Debates of April 18th, 2018

Natural Resources

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I am having trouble picking out a particular member heckling on this side, because there are so many. I would ask members to restrain themselves and listen to both the question and the answer.

The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would really like the Prime Minister to explain his idea of leadership, because he certainly has not shown any on the Trans Mountain proposal. It took him a month to bring two provincial premiers together to discuss an issue of national interest, and the upshot of the meeting was that the pipeline may or may not be built.

Why does the Prime Minister always wait until the last minute to intervene in matters involving our natural resources, our private investments, our jobs, and the Canadian families who depend on them?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our Prime Minister has demonstrated more leadership in the past two years than the Harper Conservatives did in 10 long years. We recognize that the expansion of the Trans Mountain project is in the national interest. This pipeline is going to be built. It is important not only for Alberta, but for Canada as a whole. We understand that, and we are going to move forward.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, these are the facts. The Premier of Alberta pointed out that each day of delay costs $40 million, and now we have learned that the Prime Minister wants to invest public money, taxpayer's money, to reassure investors. If I have understood correctly, the Prime Minister's inability to make decisions will cost Canadian taxpayers.

My question is simple. How much will the Prime Minister' incompetence on this file cost taxpayers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are not like the Harper Conservatives. We understand that we can keep the economy going and look after the environment at the same time. That has always been and will continue to be our position. We are working with all our partners to move this project forward. Why? Because it is in the national interest.

Health

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, later this afternoon the Standing Committee on Health will table its report. It will highlight the need to implement universal pharmacare. The study, instigated by my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway, has made it possible for the committee members to hear testimony from 99 witnesses. It was a comprehensive two-year study, and the outcome of all this work is crystal clear. To quote our leader, Jagmeet Singh, “People need a champion for better public health care. It's not enough to defend it. We need to expand it.”

Why is the government refusing to commit to implementing universal pharmacare now?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of their publicly funded universal medicare system, one that is based on their need and not on their ability to pay, yet there is certainly room for improvement. We recognize it and we have created an advisory council on the implementation of a national pharmacare program with a mandate to study and evaluate and to present to us options that we will be considering.

I look forward to the report that will be coming up, and I also want to take this opportunity to thank the health committee members for the wonderful work that they have done.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one in five Canadians cannot afford prescription drugs. For decades, federal studies, commissions, and reports have shown that a universal pharmacare program would help millions of people and save $4.2 billion in prescription fees. People do not want another study. They want a universal pharmacare program now.

Despite the fact that a new report representing two years' worth of work will be tabled today, the government still thinks that we need to continue examining the issue. Why?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of our medicare system. This system is publicly funded and based on people's needs and not on their ability to pay. However, this system can be improved. We have created an advisory council on the implementation of a national pharmacare program, with a mandate to study, evaluate, and recommend options for implementing a national pharmacare program. I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Health for the wonderful work they have done and I look forward to reviewing their report.

Natural Resources

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, reconciliation is not a hashtag. It is not a bumper sticker on a Liberal car. It is about recognizing the section 35 constitutional rights of indigenous people in this country, yet yesterday when my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou asked about the failure of the government to consult indigenous people about their section 35 rights on Kinder Morgan, the government did not even bother to respond. Therefore, on the record, do the Liberals believe that in the case of Kinder Morgan, the section 35 rights of indigenous people in Canada must be respected?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the government responded to the Federal Court of Appeal decision in the northern gateway case that said there was insufficient consultation by the Harper government. It made absolutely no sense for us to use the same process, so we added four months more of consultation with indigenous communities up and down the line and we established a co-developed monitoring committee with indigenous communities. For the first time in Canadian history, many indigenous peoples have been involved and will benefit as we share prosperity in our energy sector.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts for my friend. Reconciliation and UNDRIP are going to be made real on the ground by the indigenous people of this country, yet in the middle of what they texted as an ultimatum to demand action, the oil company met with everybody but the indigenous peoples in this country.

Does my friend think they are just going to walk past indigenous Canada to build this Liberal pipeline? Is that what he is telling the people of Canada?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we met with 118 indigenous communities. Forty-three have signed benefit agreements, 33 of them in the province of British Columbia.

As the member knows, there is not unanimity on this file, not within political parties and not within communities. Ultimately, a decision has to be taken by one government in Canada's interests. We have made that decision, and the arguments, I am sure, are very well known to many Canadians.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is a crisis that has been created by the government, and it is following on the uncertainty of the Trans Mountain project.

Let us take a look at what it has done to foreign investments. Since 2015, investments have decreased by $80 billion. In 2016 and 2017, they decreased a further 42% and 27%. Now the Prime Minister is travelling internationally, understandably in order to sell Canada to foreign investors, and what does he say? He says he laments that he cannot phase out the oil and gas sector tomorrow.

Is this how they think they sell investor confidence?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows we have consistently stated in this House from the very first days we were elected that we were committed to the responsible movement of our natural resources to global markets, something that the Harper government could not do in 10 years. There was not one kilometre built to give us access to global markets.

We also understand at the same time that we pay attention to environmental stewardship with a $1.5-billion investment in the oceans protection plan—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Milton.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thought it would never end.

Let us review the actual record of the government when it comes to its inability to get things done: the $36-billion investment in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, cancelled; the $7.9-billion northern gateway project, cancelled; the $50-billion energy east and eastern mainline projects, both cancelled.

Again, the Prime Minister of Canada ends up going to Europe to try to sell investor confidence by saying that his plan is to phase out the oil and gas industry.

Can anyone over there answer for me—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The Minister of Natural Resources.

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, expanded export capacity for the Alberta Clipper project, the Nova Gas pipeline, the Line 3 replacement project, the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline, support for the Keystone XL pipeline, the Arnaud apatite mine, Woodfibre LNG, the Ridley Island propane terminal: these mean tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of investment in the Canadian economy.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I heard again from oil and gas sector workers and their families, and they are still scared. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was in France lamenting the fact that he could not phase out the Canadian energy sector fast enough. The Prime Minister's attack on the energy sector has driven billions of dollars out of Canada and into the hands of foreign competitors, including almost $90 billion in the last two years alone.

Why does this Prime Minister say one thing when he is in Fort McMurray and the exact opposite when he is in Paris?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister makes the same speech in Nanaimo, in Vancouver, in Fort McMurray, in Calgary, in Edmonton, in Winnipeg, and St. John's, Newfoundland, because he is delivering a message to all Canadians, and that message is that in 2018, environmental stewardship and the economy is one conversation. I am very anxious to hear members of the Conservative Party talk about the importance of the $1.5-billion investment in the oceans protection plan.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Natural Resources asked why we are not sharing his optimism. Is he serious? Investments of $86 billion are gone. Northern gateway, energy east, and Pacific NorthWest are cancelled. Trans Mountain is on its last legs, and we are facing a job-killing carbon tax. Again, the Prime Minister unveils his true vision for Canada's energy sector: phasing it out.

On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of unemployed energy workers across Canada and their families, does the minister truly believe that phasing out Alberta's energy sector is reason for optimism, or is he just delusional?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I did not know that the member opposite had other powers and could do some kind of psychoanalysis across these 100 metres, but Canadians will understand.

We will say it as many times as the members opposite want to pose the question: the government is committed to the energy sector. I have just given tens of thousands of reasons that the workers in Alberta and in British Columbia are seeing that things are getting better. Thousands of jobs have been created over the last number of months, and we are confident that the entrepreneurship and the innovation genius of the people of Alberta will grow.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!