Debates of Feb. 13th, 2018

Natural Resources

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the British Columbia government says it is going to consult people. The Government of Canada has already consulted tens of thousands of people, and Canadians agree with us that this pipeline is in Canada's interest because of the jobs it creates, because of the expansion of export markets, and because of the $1.5 billion invested in a world-class oceans protection plan. We have intervened with the proponent of the National Energy Board when we thought it would lead to delays. There will be no unnecessary delays. This pipeline will be built.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it does not matter if he just keeps saying the same thing over and over. It is not actually a plan, it is not actually going to get done, and it means absolutely nothing. Liberals obviously will not stand up for their own approval of a pipeline clearly in the national interest. The minister is saying that the recent consultations are legitimate and there is nothing to be seen here, but it is clearly an attempt to continue to delay the project.

Deliver the plan and confirm: When will construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline begin?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we do not have any difficulty repeating the government's position, and I do not know why members opposite cannot take yes for an answer. Yes, we think the pipeline is a good idea. Yes, we approved the pipeline. Yes, we intervened at the National Energy Board when it wanted to delay the pipeline. We want the pipeline built.

How about members of the opposition? What chill are they putting on investment by their incessant questions?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, order. The hon. member for Carleton will come to order.

The hon. member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, all words from the minister and still no action plan.

The trade war between B.C. and Alberta is escalating every day. While this crisis develops, the Prime Minister crosses his fingers and hopes the provinces will just work it out instead of having to demonstrate any real national leadership himself. Wishful thinking will not get this pipeline built.

It has been 441 days since this project was approved. When will the Prime Minister open his eyes and start supporting hard-working Canadian families who are depending on this project?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we live in a federation where provincial governments have strong points of view, and they are elected to speak on behalf of their own constituencies, the people who elected them, and their own interpretation of their provincial interests. There is only one government that speaks on behalf of the national interest, and that is the Government of Canada. We acted in the national interest when we approved this pipeline, and, in those months that have intervened, nothing has changed.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Trans Mountain expansion project is in the national interest. It will create jobs across the country and provide provinces with access to global markets. The dispute between Alberta and British Columbia has escalated solely because the Prime Minister has failed to show any leadership, choosing instead to leave the country while this crisis came to a head. Every day of inaction by the Liberals fuels the national conflict.

When will the Prime Minister shelve the rhetoric, get Alberta and B.C. together, and set a date for construction to begin?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, let us examine the Conservative record on this file: in 10 years, not one kilometre of pipe built to tidewater, an erosion of public trust in the regulatory system that we are going to fix, insufficient consultation with indigenous communities, court case after court case that said they blew it. We are going to get it right.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil and others know the Standing Orders. They know that we are not permitted to interrupt in this place, and I know that members can manage to hold themselves until it is their side's turn.

The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of jobs across the country are being put at risk because the Prime Minister is sitting on the sidelines while an approved energy project faces uncertainty and delay. He refuses to stand up to the opponents of the Trans Mountain pipeline, and now the B.C. wine industry is becoming collateral damage as a result. We need less talk and more action from this Prime Minister. Will he tell Canadians what his actual plan is, or is his real plan to let others kill this project and the thousands of jobs that go along with it?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, they are bashing in an open door. They cannot take yes for an answer. I guess we can say it one more time. We want the pipeline to proceed. We have approved it. We have approved it with conditions. We are investing a billion and a half dollars in the oceans protection plan. We are working with indigenous communities up and down the line. What is the opposition doing? The opposition is chilling investor confidence with a record that opposition members should be ashamed of.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I am sure that the opposition House leader has read the Standing Orders. She knows we are not to interrupt in this place.

The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, energy workers, the B.C. wine industry, and national unity are all being threatened by this escalating dispute, yet the Prime Minister actually said, “I'm not going to opine on disagreements between the provinces in this case.” What a sorry excuse for national leadership. Why does the Prime Minister not opine that the rule of law will be upheld? Why does he not opine that innocent bystanders will not be collateral damage in this dispute? Why does he not get off the sidelines and fight for the jobs that we lost because of his inaction?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says it in Edmonton, we say it in Vancouver, we say it in Regina, and we say it in St. John's, Newfoundland. We say it in every region of the country. Why do we say it in every region of the country? We say it because the message is a national one and it is clear. We will move our resources to market sustainably. We will expand export markets. We will work with indigenous peoples. We will protect the environment. We are the only party in this chamber that will do all three of those things.

Agriculture and Agri-food

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today is Canada's Agriculture Day. In honour of this day, the Liberals are refusing to create a trust similar to PACA for perishable goods. In addition, there is still not not even a hint of support for milk producers in response to the loopholes opened in CETA, not to mention the potential loopholes to come in NAFTA and the TPP. The government should be ashamed today.

When will the government fulfill its promises to our family farms and implement safeguards to ensure that the people who feed our families every day can also feed their own families?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is, as I have said many times, we are the party that implemented supply management and we are the government that is going to protect it. We are going to put programs in place in order to make sure that our food and vegetable sector are also in the trade to export around the world. We also put a program in place after CETA to make sure that the dairy industry itself was on the cutting edge, $250 million. We put another $100 million in place to make sure that the processing sector was in place. We have and will continue to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for a party that says it likes to stand with farmers, its talking points are sure falling short. Creating a PACA-like deemed trust for producers of perishable goods in Canada is what our produce growers want. Two parliamentary committees, agriculture and finance, unanimously recommended that greater measures are needed to protect Canadian produce growers, but Liberal ministers will not even consider it. On Canada's Agriculture Day, will the government stop breaking its election promises, put the money where its mouth is, and support our produce growers and small businesses?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my hon. colleague that the government is committed to the financial success of our fruit and vegetable farmers.

We will be creating a single dispute resolution body, which should resolve the majority of non-payment incidents faced by our producers. Working with farmers, today we are going to make a number of announcements that will indicate just how much more we fully support the agriculture and agrifood sector across the country.

The Environment

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Well, Mr. Speaker, the more we dig into the new environmental review process the uglier it gets.

The minister appears to have embedded in the bill provisions that will empower her to delay, suspend, and veto a project before it ever undergoes a full science-based review. That is not a streamlined process; that is a minister-knows-best process, which is based on politics and not science.

How can we trust a process based on the minister's whims? Will the minister now agree to remove her veto power from the bill?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinarily rich to hear the party opposite talk about science. The Conservatives never ever took into account science or indigenous knowledge. They never listened to Canadians. They never respected the rights of indigenous people. They could not get good projects built.

We understand that the environment and the economy go together, that decisions need to be made on science and indigenous knowledge, and that we need good projects to go ahead. That is exactly what we are doing.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister spends more time slinging partisan mud and personal attacks than improving Canada's environment. The Liberals have broken more economic promises than we can count. They killed northern gateway, energy east, and are letting Kinder Morgan die a slow and painful death. Now they are creating an environmental review process that is filled with more uncertainty than ever before, discouraging investment in Canada.

When will the minister finally stop her partisan attacks and rebuild investor confidence in Canada's resource sector?