Debates of May 31st, 2018

Natural Resources

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, what we are doing is investing to protect thousands of jobs in Alberta, and indeed, across the country. During 10 years, the Conservatives' rigid ideology failed to build pipelines to markets, other than those to the United States, and failed Canadian workers. When the Prime Minister went to Fort McMurray and met energy sector workers, he told them that this government will have their backs. This is an investment in hard-working Canadians.

Conservatives might think it is too risky to bid on Canadian workers, but we will always stand up for them.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, New Brunswick's Telegraph-Journal says the Prime Minister doomed energy east by moving the goal posts and changing the rules at the last minute to “make approval more difficult” with an “impossible and unrealistic” standard and that the Liberals are “making Canada uncompetitive on the world stage and endangering the future of our energy sector.” That is true, and the Prime Minister killed two other pipelines with uncertainty and red tape too.

When will the Prime Minister stop forcing investment out of Canada?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is an absurd comparison of the two pipelines. Suggesting political interference was somehow the answer lies at the heart of the Conservative Party's failure on pipelines. It is shocking that the Conservatives cannot tell the difference between a project that is facing political interference by a provincial government and a project that a company dropped because it simply saw no business case for it.

The Trans Mountain expansion project is in Canada's national interest. It means thousands of good-paying jobs that will strengthen and grow our middle class.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is failing, and worse, dividing Canadians. Like the Saint John mayor, the paper says Liberals are leaving the east without key infrastructure, and “Energy East didn't need a buyout. It just needed Ottawa to make the case for it.” Actually, that is just like Trans Mountain, except the Liberals approved it with different rules, but “the interests of the Maritimes have been ignored.... A shame that, with Energy East, it was the interest of the whole country scuttled by remarkable incompetence.”

Why will the Prime Minister not stop picking favourites in pipelines and provinces and champion Canadian energy for all?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the B.C. government has been intimidating a private company and a project that has been approved by both the federal and provincial governments. We will not be intimidated. This project is in the national interest, and we are taking action to ensure that it is built for the benefit of all Canadians.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberals came to power, there were four viable private-sector pipelines. Now there are none.

How many other private enterprises does the Prime Minister intend to first sabotage and then go behind the scenes to nationalize for billions of dollars? Is this his attempt at making his father's dream come true with national energy program version 2.0?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, what we are doing is investing to protect thousands of jobs in Alberta and across the country. For 10 years, the Conservatives' rigid ideology kept them from building pipelines to transport our resources anywhere other than the United States. They failed in their duty to Canadian workers. When the Prime Minister went to Fort McMurray and met with energy sector workers, he told them the government would have their backs. This investment is an investment in hard-working Canadians.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite just said that private companies did not see a business case for pipelines in Canada. They did during our government, when we did not have a tanker ban, when we did not put in place a carbon tax, when we were not politically vetoing major projects that had already passed major environmental reviews. The reality is that there is no business case in Canada for major resource projects because of the Prime Minister and his bad policies.

Will the member get up, correct the record, and say that there is no business case in Canada for private investment in the energy sector because of them?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government spent 10 years pitting the environment and the economy against each other. It pitted us against each other. It polarized us. That is not who we are.

The majority of Canadians support this project. The majority of Canadians understand that we are in a transition to a clean growth economy and that we will not get there overnight, but we will get there.

This week is about providing Canadian families with certainty. No political interference should ever get in the way of that. Make no mistake, this investment is in Canada's future.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the political interference that has occurred in the natural resource sector was under the government when it vetoed the northern gateway pipeline.

It is so rich for the Liberals to stand and talk about political polarization, when we have everybody in the country united around one thing, that we should not have to spend $4.5 billion to send private investment outside the country. The government needs to stand up and take accountability for the fact that it is chasing away investment from this country. It will do it for years to come.

Why will the government not take responsibility for its failures?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the party opposite on how to support a pipeline and actually get one built.

Let us be clear, the permit for the northern gateway project was quashed by the court because of the absolute failure on the part of the Harper Conservatives—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, order. The hon. opposition House leader has been talking throughout the answer. I would ask her not to do that, and I would ask all members on both sides not to speak when someone else has the floor.

