House of Commons Hansard #334 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was change.

Topics

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:05 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's speech was on point and I appreciated the reference to the science on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that the fisheries there are facing rapid deoxygenation as a result of climate change.

There are solutions and the hon. parliamentary secretary said we are looking for them. I would direct the parliamentary secretary and the government to the report entitled, “Pathways to Deep Decarbonization”, which is a global report with a chapter done on Canada. It is very specific as to what we could do with an east-west electricity grid, such as decarbonize our electricity sector or move to electric vehicles. There are very specific things, including fuel switching. There is also a massive comprehensive report entitled, “Drawdown”, which is edited by Paul Hawken. It is replete with solutions.

I also recommend that the government look at the Paul Martin climate plan from 2005. I disagree with my hon. colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith. That plan was fully funded. That plan was delivered. Unfortunately, that government, on November 28, 2005, was brought down by the NDP, the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois and they delivered government to Stephen Harper for nine years with no climate action.

There are solutions. I would ask my hon. colleague how many we can pursue and how fast.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:05 p.m.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.

Sean Fraser

Mr. Speaker, realistically, some of these solutions are being pursued and I expect we may differ in degree but not in kind in terms of how we may wish to achieve them. In particular, we had a nice conversation about the need to improve the connectivity of our electrical grids. To the extent we can, we must do this to ensure that we are taking advantage of renewable sources of electricity whenever we can. We can make that change very quickly if we have the political will with the provinces and the federal government at the same time.

I will undertake to review the 2005 Martin plan and have a conversation with my colleague on the back end of tonight's debate.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:05 p.m.

Liberal

William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is such a privilege to take part in this debate.

Sometimes we have to look for different sources of inspiration. As we debate climate change here today, I am thinking of my constituents, the good people of the Pontiac region, who were recently affected by flooding in 2017 and the tornados in 2018. I am thinking about the future of our children and our communities, both rural and urban.

I am struck as I think about how important this debate is. I think about my children and what they will want to have heard from me when we talk about this issue.

I have a lot of constituents right now who are angry. They are angry because they feel as though the debate around climate change is becoming, in some unfortunate way, toxic. Quite frankly, that is because members of the opposition, in particular the Conservatives, are convincing Canadians that a discussion among reasonable human beings around the pricing of carbon pollution is something to be feared. They are playing the games of fear and division around humanity's very survival. It is unacceptable.

I will not stand by idly and represent the good people of Pontiac and allow this debate, at least from the mouth of the representative of the Pontiac, to be a toxic one. It cannot be because there is too much at stake. It has to be a positive discussion. We have all heard about the IPCC report.

There is no denying the facts. We all know that the effects of climate change can be devastating, and we need to act immediately. Yes, our government is taking action, with a range of measures. We are putting a price on pollution, we are investing in public transit and we are phasing out the use of carbon-based pollutants.

Coal is being phased out and that is a huge development in this country. There are so many investments in housing, so many investments in public transit. It is time for us to cease this never-ending cycle of criticism about some phantom job-killing carbon tax on everything.

It is the rhetoric of the previous government, the Harper government, which is being resurrected presently. It is so unfortunate, because the average Canadian knows that a price on carbon is not going to kill jobs. Pricing pollution works to create jobs and benefit the economy while we bend that curve toward a low-carbon economy. We can create jobs for the middle class. We can help our towns become more resilient to protect themselves and adapt against future floods and fires. We can do this and we can do so in such a way that it does not tear apart the threads of national unity.

However, it seems as though it has become so politically expedient to play to a political party's base and rehash the rhetoric, the appalling rhetoric around “job-killing carbon taxes”.

Personally, I prefer to talk about success stories and future projects. I will focus on some wonderful initiatives happening in Pontiac. I would first like to talk about small local projects, such as the Véloroute des Draveurs, a 21-kilometre-long bike path. It is one of the most important announcements made in the Gatineau valley since we took office in 2015.

The bike path has become a major tourist attraction in the Gatineau valley. The federal government invested half a million dollars in it. It is a place for families to ride their bikes and spend time outdoors. This is the kind of infrastructure investment our government supports. There is a bike path in Chelsea on Notch Road and Mine Road. That is my community. We are so pleased to have supported that project. The bike path will be part of the Pink Road extension in Gatineau.

This is another example of an infrastructure project that is all about sustainable development and creating an economy and a community for the next generation, for a time when carbon is down and quality of life is up.

