that is unfolding on the front lines?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of the number of times the attacks happen, we are not going to be giving regular updates on this, because there is an operational security risk to it. When we start giving certain metrics to the enemy, it creates a pattern and the protection of our troops is the utmost security priority.

However, in terms of the evolving mission, we have been keeping Canadians up to date. I have always stated that we will always assess, every single year, how the mission is going and make adjustments so that we can continue to have the appropriate impact, and we are having a considerable impact. That is exactly what our government said we were going to do and that is exactly what we are achieving.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have a right to be informed. Canadians have been told that the risk to our troops has increased, because contrary to what the Liberals promised during the election campaign, our soldiers are spending less and less time in the classroom and more and more time on the front lines.

Is the government refusing to disclose this information because it wants to hide the fact that the Canadian Forces are becoming increasingly involved in combat?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear from the outset on the complexity of conflicts like this. Advise and assist requires us to be effective on the ground, to be able to train the folks, mentor them, help them on operations. That is exactly what we are doing.

We are going to be adjusting the mission accordingly to make sure we have the appropriate impact. I have always stated that we have to train the right number of troops on the ground if we are going to take the fight to Daesh. That is exactly what we have accomplished and we are having a massive impact. We got tremendous compliments from the U.S. special envoy to counter ISIL, and we will always continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

The Environment

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada, poor households spend a third more of their incomes on heat, gas, and groceries, than do rich households. A carbon tax that would raise the price of those goods will take a relatively larger bite out of the incomes of the poor than of the rich, which is the very definition of “regressive”.

Why is the Prime Minister imposing a regressive tax that would force those with the least to suffer the most?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite and the party opposite is so concerned about the middle class, I wonder why they did not support our middle-class tax cut and why they did not support an enhancement to the Canada child benefit, which now helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and raises over 300,00 children out of poverty.

Let us be clear about pricing pollution. Any revenue raised from pricing pollution would remain in the province. Provinces could do as British Columbia has done: growing its economy while returning revenues in the form of tax cuts to small businesses and to families.

This is the way we are moving forward to grow our economy and to protect the environment. I wish the other party would join us.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is right. It will stay with provincial governments to fund so-called green programs, like in Ontario, where millionaire green energy insiders have overcharged hydro customers by $37 billion, forcing many into the food bank, or to quote the CBC:

The Ontario government gave taxpayer-funded rebates to five millionaires to buy one of the most expensive cars ever manufactured, the Porsche 918 Spyder.

Now the working guy, filling up his Ford Focus, will pay an 11-cent-a-litre tax to fund green handouts to Porsche-driving millionaires. Why?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I always find it surprising that the party opposite would be against a market measure that is supported by businesses across Canada.

Let me get this straight. We now have Canadian companies, like Suncor and Shell, job creators that are supporting putting a price on pollution—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please.

I am sure the hon. minister appreciates the coaching she is getting from the opposite benches, but it is making it very difficult for the rest of us to hear. If we can just keep it quiet while the answers are going, it would certainly be appreciated.

The hon. minister.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. The member opposite is criticizing companies that are actually supporting putting a price on pollution. These companies created 900,000 jobs and $400 billion in revenue, and they get it. The environment and the economy go together. We need to reduce emissions while moving to a clean growth economy.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as a new grandfather, as of just hours ago, I understand more than ever the concerns that thousands of Canadian families have over the negative impact the carbon tax will have on their household spending and on all consumer goods. I am talking about the price of things like groceries, transportation, heating, and everything else that will go up.

Is the Liberal government aware of how harmful the carbon tax will be for young, middle-class Canadian families?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my colleague on becoming a grandfather.

As a mother of three, I know that we need to take a cleaner approach to growing our economy. We also have to tackle climate change. That is what we are doing. We are putting a price on carbon, because that solution uses market forces to lower emissions and grow a cleaner economy. We are doing this for my children and for my colleague's grandchildren.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is taking money out of young families' wallets with both hands with the implementation of the Liberals' carbon tax. This new tax, imposed this week in a cavalier way, leaves no financial room to manoeuvre for the future, in other words, for our children and grandchildren.

How can the Liberal government claim that its ideological carbon tax will have no impact on the economic prosperity of future generations?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, part of my portfolio is to constantly think about future generations. That is why we have to ensure that we have a cleaner economy. We need good jobs and we must protect our environment. That is what we are doing.

I will quote the Premier of Quebec who said, “We believe it's good [carbon pricing], and it's not going to affect the functioning of our trading system. It puts everyone on the same course, in a strong position to combat climate change”.

I hope the party across the way will—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please.

The hon. member for Flamborough—Glanbrook.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, all week the Liberals have been trying to portray themselves as Robin Hood in their own carbon-tax forest, all the while acting like the Sheriff of Nottingham, shaking down Canadians to build their own kingdom.

It is no fairy tale that the cost of everything will go up under the Prime Minister's plan. For my constituents, the commute to Kitchener-Waterloo or into the GTA, or a flight out of Hamilton airport, or simply putting fuel in a tractor will cost them more.

When will the Liberals come clean about their motives to the Canadian people? Even Friar Tuck and Maid Marian would like to know.