Madam Speaker, I am really surprised that members would heckle in this place. It is not something that I ever hear happen on this side of the House.
I again want to highlight the key points of my remarks and hopefully underline some of them for the benefit of members across the way. It is important that we all recognize the need for a serious and responsible response to climate change, but a serious and responsible response does not portend that emissions will not continue to happen at some level, that we will not continue to need energy. It is not responsible to suppose that we can shut off the development of our resources. To do so would simply lead to more development happening in other places that have fewer regulations and standards, and we would be in a position of needing to import those resources.
Our proposal on this side of the House is to develop our economy in a way that is clean and responsible and to look for opportunities to use our energy resources and new technologies here to help support other countries in the same development. This is a proposal that has come forward that I think is very effective and on point, which is that Canada would engage with other countries to actually deploy our leading-edge environmental technologies in other jurisdictions. That would have a much more consequential impact on this issue of climate change than if we were to even shut off the taps entirely.
The government says that the environment and the economy go hand in hand. If we look at the record of the Conservatives, we will see emissions reductions and economic growth. We did so because we believe that we could get the benefits of a strong and effective environmental plan at the same time as not imposing new taxes on Canadians. That is proceeding in the right and responsible way.
I talked about the costs of this proposal and want to highlight a few of the costs and negative impacts of the Liberals' carbon tax proposal. They spoke about British Columbia, but despite that province having the highest carbon tax in Canada, emissions have continued to rise in British Columbia. That is notable. As a result, British Columbians now pay more for gas than anyone else in North America and it is very clear that the carbon tax is imposing costs but not helping the environment.
The government has admitted that gas prices will go up by at least 11¢ a litre and the cost of heating one's home will increase by over $200. The Parliamentary Budget Officer found that the Liberal carbon tax will take $10 billion out of the Canadian economy by 2022, while other estimates argue that the cost could be as much as $35 billion per year.
If members across the way think these costs are justified or appropriate, then they should be frank about their carbon tax proposal and defend it, but, frankly, we have seen a refusal to even use the word “tax”. They have called it a fee and a charge. The amount of money one has to pay to the government, especially when it is up to the government to decide how it wants to disburse it at will, is nothing other than a tax. I think the Liberals would have to agree. The costs are there.
We contend that there is a way to respond to the challenges of the environment and climate change that does not involve new taxes. We can point out that it has been done in the past and that it will be done again after the next election. I hope that other members and certainly the public will see that they do not have to pay higher taxes to help the environment. There is an alternative, a better way, where the environment and the economy would truly go hand in hand, and that is with the Conservative approach.