Mr. Speaker, I am glad for this opportunity to readdress the question I put to the Minister of Environment in the House, as the response failed to answer my question and actually gave credence to my concerns.
I will quote from my question and her response, as follows. I said:
Madam Speaker, Boombata Homes is an innovative company that will be hit hard by the Liberal carbon tax imposed on Saskatchewan businesses. It means that families working hard to afford a home will now face even higher prices. It also means that the Liberal affordable housing program will be more expensive.
Jason and Susan know what it will mean for their business, their subcontractors and their construction workers. ... Why do large corporations get exemptions from the government and they do not?
The hon. Minister of Environment and Climate Change replied:
When I talk to small businesses, and I have talked to small businesses across the country, what do they want to do? They want to do right by the environment. They want to be more energy efficient, save money and lower their emissions.
I will give the example of VariForm. It is a steel manufacturer in Cambridge. What did it do? It reduced its emissions by 80% and saved a million dollars.
We are going to support small businesses to be more energy efficient so they can save money to reinvest in their businesses and create more jobs.
VariForm has much to be proud of. Its actions were motivated by the very things the minister mentioned: to grow the business while improving its impact on the environment.
However, it is important to note that the minister's example actually affirms the reality that a carbon tax is not necessary and is punitive toward small businesses, because VariForm took most of its actions to achieve this during the Harper government. VariForm was not then threatened with the punishment of a Liberal carbon tax. It seems to me that the VariForm people were rational actors. Since the objective of a business is to maximize profit, they took good environmental actions that added to their bottom line.
One very serious negative implication of the Liberal carbon tax is that SMEs that have taken steps to be more efficient and reduce their carbon footprint will still pay for the Liberal carbon tax with absolutely no recognition of their stewardship.
The Liberal carbon tax, combined with the oppressive regulation regime the Prime Minister is imposing on the resource sector, will undoubtedly increase input costs for businesses, including VariForm. In addition, as a steel manufacturer, it is no doubt being impacted by the steel and aluminum tariffs as well, which are crippling our Canadian steel manufacturing industries.
The funds brought into the Liberal coffers by the reciprocal tariffs are not being used to meet the needs of the manufacturers impacted by the tariffs, especially the small and medium-sized enterprises, as they may not meet the requirement of 200 employees to access the program, while large manufacturers again are literally exempt from paying the carbon tax.
These same SMEs were labelled as tax cheats for growing their passive income to cover emergencies, growth of their business and, heaven forbid, their own retirement once they had reached that point in life. Now their passive income is being eaten up trying to keep their business above water so that they can continue to employ their workers.
It appears that putting companies out of business and Canadians into the unemployment lines may be the Liberal solution to reducing greenhouse gases. The Liberal government continues to punish the very Canadians who take the risks, fuel our economy and respect the environment.
We need solutions that incentivize innovation and are a global answer to reducing greenhouse gases. As Conservatives, we believe Canadians will only continue to become more innovative through a sense of responsibility and incentives, such as what farmers and small businesses are doing in Saskatchewan.
It is Canada's leadership opportunity to the world to be an example of good stewardship while growing our economy through private entrepreneurs encouraged by sound science and motivation. The Liberal Prime Minister continues to fail to lead at home and on the world stage.