Mr. Speaker, to pick up where I left off when we switched to members' statements, we were discussing the motion moved by my colleague, the member for Carleton, that the House order that all documents be produced in their original and uncensored form indicating how much the federal carbon tax proposed in budget 2018 will cost Canadian families in order to put an end to the carbon tax cover-up. I was just talking about a memo we obtained through an access to information request. The memo was about the impact of carbon pricing on households' consumption expenditures across the income distribution. It is a quick read. It starts off by saying, “The key findings” of the analysis of the potential impact of carbon pricing “are as follows:”.
Unfortunately, I cannot show it here because our rules do not allow that, but it is easy to describe because it is a big black square. Everything is hidden and covered up so that Canadians and their representatives here in the House have no way of knowing how the carbon tax will affect average Canadian families. That is unacceptable.
During question period, we asked 11 questions. The hon. member for Carleton was quite well-spoken and tried to get an answer from each of the ministers opposite. We did not get an answer from the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change completely avoided all questions about this, as she did during her speech this morning. We did not get an answer and so the member asked each minister opposite to answer us. Sadly, the answer never came.
What are the Liberals afraid of? Why are they afraid to inform Canadians of the real cost of the carbon tax? The numbers are probably scary. The numbers are probably so large that any of the measures they introduced, supposedly to help the middle class, will be completely eclipsed by the cost of the carbon tax for every Canadian family.
Even the Prime Minister refuses to answer these questions. Yesterday, he was asked a very specific question in British Columbia. I quote, “Will Canadians expect to pay higher fuel prices with the carbon taxes?” I think that question is very clear. I repeat, “Will Canadians expect to pay higher fuel prices with the carbon taxes?” Here is the Prime Minister's response. “I think one of the things we've seen across the country is that the incentives that come from better behaviour, better choices, making choices to be cleaner and greener is exactly what we want.” What? I will repeat, because I think it needs to be clear. In response to the question, “Will Canadians expect to pay higher fuel prices with the carbon taxes?”, the Prime Minister said, “I think one of the things we've seen across the country is that the incentives that come from better behaviour, better choices, making choices to be cleaner and greener is exactly what we want.” I understood none of that. I did not understand what the Prime Minister was trying to say, but what I do understand is that the Prime Minister refused to answer a simple question from a journalist, “Will Canadians expect to pay higher fuel prices with the carbon taxes?”
In her speech this morning, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change talked about cynicism, people who are cynical about the effects of climate change, the effects of carbon on climate change. The real cynicism is here in the House. The Liberal government bears most of the blame for that. Canadians are cynical about politics because of answers like the one the Prime Minister gave and because of answers that the ministers failed to give today in question period. It is because of statements or speeches like the one given today by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, who in 20 minutes did not respond in the least to the motion we moved today on the carbon tax and how much it will cost the average Canadian family.
It is very cynical to see that from a government that claims to be open and transparent. On the Liberal Party website it says, “Together, we can restore a sense of trust in our democracy. Greater openness and transparency are fundamental to accomplishing this.” Unfortunately, what we have seen since 2015 is a government that is increasingly secretive when it needs to be.
When we ask for answers and numbers, the government gives us nothing. Access to information requests turn up nothing but black squares. When we ask questions about the carbon tax in the House, they avoid the subject and do not answer our questions at all. The government is incapable of telling Canadians the truth, and that is what worries me. Canadians have the right to know how much this carbon tax will cost them, especially since there is some doubt about the effects of the tax.
In the agricultural sector, farmers have worked very hard in recent years to reduce their carbon footprint. Unfortunately, they will be the first to feel the sting of the carbon tax, and nobody knows how much it will cost them. How are they supposed to plan for the tax?
What we are asking for is very simple: transparent data. Canadians have the right to know how much the Liberal carbon tax will cost them so they can plan for it. The government claims to be helping the middle class, but if that is what it is really doing, it should start by being clear, open, and transparent and by giving Canadians the numbers. The numbers exist, as we discovered this morning in committee; the analyses say so. We want to see what is behind those big black squares. The Liberals must share that information with Canadians.