However, there are big projects as well, many really interesting projects coming up. I was proud to stand with my colleague, the MP for Hull—Aylmer, with the mayor of Gatineau and a number of councillors in support of a major light rail train initiative that is being proposed for Gatineau. It could have transformative effects on the entire regional economy, rural and urban. It is the kind of visionary public transit project that would only be possible with a $180-billion over 10-year federal infrastructure plan. We could not have had that conversation.

Now Gatineau, the City of Ottawa, Quebec, Ontario and the federal government are having a serious discussion about transformative infrastructure in our region. These are the conversations we are having presently. Will these projects, a small bike path, a major light rail project, or the expansion of a rural bus service like Transcollines, individually make that difference? No, maybe not on their own, but taken collectively we can get there. It is going to require that kind of commitment in our budget.

Talking about commitment in our budget, our government has taken the unprecedented measure of investing $1.3 billion over four years to ensure that we move the yardsticks forward and conserve our protected spaces and our species at risk. That is a major initiative and yes it is related to climate change because as the IPCC notes quite correctly, the species extinction crisis we are facing right now is only exacerbated by climate change. It is part and parcel of the same problem.

We are taking responsibility financially. We are putting in place the market-based measures that are absolutely fundamentally necessary to get us to that place where Canadians are able to say we have started to make a difference with our local projects and we have started to make a difference with our everyday purchases. I know that we are going to be able to say that we have done better. Do we all need to collectively go further? Absolutely. Individually, I need to do more and I expect everyone in the House believes the same.

Let us tone down the rhetoric please around this idea that a price on pollution is somehow going to destroy the fabric of our country and turn our economy upside down. It will not. The average Canadian knows that and I would challenge any Conservative to knock on the doors of the good people of Pontiac, those people who suffered through floods, those people who have lost portions of their house in the past month. I would dare Conservatives to knock on the doors of the good people of Pontiac and say climate change is not costing them anything right now. It is already costing Canadians and yes, we have to price that pollution because it is the only way to get there.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:15 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, I do have to say with the greatest respect to the member for Pontiac that some aspects of his speech were a little bit strange. I do not think anybody on this side of the House has ever contended that a carbon tax is going to destroy our country. We have contended, though, that it is bad public policy. We have contended that it will cost Canadians more money, and that there are more effective ways of responding to the environmental challenges we face.

The member does not seem to want to hear those arguments. He thinks it is the peddling of fear and division to have a contrary view of the economics and policy analysis in this particular case. I do not begrudge him having a different view from me. That is why we have a deliberative institution called Parliament, where we can talk about our viewpoints and frame them in terms of our sincerely held convictions about how an analysis applies in particular cases. However, I do not think he should be alarmed or bothered by the fact that different people have different points of view about how to approach the particulars of this situation. We can have a reasonable discussion about a carbon tax. It is just that we have come to a different conclusion with respect to it.

I would like to ask the member a very specific question related to the government's approach to climate change. The government decided to have Canada join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is a Beijing-controlled bank that builds infrastructure in Asia to advance the foreign policy interests of China. It undertakes many different projects. One of them, for example, was a pipeline in Azerbaijan.

Does the member believe that Canadian investment in the Beijing-controlled Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which includes the pipeline constructed in Azerbaijan with our tax dollars, rises to the environmental standards he would consider satisfactory?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:20 p.m.

Liberal

William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite were to do a Google search for “job-killing carbon tax on everything”, he would find about 5,000 hits that include the names of every single Conservative member who has ever sat in this place, because it is a speaking point that has been repeated so many times. It is the sheer distortion, rhetoric and toxicity of the Conservative Party's position in the climate debate that is the real affront to Canadians in this important discussion.

To get to the question, we know that reasonable Canadians will agree that we need an infrastructure bank to help bring forward important projects, and it is absolutely of fundamental importance. If Canadians are going to have major public transit investments, we need the private sector to engage. The member should appreciate that we brought about an infrastructure bank that is going to help enable some of these major infrastructure projects that help bend the curve toward a low-carbon economy.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:20 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, just over two and a half years ago we were in the House having an emergency debate on the Paris Agreement. I asked the Minister of Environment and Climate Change why the government had not followed through with its promise to stop subsidies to the oil and gas industry. She said the government was working on it. Instead, it was working on a deal to buy a leaky pipeline that was way overpriced. This is its answer to solving the historic problem we are facing on our planet.

