Madam Speaker, after 10 years of Conservative inaction on climate change, it is time to put a price on what we do not want: pollution. This really does make sense. Polluting should not be free, and polluters should not get a free ride. When we put a price on pollution, we can invest the money in things we do want: more jobs, better transportation, healthier communities, and cleaner energy.
The evidence clearly shows that pricing carbon pollution is the most effective way to reduce emissions and grow the economy. It will also stimulate innovation, increase energy efficiency, and promote investment in clean technology.
Already 97% of Canadians live in a province that either has a price on pollution or has committed to doing so. Under our approach, we have given provinces and territories the flexibility to design their own policies to meet the federal benchmark, including their own policies to price carbon pollution. The revenues from these policies will remain in the province or territory where they originate, as we have always said.
Provinces that price pollution are already using the revenue to put money back in the pockets of people who need it the most by giving the money back to families through rebates, by cutting personal income tax and small business taxes, and by investing to support entrepreneurs and clean technologies that create good-paying, middle-class jobs all around the country.
This is already happening. While some provinces put money right back in the pockets of Canadians in the form of a deep tax cut, others will invest in new clean businesses. Companies like New Flyer, Landmark Homes, and SkyPower Global are building innovative technologies like electric buses, energy-efficient homes, and solar panels while creating good-paying, middle-class jobs.
In my riding, there is the Alderville First Nation, which has one of the largest solar farms in an indigenous community. It now has a revenue stream and has created jobs and clean energy for communities. Also in my riding is a company called Tri-County Plastics, in Brighton. It has created a large shredder that is now able to recycle things that could never be recycled before and has created up to 20 new jobs in a town of about 3,000 people.
This is why many leading Conservatives in Canada, including Preston Manning and Ontario Conservative leader Patrick Brown, all support carbon pricing.
Pricing carbon pollution is only one part of the climate plan, which includes accelerating the phase-out of coal, developing a clean fuel standard, and taking action on short-lived climate pollutants. Canada's climate plan is one that economists, business leaders, and Canadians across the country have been calling for. It will allow us to meet our international obligations under the Paris agreement on climate change and will lay the foundation for the transition to a clean-growth economy. It will also give us a competitive advantage in a market that Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, says is worth trillions of dollars.
In 2015, over $300 billion was invested globally in renewable power. That is almost double the amount invested in fossil fuels. Unlike the party opposite, we recognize that in the modern age, economic development and environmental sustainability must go hand in hand, and unlike the party opposite, we know that strong environmental policies, including a price on carbon pollution, are crucial for generating the type of support that is required for major projects, and ultimately, for Canada as a whole—