Debates of June 11th, 2018

International Trade

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, again, we have said to Canadian steel and aluminum workers that this government and, in fact, all Canadians will have their backs,

We have been unequivocal. These tariffs imposed by the United States are unacceptable. The Canadian and American economies are so closely linked that American tariffs will also hurt American workers.

Our Prime Minister and our government have met with leaders of the industry to discuss how we can best support these workers. A few months ago, we told workers in their manufacturing plants that their government will have their backs. We will not stop working to support these sectors so vital to the economy of the whole country.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there are some things we could do right now that would create opportunities for Canadians who are impacted by this growing trade dispute.

We could immediately ratify the TPP, the carbon tax on Canadian families and businesses could be scrapped, and we could eliminate trade barriers between provinces. These would all have positive effects.

Will the Prime Minister begin working with Conservatives on these constructive solutions that will help Canadian families who will be impacted by this trade war?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question from my hon. colleague. As she well knows, it is a top priority, obviously, to ratify the CPTPP, and we are going to move quickly to introduce legislation before the House rises this summer.

Canadians know that we have a good agreement that is going to open markets for them. We obviously welcome the Conservatives' offer to work with us. What we want to do is to have the best deal for Canadians from coast to coast to coast, so that workers and industries across this country understand that we will always open markets so that they can prosper today and in the future.

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

Mr. Speaker, after three years in office, the Liberal government is already running a $71-billion deficit, and that was before a trade war broke out with our top trading partner, the United States.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether his government will use a portion of this year's $18-billion deficit to implement measures to help the workers who will be hit by this first, or will the Liberals add more billions to the current deficit?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I am grateful to all members of the House and all Canadians, who have shown tremendous support for our government's actions in support of steel and aluminum workers.

From the start, we said that the U.S. government's tariffs were completely unreasonable. We will continue to provide robust, effective support for these industries, which are so important to Canada's economy.

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

Mr. Speaker, the first victims in any trade war are workers, businesses, and Canadians.

The problem is that the Liberal Party's 2018 budget does not include any funding to address potential complications or crises that arise in the NAFTA negotiations.

Can the Prime Minister tell us how he plans to support Canadian workers? Does he plan to impose the retaliatory tariffs originally announced for July 1 immediately, instead of waiting until then to implement them?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, we have said unequivocally that these tariffs are completely unacceptable. We will take a balanced but firm approach in order to support the Canadian economy.

The Canadian and American economies are so closely linked that this American decision will also harm workers in the United States.

We have met with leaders and workers in these industries on a number of occasions to see how the federal government can support them. We will continue to support these women and men who are so important to the Canadian economy.

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

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats stand in solidarity with the government and the Prime Minister against the provocative statements made by the Trump administration.

The current tariffs are illegal and the additional threats will hurt Canadian and American workers. While Canadians stand together, President Trump stands alone. American lawmakers and U.S. allies strongly oppose Trump's erratic behaviour against their biggest and closest friend.

Will the government work with all parties in the House to present a unified response to Trump?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is simple. Yes, we will obviously work with all members of the House to stand up for Canadian workers to ensure that the women and men in these sectors so important to our economy are protected. We will also work with all members of the House to ensure that the response our government takes to these unjustified and unreasonable tariffs is measured and proportionate.

We have said publicly that the national security pretext is absurd, and frankly, insulting to Canadians. That is why we are moving forward responsibly with retaliatory tariffs that are equivalent to the ones the United States has unjustly applied to Canada.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for that response. Canadians need to know that we all are united in our response.

There is another issue of national importance. As we know, the Trans Mountain pipeline spilled 4,800 litres of oil just two days before the government announced its intention of buying out the pipeline. The spill risks are very real, and there is no way to deal with a spill at this time.

It was also just reported that two indigenous nations in British Columbia are actually opposed to the pipeline project but felt they had no choice but to sign letters of support.

Will the government admit to the House today that it failed in its duty to consult first nations?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, getting resources to market is a responsibility for every government, but it must be done with the greatest respect for the safety and protection of the environment.

The Pipeline Safety Act strengthens Canada's pipeline safety system by enshrining the polluter pays principle in law.

Under this act, companies are liable for any faults and must have sufficient resources to respond to such incidents. We promised Canadians that we would restore confidence in our regulatory processes, and that is what we are doing.

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

Mr. Speaker, two days before the Liberals bought a 65-year-old pipeline for $4.5 billion, that pipeline sprang a leak, but do not worry, said Kinder Morgan, it is just 100 litres. It turns out that the oil spill was 48 times larger than that, and thank God it did not happen over water, because these guys still do not know how to clean it up.