Could the member explain why the government has not followed through with its promise, and when it is going to stop fossil fuel subsidies to the oil and gas industry?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:20 p.m.

Liberal

William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Courtenay—Alberni for his hard work on the issue of a national bike strategy. He has done some really good work and shown leadership on a key issue that many Canadians feel is not adequately addressed by any level of government.

The question of subsidies is challenging, because getting to the core of what constitutes a subsidy is a matter of significant debate. There are experts across the world, including those involved in the IPCC, who cannot necessarily agree on what constitutes a subsidy. Is it a flow-through share? Is it any number of measures that could be of assistance to the fossil fuel industries?

We need to step back and allow the finance minister the opportunity, in conjunction with the entire cabinet, to evaluate holistically what measures are needed to order to provide the right incentive for the clean energy economy of the future. Our government has gone a long way toward enabling that.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:25 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert. I would also like to acknowledge that we are on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people.

It is an honour to join this emergency debate. If I seem a little tired, it is because I came in this morning on the red eye and it is 11:25 p.m. here. However, I would never miss this opportunity to speak and bring a message from the people of Courtenay—Alberni about how concerning this issue is. Clearly it is the most important issue, not just for people in my riding and our country but globally.

The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an urgent call to action on the most serious threat facing our planet: global climate change. Thousands of scientists and experts from around the world warn that if major and unprecedented action is not taken immediately, it will no longer be possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and the consequences will be devastating for people in ecosystems across the globe.

Canada is failing to meet even its own modest emission reduction targets. Now the IPCC is telling us that our current emissions must be cut by 45% in order to stave off disaster. This is serious, and after a summer of soaring temperatures, rising floods and raging wildfires in my home province of British Columbia, Canadians are already feeling the impacts of climate change. If we fail to act now to fight climate change, the cost will be immense: families losing homes and property in extreme weather events, farmers losing crops and all Canadians losing species and the ecosystem that make up our natural heritage.

This is real. The PBO said that the impact of intense storms and intense weather would cost us about $1 billion a year. We know that it is supposed accelerate to about $5 billion by 2020, which is only two years out, and it could be upwards of nearly $50 billion by 2050. We are accelerating not just fiscal debt and shouldering that to future generations, but we are shouldering them with a huge environmental fiscal debt. We need to be much more responsible.

The world's scientists have stated clearly and firmly that we must take bold and immediate action to ensure a safe and sustainable world. Canadians expect more from all of us and they expect us to come together to address this issue, which is why we are here today. It is really important that we work together on finding solutions.

I think about some of the things we might be facing if we are in a world where global warming has reached 2° above pre-industrial times. The Arctic Ocean could be free of sea ice in the summer. It could be once per century if we are at 1.5°C, but compare that with once per decade if we are at 2°C. If we look at our coral reefs, we could see them decline between 70% and 90% at a 1.5° rise in global temperature. Virtually all, 99%, would be lost with the global temperate rising 2°. We should all be very nervous about that.

I think about my own community in Port Alberni. We have seen three hundred-year floods in the last four years. We have seen huge floods in Alberta, and as a I mentioned earlier, the fires raging across British Columbia and Alberta in the last couple of years. We had a drought in 2014 and we were worried about our salmon making it up our streams. We could have lost several species in salmon, and our salmon are struggling. Every day and every year we hear about the challenge. They are fighting to get up our streams. as warming temperatures are warming our rivers and making it more difficult for them, specifically our sockeye.

We talked about the forest fires. We could barely breathe in my riding, yet some people still do not believe that climate change is real, that the impact is real. We could not breathe for almost two weeks. It was like smoking five cigarettes a day, which is what the medical health officer compared it to, yet some people are still not awake to this being real and that there is a sense of urgency.

Ocean acidification is happening in our riding. As my colleague from Quebec talked about earlier, we have had our worst year in 50 years with respect to weather affecting agriculture, including in my riding.

We can look at what the other political parties have done in the past. The Conservatives muzzled scientists, attacked environmental organizations and they lacked the courage and commitment that was necessary to tackle this very important issue.

The Conservatives ran huge environmental deficits. The Conservative Party runs on a platform of being fiscally responsible, yet it leaves huge deficits for future generations to clean up.

The Liberals ran with two major promises. One promise was to tackle climate change and the other was on electoral reform. Clearly, they have broken both promises.

