Debates of Jan. 30th, 2019

Carbon Pricing

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, 276 days ago the Leader of the Opposition promised he would be delivering a plan to fight climate change. We are still waiting.

We have laid out a plan that will not only fight climate change but make sure it is affordable for Canadian—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I cannot hear the Prime Minister. I need to hear the person who has the floor. I can hear a lot of people speaking, but I should only hear one at a time: the one who has the floor on either side. Right now, it is the right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Again, Mr. Speaker, it has been 276 days since the member opposite promised a plan to fight climate change, and everyone is still waiting.

We are delivering on a plan that will fight climate change and support families through this transition. That is what we are doing.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it was over three years ago that this Prime Minister promised a plan to tackle climate change, and all he has brought in is a carbon tax that is raising the cost of everything for commuters and for households, all the while giving a massive exemption to the country's largest industrial emitters.

Maybe someone who had inherited a family fortune and has never had to worry about money does not worry about paying higher costs on fuel and home heating. Now we know that those costs could be as high as $5,000 after the next election. Why is the Prime Minister trying to fool Canadians by giving them a cheque before the next election and then an ever-bigger bill after—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we can always tell the Conservatives are on shaky ground when they stoop to making snide personal remarks.

For the member's own riding and his own province of Saskatchewan, Canadians in Saskatchewan will be $1,300 better off with our plan to fight climate change and to make it affordable for Canadians than they would have been had we not moved forward with our plan to put a price on pollution so that we get less of it. They want to make pollution free again; we are putting a price on it.

Housing

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the whole country is in the grip of a housing crisis.

In Outremont, community support groups are meeting with people who are distraught because they cannot find a place to live. Instead of dealing with this urgent crisis, the Liberals are spouting rhetoric. They gave $14 billion in tax breaks to big corporations. Tax havens are springing up all over, while Canadian families are living with crushing debt. The government built just 14,700 affordable housing units during its term of office.

When will the Prime Minister make the real world a priority?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the NDP is no longer denying the importance of repairs, renovations and maintenance.

We established an investment plan for the national housing strategy, which will greatly help Canadians find more affordable housing. We recognize that this is a concern for people, for all of us. Everyone needs safe housing. That is exactly why we are making investments.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that statement is unbecoming of a Prime Minister. He knows that what he has just said is false. We are talking about a profound crisis. Forty-six per cent of Canadians are $200 away from financial insolvency. They risk losing a roof over their head. A quarter-million Canadians will be homeless at some point this year. If the Prime Minister got out of his limousine and walked a few steps from Parliament Hill, he would meet homeless Canadians.

More than 30,000 Canadians will be sleeping in parks and on the Main Streets of our country tonight in frigid temperatures. What is the Prime Minister going to do to help them now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for giving us an opportunity to talk about how we are going to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast with our new national strategy on housing, the new national housing plan. We know that reducing homelessness by 50% is something we can achieve, and we are investing to do that. We know that making sure that millions of Canadians have better security in terms of the places they live is something we are doing right now. We have invested tangibly and concretely over the past three years, and yes, we will continue to invest, because we know there is much more work to do.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a humanitarian crisis unfolding at Cat Lake, and unfortunately, the minister has done squat. That is a direct quote from the community. To claim he is making enormous strides in a community where 75% of the homes are so badly off they have to be demolished is a staggering disconnect. It is like a slow-moving Katrina, at -50°. When children are being medevaced out to emergency wards in distant cities, we need a sense of urgency.

I ask the Prime Minister, will he agree that the situation in Cat Lake is a national disgrace, and will he commit that he will meet with the leaders to find a solution?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, we are committed to working with Cat Lake on housing challenges. There is a meeting taking place today with community leadership. We are developing both an interim and a long-term plan of action. We are, unlike what the member is saying, making significant progress in the community. We lifted the long-term drinking water advisory just this past December, but we know there is lots more to do, and that is why are continuing to address the community issues, in partnership, together.