Did anyone ever buy a used car and turn it on and it sounded real strange, but the seller cranked up the radio and said not to worry about it? That is exactly what the Liberals just did, maybe buying the biggest lemon in Canadian history. What kind of climate leader goes out and buys a 65-year-old, leaky pipeline anyway?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, there are many questions in that question, but I will answer the first one first. Getting resources to market is a fundamental responsibility of any government, but that must be done with the highest regard to safety and the protection of the environment. The Pipeline Safety Act strengthens Canada's pipeline safety system, enshrining the polluter pays principle into federal law. Companies will be held liable, regardless of fault, and be required to have the resources, up to $1 billion, to respond to incidents.

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

Mr. Speaker, I guess, being the owners, they have to put $1 billion aside they have not told us about.

Whenever the Liberals talk about the pipeline, they love to wave around so-called agreements with first nations, but they will not ever tell us what those agreements actually are.

Here is what Chief Robert Joseph said, one of the people the Liberals say support the pipeline:

At the end of the day, we are not really in favour of any pipeline, but we believe it's going to go through anyway. They will not listen to anybody and that's the history of consultation with First Nations people..... They consult and go ahead and do what they were going to do anyways.

Enough with the fake consultations. Enough with the divide and conquer strategies. When are the Liberals actually going to stand up for the principle of free, prior, and informed consent?

[Jim Carr, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this government does not speak on behalf of first nations. Why does the hon. member think he can? The billion dollars is not government money. It is the polluter pays principle in the Pipeline Safety Act.

The hon. member knows that there are communities that have different points of view on pipelines, including governments that all wear the New Democratic stripe. This is the time to bind people together, not divide them.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the storm clouds have been gathering for a long time. Last year, when the government had an opportunity to save up for a rainy day, it blew all of its good fortune and ran deficits that were twice what they promised during the election, deficits that it now says will continue until 2045.

Now that those storm clouds have turned into rain, does the government acknowledge that it failed to prepare Canadians for a rainy day?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are happy to talk about how we have prepared our economy for the future. What we have done is made investments in Canadians. We started from day one, saying that what we needed to focus on was making sure that we got out from the very difficult employment situation, 7.1% unemployment, left to us by the previous Harper government.

Now, fast forward a couple of years, we have the lowest unemployment rate we have seen in 40 years. The investments we have made in Canadians have worked. Our growth has improved. We are in a resilient situation from which to deal with challenges. Whether they come from the south, whether they come from our ability to get to international resource markets, those are—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Carleton.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government lucked out with a very short-term housing boom, a doubling of oil prices, and a roaring world economy. Many of these same factors are now in peril, yet instead of preparing for these difficult times, it has spent the cupboard bare with deficits that were twice and sometimes three times as big as it promised during the election. How can the government have been so irresponsible?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let us think about what was actually done to improve our economy. We started by lowering taxes on middle-class Canadians. We moved forward with child benefits for nine out of 10 families, giving them an average of $2,300 more after tax for their families.

The kinds of things we did led to more disposable income for Canadians so they could put it back into our economy, creating growth and enabling us to be in a position where we can be resilient against challenges. That is where we are today. We are in a very fortunate situation where the right policies put us in a better position from which to deal with the challenges we face.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister is fond of quoting the Fraser Institute with regard to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. He uses that institute's data to justify his position on that issue. That same institute says that 81% of middle-class taxpayers are paying more income tax since his government took office, $800 more. Now he wants to stack on top of those tax increases a carbon tax. Before the House leaves for the summer, will he tell us how much that carbon tax will cost the average Canadian family?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect us to be thoughtful about how we grow our economy and how we actually address the threat of climate change. They know that a thoughtful climate plan needs to include a range of measures, some of them regulatory, such as the phase-out of coal and methane emissions, and investments in clean technology and investments in infrastructure, but a thoughtful plan also includes a price on carbon pollution.

We will continue to take practical, cost-effective measures to tackle climate change. That is what Canadians expect us to do. The question I have for the leader of the opposition is, where is your climate plan?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I am afraid I have to remind the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment to direct his comments to the Chair.

The hon. member for Carleton.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the question is, when we direct an issue to the finance minister, why does he always go hiding? This was a fiscal question, a tax question. He has already raised taxes on 80% of middle-class taxpayers, according to the Fraser Institute. That is before the carbon tax, which he wants this House to approve in his budget bill.

The question, again, for the finance minister, if he is not still in hiding, is how much that tax will cost the average Canadian family.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, our government was elected on a platform to invest in Canadians, to grow the economy, and to protect the environment. Our plan is working. Canada's emissions are dropping, and our economy is growing. Since we formed government, hard-working Canadians have created 60% more full-time jobs than the Harper Conservatives did over the same period. We are leading all G7 countries in economic growth.

Addressing climate change in a substantive way is something all Canadians expect. It is something we must do for our children. We are doing it in a thoughtful way, and we are growing our economy at the same time.