I mentioned earlier that in June 2016, I asked the minister why she did not follow through with her promise to end subsidies to the fossil fuel industry. Instead, what she chose to do was to go out and support her cabinet and her government's purchase of a leaky pipeline. Not only did the Liberals not follow through with that promise, but they went in the other direction. It is very concerning. They believe that we need to own a pipeline to tackle climate change. Where I live, no one is buying it.

We can look to countries where they have taken real action, such as Sweden and the U.K. Sweden has grown its economy by 50% and reduced emissions by 25%. We know the track record is very similar in the U.K. We need bold action.

I remember when Al Gore came to Victoria in 2007. He said that we need bold action. He said it is great that all of us are recycling and riding our bikes and doing all these great things and we can make an impact. However, he said that 90% of it is going to be the corner cutters, big industry, the huge emitters. He said that we need regulations to actually curb their emissions and incentives to help invest in clean energy. He was right. I will give credit to the opposition party in British Columbia, the Liberals. When in government they brought in a carbon tax. Gordon Campbell was with me there, listening to Al Gore, and he agreed with Al Gore that we need leadership. I commend him for that.

We need that kind of leadership right now, but even accelerated more. If we are going to reduce emissions by 45%, we need urgent action. We can do it. We can invest in geothermal and solar and wind, like other countries are, and electrification. I am here with my colleague. We are the only party that has an electrification critic. We can try to create an electrification grid across the country and be energy efficient and help support electric vehicles and moving away from fossil fuels. We need to work with local government and first nations so we can help them accelerate issues.

My friend from Pontiac talked about cycling, and I appreciate his work too on cycling. My bill, Bill C-312, encourages the government to create a plan. We actually need a plan with targets to grow cycling in our country. It is one of the very small initiatives, but 95% of municipalities voted in favour of it, and the Liberal government still has not honoured that commitment. Municipalities are just asking for a simple strategy and some funding so they can actually target something that they can help with. We know there are many different ways to address this issue, but really it comes down to urgency and taking action.

I was fortunate to have constituents of mine send me messages. On Friday, I was doing business walks in my community. I met Tyler Cody, who owns Osprey Electric. He is a contractor who specializes in solar and energy efficient technologies. He really wants to contribute. He knows that if people have an incentive, they will purchase solar energy. A small incentive will accelerate things a hundredfold if we can get some incentives out to individual homeowners who want to participate and want to join in this fight to tackle climate change. His manager sent me a note saying, “Canada is one of the only advanced countries where the federal government offers no incentives for renewable energy implementation at either the commercial or residential level. This means no programs providing low-rate or zero-rate interest loans, no tax rebates or tax credits. Business and homeowners who want to adapt are on their own. It's a bit embarrassing, really.” He is saying that a little bit of help would go a long way.

John Standen sent me a note on Facebook saying that we need to mobilize, that people are at risk now, not 20 years from now. He wants us to get started. He does not want us to waste any more time.

Claire Schuman from Parksville said that policies are not helpful if they are not put into action. She said that instead of focusing on the pipeline that was bought, immediate attention must be paid to reducing our carbon footprint, and no more waiting.

That is what people in my community are asking for. That is what first nations are asking for. They are asking for the government to be bold, to be courageous, to not wait. That is why we are having this emergency debate. I hope that the government, in the coming days before the big meeting in December, will come forward with bold proposals, accelerate its plan and come back with some clear targets that are measurable, because we need to take this seriously. It is for our children and the future of our planet and our ecosystem. We have everything at stake.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:35 p.m.

Liberal

Kent Hehr Liberal Calgary Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the member for his passionate plea on climate change and that we take action on this not only for today but for future generations.

I was struck by something he said in his speech that might have been an error. He seemed to be worried about our deficit, suggesting we were leaving that to future generations.

I would suggest to him that we are investing in climate change action by investing in LRTs across this country. In my riding alone, the LRT green line will take 8,000 cars off the road. I will correct my good friend from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. His government promised it in the 2011 election but forgot to drop off the cheque. That is why we ensured after 2015 that we invested in the LRT green line project.

In any event, can the member not see that these investments in the LRT, our national housing strategy, and all of the things we are doing around climate change are real and that our deficit is going towards fighting climate change as well?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:35 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Calgary Centre talked about the national housing strategy. It is a rollout, as 90% of it will be rolled out after the next election over 10 years. That is not urgency. That is not action. That is not what people need right now, including homeless people, for example.

