House of Commons Hansard #286 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was apology.

Topics

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Carleton.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the question was how much this carbon tax would cost the average family. We know through the finance department's document that the costs will “cascade through the economy”. It will raise grocery bills, home heating bills, gasoline costs at the pump, and in thousands of other ways force Canadian families to pay more.

Will the government end the carbon tax cover-up and indicate how much the average family will be forced to pay for this carbon tax?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, interestingly, the document in question was prepared in 2015, before our government came to power, so I assume the party opposite knows the answer. We do not do ATIPs. Our public servants do. We do not interfere with them.

The previous government, I am sure, knows that putting a price on pollution makes sense. It is a way to reduce pollution, increase innovation, and grow our economy.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the document in question was produced the day after the last election when finance officials were calculating how much the Liberal plan to impose a carbon tax would cost Canadians. They produced a briefing document on income deciles to determine how much people would have to pay for the carbon tax.

Now, the government is in continued possession of that document, and surely the Liberals have done other calculations since. It is a simple question: How much will the carbon tax cost the average Canadian family?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on pollution. Let me say what is happening there. They are the fastest growing economies in the country: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

We need to take action on climate change, because climate change is real. There is a real cost. I wish the party opposite would understand that we need to leave a more sustainable future to our kids. We also need to make sure they have good jobs, and that goes together, so get with the program.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the government is in possession of documents that show the costs for middle-class families. It has calculated how much it would cost. Why is the government keeping this information secret instead of sharing it?

I am calling on the government to disclose today how much the carbon tax will cost the average family.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I will go to the hon. Minister of Environment. I remind her to direct her comments to the Chair.

The hon. Minister of Environment.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, as my counterpart on the other side well knows, the provincial governments are the ones that decide how they will put a price on pollution.

Take British Columbia, for example. It put a price on carbon and returned revenues to the people. We can do this and invest in clean energy. The provincial governments can do this. I encourage the member opposite to talk to the Conservative Manitoba government, which recognizes that we need to put a price on—

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. The hon. member for Carleton.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, well, it will be news to anyone who has read 200 pages of the recent government budget that the provinces will decide what the price on carbon will be. In fact, it is the government that is imposing that price, a $50 a tonne price, nationwide, so it is not a provincial decision. Every time a budget bill is introduced, finance officials do the calculations on what it will cost taxpayers, which means the government has those numbers.

Once again, how much will an average Canadian family pay under this new, nationally-mandated Liberal carbon tax?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, how many times can I repeat it? It is up to provincial governments to determine what to do with the revenues from carbon pricing. They can return the revenues in a tax cut. If they like tax cuts, then they should support putting a price on pollution and returning it directly back to people. Maybe they want to invest in innovation. I am not sure the party opposite does. However, if they want to invest in clean innovation, they can do that.

There is a huge price on pollution right now. I have three kids. They are demanding, kids are demanding, that we take action to protect our environment and create good jobs. I really wish the party opposite would do that.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, it will be further news to the Premier of Saskatchewan that provinces have full discretion about this carbon tax, as the minister has just indicated. Rather, he has been forced to go to court to fight against the Liberal government's national imposition of a carbon tax. Ironically, the participants in that lawsuit will be deprived of information on what the tax will cost.

For the sake of our legal system, will the Liberals at least reveal how much the average Canadian family will have to pay?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how much more clear I can be. It is up to provinces to determine what to do with the revenues.

The Province of Saskatchewan is well within its right to take the revenues and do a tax cut, to take the revenues and reduce its PST. It could make investments in innovation. In fact, it actually would help in Saskatchewan where it uses carbon capture and storage. It would incent people to use that technology. It would be cheaper. It would allow a made-in-Saskatchewan solution, like we are doing across the country

. We are going to grow a clean economy. We are—

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Carleton.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

All right, Mr. Speaker, this question is for the justice minister.

The justice minister will be appointing lawyers to fight Saskatchewan and the people of Saskatchewan in a court of law. Obviously, people from that province are standing up, fighting for their rights, and opposing this nationally-imposed carbon tax.

The justice minister will be heading up the litigation. Will she provide evidence to the court so it can carry out a proper deliberation on how much this carbon tax will cost the average Canadian taxpayer?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, putting a price on pollution is well within the right of the federal government. However, we want to work with provinces and territories. We want to build a cleaner future. We want to make sure we grow a clean economy, and this is the opportunity.

I do not understand why the party opposite refuses to see this. We are in the clean growth century. Clean solutions will create good jobs. The innovations we do in Canada, in Saskatchewan, in British Columbia, in Ontario, are innovations that we can use across the country and across the world to build a more sustainable future, to grow our economy, to—

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Some hon members

Oh, oh!

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I remind the hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies and other members that it is not appropriate to be interrupting when someone else is speaking.

The hon. member for Battlefords—Lloydminster.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to strong-arm Saskatchewan. They refuse to recognize that this carbon tax will have a devastating impact on my province.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan has said that the federal government does not understand basic agricultural economic realities. Farmers will be unable to pass along their increased costs to their customers, yet the government continues to threaten the province, and now they have landed themselves in court.

When will the Prime Minister stop being a bully and quit forcing a tax on Saskatchewan?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, as I have made very clear, it is well within the right of Saskatchewan to make a tax cut, putting money back into the pockets of the people of Saskatchewan. Then we could reduce pollution and put money back in their pockets.

When I go to Saskatchewan, I see the amazing innovations in the agricultural sector. Farmers get it. They are seeing a drought that is impacting on their crops. However, they know how to use zero-till agriculture and climate-resilient crops, all these innovations that we are able to export to the world and create jobs right in Saskatchewan.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order, please. I am having trouble hearing the answers when members like the member for Yorkton—Melville and others are yelling throughout the answers.

The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, this is no opportunity. This Liberal carbon tax punishes farmers in rural communities. APAS president Todd Lewis said, “Carbon taxes do not work”, and “producers cannot pass along” the increased costs. The federal government has no idea about this basic economic reality.

Saskatchewan is unique. It has a climate change strategy that will work for us, and it will work for agriculture. We should not have to go to court to protect that.

The Liberals are running roughshod over the provinces where the economy is still working. How can the Minister of Public Safety look his constituents in the face as his government's carbon tax drives them right out of business?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, I can continue to try to explain basic economics. Putting a price on pollution is a Conservative concept. It is putting a price on what we do not want, pollution, so we get what we do want, innovation.

The Government of Saskatchewan can take the price on pollution and put it back into the pockets of farmers. Farmers are feeling the impacts of climate change. They are seeing droughts. They are seeing flooding. That is impacting on their crops. We all are in this together, and I wish the Conservative Party would join us too.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order.

I know the hon. member for Beauce respects the institution of the House of Commons, and I would ask him to refrain from shouting while questions are being answered.

The hon. member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources often stands in the House and proclaims that the Kinder Morgan pipeline will be built. However, his own ministerial panel on Kinder Morgan posed the question on how to square the impact of this project with Canada's climate action commitments.

Since the economy and the environment go hand in hand, can he stand here and proclaim that Canada will meet its 2030 Paris climate targets? If not, why not?