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

Really, Mr. Speaker. That is his answer to people who are living in squalid conditions at -50° together, to pat himself on the back. What a disconnect.

The problem is that Cat Lake is the tip of the iceberg, because there are communities across this country that are suffering from the mould crisis. He appointed his personal friend as minister. My real deep concern is that if the minister cannot show any leadership or gumption on a crisis like Cat Lake, how can indigenous people across this country trust him or this Prime Minister to stand up on any other issue?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past three years, we have made unprecedented investments, in partnership with indigenous peoples right across this country, to reduce and eliminate many long-term drinking water advisories, to invest in housing, to open up new schools and to make sure we are creating more health care, more mental health and more clinics.

We are investing, in partnership with indigenous communities right across the country, but as the member so eloquently says, there is much more work to do, and we will continue to invest, to grow, to work in partnership, because there is no relationship more important than that we have with indigenous peoples.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the deficit is now up to $80 billion. Second, Canadians are paying more in taxes today than under the previous Conservative government. Third, yesterday, the Liberals voted down a Conservative Party motion calling on the government to table a plan to balance the budget without raising taxes.

After the carbon tax, which will increase gas prices by 60¢ a litre, what new tax will the Prime Minister force on Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, three years ago, Canadians were sick and tired of the Harper Conservatives' economic approach of giving benefits to the rich and hoping for job creation or economic growth. That approach failed for 10 years, which is why Canadians turned to us.

We have invested in communities, helped the middle class and lowered taxes for middle-class Canadians. The average Canadian family has $2,000 more in its pockets than during the Harper years. We are going to keep investing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

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

Mr. Speaker, none of that is true.

The problem is that the Prime Minister thinks that budgets balance themselves, which is rather unbelievable. The problem is that people have to pay for his mistakes, his failures and his out-of-control spending. Who are these people? Workers, business owners and parents, that's who. Canadians are the ones paying for his mistakes.

I repeat: what other taxes besides the carbon tax does the Prime Minister plan to impose on Canadians to pay for his out-of-control-spending?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is a shame that a member from Quebec is not concerned about the fact that his leader promised to deliver a plan to fight climate change 276 days ago and we are still waiting. The Conservatives have no plan to fight climate change, no plan to help families and no plan to invest in the economy of the future.

We know that Quebeckers and all Canadians are concerned about the environment, and we saw an opportunity to take action. By putting a price on pollution, we will create opportunities and good jobs for the future and to help families.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a February 2017 Finance Canada document to the minister says that after the next election, the carbon tax will have to go up. A 2015 document from Environment Canada says that the price could reach as high as $300 a tonne. That would translate, based on the government's own figures, into a cost of $5,000 for an average family in the country.

Now, the Prime Minister is responsible for being truthful before the election, not just after. How much is the final price of the carbon tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have laid out our plan for the next four years, which actually puts a price on pollution and ensures that we return to Canadians a greater amount than, on average, they will pay in terms of putting a price on pollution. That is the commitment we made to Canadians, to both fight climate change and make it affordable for people. That is something the member opposite takes issue with, but perhaps he should take issue with his leader, who has refused to put forward his plan to fight climate change for the past 276 days, even though he promised it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, now we know the political strategy. They will give a cheque of a few hundred dollars before the election and then a bill of up to $5,000 after the election, when they no longer need voters but still need their money.

The Prime Minister has been in office now for well over three years, and he still refuses to come clean on the true cost of the carbon tax. Once again, I will invite him to do so right now. How much is the full and final price of the carbon tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I have crossed this country, I have heard from Canadians who have suffered from the wildfires, from the droughts, from the floods, from the heat waves that Canadians have been suffering because of the increase in extreme weather events. Canadians know we need a plan to fight climate change, and we need to make it affordable for regular people, and that is exactly what our plan does. We are putting a price on pollution, because we need less pollution. The Conservatives, other than wanting to make pollution free again, have not come forward with their plan, despite having promised it 276—