It is approaching the challenge of climate change in the same way. It is talking about all of its investments. It is investing in the oil industry. That money could be invested in clean energy. That would be a better place for it.

If the government were really serious about climate change, it would end fossil fuel subsidies to the oil industry, it would accelerate investments in the clean energy economy, and it would get it back through jobs, through inspiration, through mitigating the impacts of climate change, creating a healthier, cleaner environment for everyone. Everyone would win. Our health would improve. It would lower our health costs. It would be fiscally responsible.

I am talking about our being more fiscally responsible by accelerating money and investments made in clean energy and taking on this really important challenge.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:35 p.m.

Conservative

John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB

Mr. Speaker, obviously my colleague and I will disagree on a lot of policy ideas when it comes to how we address climate change, and certainly the carbon tax would be one of them.

I do agree that our goal is a cleaner climate and healthier communities. Would my colleague agree that exempting the largest industrial emitters from the carbon tax and then putting the full burden of that on average everyday Canadians, small businesses, farmers and ranchers is the wrong direction to take if the goal is to address GHG emissions?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:35 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's hard work and for always bringing forward a good discussion in a respectful way.

When it comes to how we price carbon and look at polluters, we need to make sure that all polluters pay their fair share. Absolutely, the largest polluters should pay their fair share.

When we have looked at the policies in British Columbia, we have seen that these have not been on the backs of lower income people and the middle class. People are excited about them. B.C. has one of the fastest growing economies in the country. We have also taken leadership in reducing the impact on the environment.

We looked to Sweden, as I talked about earlier, and countries like the U.K. that have implemented similar measures, but much higher carbon taxes and invested the proceeds in clean energy and in jobs and their economies have soared while they reduced emissions. We need to take an approach that would drive the economy and lower emissions.

I would have appreciated hearing in this debate tonight more solutions from the Conservative Party. I did not hear a lot of presentations from the Conservative Party about how it is going to try to move forward with tackling climate change. Obviously, we did not see it in the 10 years under Stephen Harper. We expected them to come tonight with some answers, with some solutions, so that we could have a healthy debate.

This should not be partisan. This should be about our working together on finding solutions, because our children and our grandchildren and the future of this planet deserve it.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:40 p.m.

NDP

Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, my House leader mentioned that our Parliament is probably one of the first in the world to hold an emergency debate on this subject following the release of the IPCC report. This initiative may well be good news.

I am very happy to be here on behalf of the people of Longueuil and Saint-Hubert. We are not here by chance, however. I have been in the House since noon, and although it is twenty minutes to midnight here, it is one minute to midnight in terms of global warming.

That is why my colleague from Courtenay—Alberni talked about mobilizing. There have been huge protests in Montreal, each twice as big as the last. I had the opportunity to participate in three protests with my daughter and her friends. People mobilized because this issue is not getting enough attention and they wanted their provincial politicians to talk more about it during the election campaign.

This summer, I was taken aback when Mr. Hulot, a French politician in the Macron government, resigned on live radio, which naturally created quite a stir. He was France's Steven Guilbeault, so to speak. The following is an excerpt from his speech:

I cannot fathom that the entire world is indifferent to the fact that we are all witnessing the development of an utterly foreseeable tragedy. The planet is turning into an oven. We are running out of natural resources. Biodiversity is melting like snow in the sun and is not always seen as a priority. To be perfectly honest, and what I am saying applies to the international community, we are seeking to maintain and even revive an economic model that is the cause of all these disruptions. Therefore, no, I do not understand how, after the Paris conference, after a definitive diagnosis that continues to be refined and to become more serious day after day, this issue is still relegated to the bottom of the list of priorities. The short-term pressure on leaders and the prime minister is so strong that it is pre-empting medium- and long-term issues. That is the truth, because a prime minister has social needs, humanitarian needs, on his desk that always legitimately sideline the long-term issues that take our society by surprise. I hope that my departure will lead to some serious soul-searching by our society about the state of our world.

Personally, I found that very upsetting. I remember writing on Facebook that I was brought to tears listening to the interview. An Internet troll thought it was entertaining to say that I was just playing politics, but it really did bring me to tears. Like many of my colleagues, I find it extremely disturbing to see young people lose hope and to hear respected commentators say that we are done for and that it is all over. It is pitiful and pathetic, and it is our fault. We need to take action and move beyond our short-sighted debates.