Order. The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the permit for the northern gateway project was quashed in court because of the absolute failure on the part of the Harper Conservatives to appropriately consult indigenous peoples. We will take our role in this process very seriously, and we will continue to work with indigenous communities, municipalities, provinces, and territories to ensure that good projects move forward and create good jobs.

Indigenous Affairs

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a remarkable day since my bill to ensure that our laws respect the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was passed. Yesterday, I also asked the Prime Minister whether his decision to impose a pipeline despite opposition from first nations upheld the honour of the crown. However, as we saw, he did not answer.

Does this government believe that its approach to the pipeline respects the letter and the spirit of the declaration?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats applauded Premier Notley's environmental protection plan. I would like to remind them of something that they seem to have forgotten, and that is that Ms. Notley's plan included limiting greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands, putting a price on carbon, building a pipeline to get resources to markets other than the United States, and holding many consultations with Canada's indigenous people. That is an example of real leadership on climate change.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals spent so much money on a pipeline, they cannot afford new talking points.

Yesterday was an historic day for Canada, because we voted 206 to 79 to pass Bill C-262, enshrining the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Canadian law. We must thank my friend, the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, for a lifetime of dedication fighting for the rights of aboriginal people.

Now it is time for the Liberal government to put action behind its words and its vote. Will it respect UNDRIP and commit not to put a shovel into the ground on their new pipeline until after all the aboriginal rights and title cases have been resolved?

[Kim Rudd, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member opposite that we took additional time and steps to review the process to make it more rigorous. We extended consultation to ensure we were meeting and indeed exceeding our duty to consult indigenous peoples. That is something the Harper government failed to do.

The permit for northern gateway was quashed in court because of a lack of consultation by the former Conservative government. As a project that was subject to the most exhaustive review of any pipeline in Canadian history, this pipeline will be built.

The Environment

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, these Trump tariffs will be damaging on Canadian steel and aluminum producers, almost as damaging as the Liberal tariffs that are being imposed on those very same Canadian companies in the form of carbon taxes and higher payroll taxes, taxes that their competitors south of the border will not have to pay.

In light of today's trade dispute, will the government exempt Canadian companies from these punitive taxes so they can compete against their American counterparts?

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

Mr. Speaker, it seems the party opposite has learned nothing. The environment and the economy go together. We have been clear that we are going to tackle climate change. We are going to take serious action. We are going to put a price on pollution. We are phasing out coal. We are making historic investments in public transportation, green infrastructure and clean technology, which is a $23 trillion opportunity. Why does the party opposite not get with the program?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal program is to move jobs and industry out of this country to jurisdictions that have poorer environmental standards and where jobs will not come to Canadian workers.

These taxes will impose higher costs on Canadian enterprises and Canadian workers, right at at time when they can least afford to face those kinds of costs. Will the government exempt Canadian businesses that are competing fiercely with companies south of the border from these new taxes and protect Canadian jobs?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to stand up today, wearing a hammer necklace in memory of my hometown “the Hammer”. We will stand up for Canadian jobs. We will stand up for steelworkers and aluminum workers, while also growing the economy.

Once again, I wish the party opposite would understand that in the 21st century the economy and the environment go hand in hand.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government is hammering Canadian businesses with higher taxes and higher costs. Outside of Canada companies will not have to pay these taxes. In fact, businesses will be able to set up shop and hire workers in competing jurisdictions without any of the burdens the Liberal government is imposing here at home.

Today is the day, with all the events that are before us now, for the government to announce that it will exempt Canadian businesses from these new taxes, stand up to Donald Trump, and support Canadian jobs. Will it do that?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is really disappointing that the party opposite would use the announcement by the U.S. administration to advance its own political agenda. Why does its members not stand with us and Canadian workers in standing up for what is right? That is exactly what we are doing. They should stop politicizing this issue and stand with Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are standing with Canadian workers. We are standing against the taxes that will kill jobs for Canadian workers.

The government continues to pile on one new tax after another, a carbon tax, higher payroll taxes, taxes on Canadian jobs. The only effect of that will be to drive industry to competing jurisdictions like the United States of America.

Why will the Liberals not stand up to Donald Trump, step back from these taxes, and protect Canadian jobs?