Earlier, I said that we are at war. It is time everyone realized that every country in the world is at war against global warming, a monster that we created, initially unknowingly. I am 55 years old, and when I was young, I was taught at school that the ocean was so big that it was impossible to pollute it. I did not make that up. I learned it at school. Today, we know that there are entire continents of plastic debris that harm aquatic life and do other damage. The insecurity we are facing today was created by the reckless behaviour we engaged in for years. Today, there is no longer any excuse not to take action. The problem has been documented.

Again, I say, why not create a commissioner's office for this? Quebec has a sustainable development commissioner tied to the auditor general's office. Why shouldn't we create a similar position, one whose mandate would outlast ours? Our terms last for four or five years. Continuity is what we need. The commissioner could be selected unanimously if we decided to stop fighting with each other. This is a fact, and we cannot argue against the scientific fact that the planet is warming and we are going to cook and boil like a frog that does not realize its bathwater is heating up.

Why not appoint someone? Why not put someone in charge of this? Why not create the ultimate international assembly where several people would have exactly the same mandate? Why shouldn't Canada be a leader? We took the lead on the Coalition for Cultural Diversity. Why not put forward a similar concept? Why not appoint a super minister, not an environment minister, but a minister of war on climate change? We are at war, after all.

I have no choice but to be critical of this situation. Sure, the Liberal government has good intentions. I understand. However, as Mr. Hulot described, in real life, it is all well and good to talk about objectives, but when one province was unhappy because its pipeline was not expanded, what did the government do? It bought the pipeline. It is toying with all kinds of short-term solutions. The government is not walking the talk.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development obviously understands the issue, but ultimately will not support the transportation electrification industrial cluster. MOST 21, in Quebec City, was a very promising aerospace cluster. However, it will not get support. The Minister of Transport promised to install charging stations in Canada. He promised this would happen in 2018, but there are hardly any. Everything seems to be delayed. This is very real.

The Conservatives obviously know that we think the carbon tax is a good idea. It is a good idea, but what is the government actually doing? Will it encourage people to use electric vehicles? It looks like we will be waiting a long time. I remember asking the Minister of Transport about this. The NDP has an official electrification of transport portfolio, since this is one of our priorities. There is an industrial movement, and the know-how and skills are there. There are people who have decided to focus all of their professional energy on it. Unfortunately, these efforts are a bit uncoordinated. Propulsion Québec is trying to connect all of the industry players. The Innovative Vehicle Institute, in Saint-Jérôme, is trying to mobilize know-how and skills to present beautiful, fully operational projects, like the Lion Electric Co., which is selling electric school busses in the United States.

However, the federal government is not providing enough support. That is the sad part. It is all well and good to brag about acknowledging global warming, but what is the government actually doing? I would also like to ask the government where the much-talked-about report is. The government asked Electric Mobility Canada and other electrification of transportation stakeholders to hold one meeting a month for almost a year. The report has still not been released, but we need it. Will the government be transparent enough to table this much-talked-about report in the House?

Obviously, the report would have enlightened us about this structure that we will hopefully come to see. As the Minister of Environment and Climate Change said today, the electrification of transportation is also a business opportunity. It upsets me that we do not celebrate our achievements in this country. Take, for example, Bathium Canada in Boucherville, which designed and manufactured the batteries that were used in 4,600 electric cars in Paris under a Hydro-Québec patent. That is no joke. The electric RAV4 in California is manufactured in Woodstock, Ontario. No one has ever seen it.

Could we celebrate our stakeholders and our entrepreneurs and will the government ensure that it walks the talk when it comes to its good intentions for the environment?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

Conservative

Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC

Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to my hon. colleague's intervention. I do not say this in jest. With all sincerity, how does taxing Canadians—

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I am sorry, there is a point of order. Honourable members must have a tie in order to speak in the House.

Do I have the unanimous consent of the House to have the member put on his tie?

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

No.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

We do not have unanimous consent.

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

Conservative

Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Mr. Speaker, I am sure my question will not be of the same calibre as that of my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George.

I would like to ask a different question. I appreciated the discussion on green entrepreneurs. I agree that innovation and new ideas are one solution. The government and the private sector must work together. I would like to know whether my colleague thinks that we should create the necessary conditions for entrepreneurs to experiment and invest here in Canada.

We have a lot of different taxes here. There is the carbon tax, for example, as well as other taxes. It is probably easier to innovate, invest and create industrial clusters in other countries. In my view, it is important to innovate, but we also need to create favourable conditions for private investment to foster the development of new ideas.

I wonder if my colleague agrees with me on that.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:50 p.m.

NDP

Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for that very important question. I will answer by giving two or three examples. I had the opportunity to visit the Nano One labs in British Columbia. This business provides faster, more affordable manufacturing processes for alloys that are used in the creation of batteries. I encouraged those people to contact manufacturers in Boucherville and their collaboration led to the creation of a new battery pack that will be inserted in the next Mercedes electric buses.

We do not say enough about the New Flyer buses in Winnipeg. If I recall correctly, I have not looked at the numbers in a while, the New Flyer represents just 5% of their revenues, but their electric buses make up 85% of the market in the United States. These are people from Manitoba.

In closing, I would cite the economic support or at least the need to look beyond the Lion buses. These are school buses sold essentially to the United States and they are trying to make the project viable with the Innovative Vehicle Institute in Saint-Jérôme.

It cost a lot of money to insert new technology in a vehicle with very specific standards. There is a precise number of rivets for the rigidity of the body, and international standards. They did not get anywhere until someone asked whether the bus, which ran on diesel, was subsidized by the school boards. Indeed, school boards subsidize diesel. If we add the whole subsidy for diesel to the potential life the vehicle, it ends up costing the same as the electric vehicle, but without emissions, and it is made back home.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

11:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Calgary Centre. I would like to inform the hon. member that he will have five minutes before we adjourn.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

October 15th, 2018 / 11:55 p.m.

Liberal

Kent Hehr Liberal Calgary Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, I represent the good people of Calgary Centre and I was elected by those good people to do a couple of things: to follow through on our vision of both seeing the economy and the environment as two sides of the same coin and move the country forward in that fashion. That is exactly what this government is doing after a decade of Stephen Harper's failure to see the country in that fashion, with the Conservatives not being able to embrace the fact that climate change was real and the way to fight it was putting a price on pollution. We also did not see energy projects move forward. Not one inch of pipeline was built to new energy markets.

Our commitment is to build good energy projects by finding a way forward on Trans Mountain and other projects in a reasonable fashion, as well as LNG Canada, which is a great project that will grow the economy. We also understand that the best way to deal with climate change is to put a price on pollution. The evidence is clear.

This week, the panel on climate change issued its report saying that we had to take action, and there is no doubt about it. The Nobel Prize winner this week embraced carbon pricing as the best way to fight climate change. That is exactly what our government is doing.

I am surprised when I hear the Conservatives advocate for other ways to do this. It was 30 years ago when Brian Mulroney had the first international gathering on climate change. In fact, the former leader of the Reform Party, Preston Manning, embraced carbon pricing. It is a market principle that says that based on supply and demand and economics, it allows real world issues to follow through and send a price signal to those who want to purchase goods. That is why I am surprised at the wailing and gnashing of the teeth at any type of move toward what is clearly the most efficient way to battle climate change, which is to put a price on pollution. Why the Conservatives would like to do it in a less efficient way, through regulation or whatever they are talking about, does not make any sense.

Our government is also committed to doing this not only through putting a price on pollution, but through a whole-of-government approach in how we face climate change.

It was mentioned earlier that Calgary Centre was moving forward with the LRT Green Line, from downtown Calgary through to Inglewood and Ramsay, south to the hospital. This important project will take 8,000 cars off the road in Calgary alone. It will allow people to get to and from work much more quickly.

My good friend brought up the fact that the Conservative government promised it, but it promised it in 2011 and did not quite send a cheque to the good people of Calgary to build that. It promised it again in 2015 and I am skeptical if that would have ever arrived. That is why our government is there, to ensure we are doing those things through both the LRT Green Line and our national housing strategy. It takes a whole-of-government approach to deal with climate change in a real and fundamental fashion. There is very good evidence to support this being the logical way to go.

B.C. has had a price on carbon for the last 10 years. In fact, it has seen a 10% reduction of people's gasoline use and has also seen its economy grow during that time. Therefore, this is a bogeyman the Conservatives put out, that we cannot have growth in the economy without putting a price on pollution. That is the way forward and that is exactly what our government is doing.

Global WarmingEmergency Debate

October 16th, Midnight

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

It being 12 midnight, I declare the motion carried.

Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until later today at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 12 a.m.)