Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of my colleague, the member for Calgary Nose Hill, about the futility of the Liberal environment plan. Honestly, it is a national disgrace.
Let me refer specifically to the motion before us. We have two competing motions. As we know, the NDP put forward a motion declaring a national climate change emergency, and very quickly our Liberal friends jumped in and put forward a motion saying, effectively, the same thing. We have these competing motions before us, and it reflects the fact that both the NDP and the Liberals are posturing because we are approaching an election in the fall and they have not done anything to justify their being in government, certainly not on the climate change file.
I note that it is the Liberals in this House who brought forward this last-minute motion declaring a national climate emergency. Where were they when the west was burning, when forest fires were sweeping the four western provinces, when Fort McMurray was burning? Were they in the House putting forward a motion declaring a national climate emergency? Of course not.
This is all about political posturing by both the NDP and the Liberals. Canadians are not looking for political posturing; they are looking for a real climate plan that makes measurable reductions in our emissions, that continues to foster a strong economy and that allows Canada to be a leader in the areas where we have a comparative advantage.
In this NDP motion, there are a number of things that I take issue with. Aside from a declaration of an emergency, under subsections (c) and (f) are two items that Canadians should be really worried about.
The first is that the motion asks for this House to increase Canada's ambition when it comes to climate change targets.
Let us think about that. We have a motion on the floor that asks Canada to increase its targets under the Paris Agreement when Canada is not even meeting its current targets and in fact is falling further and further behind.
I know my Liberal friends still claim that they are on track to meet the Paris targets. The last time the minister made a statement about it was at committee a couple of weeks ago, when, with a very straight face, she looked us in the eye and said we are on track to meet our targets—yet her own department's documents reported that in 2016, they fell 44 megatonnes short of their climate change targets under the Paris Agreement. In 2017, they fell 66 megatonnes short of their Paris targets. In 2018, they fell 79 megatonnes short of their Paris targets. Now the most recent report out of that department reveals that Canada's emissions are projected to be even higher and will fall short by even more, by about 150 megatonnes. That is less than halfway to the target that was set.
Therefore, the government is failing on its most important file, and the Prime Minister identified it as being his, so this failure rests at his feet.
If anyone doubts what I am saying, the commissioner of the environment, the Auditor General of Canada, the United Nations itself and even David Suzuki have all said the government will not meet its United Nations Paris targets.
The bottom line is that the plan the Liberals brought forward is not working. It is not a climate plan. Everybody knows it is a tax plan. Why do I say that? Well, let us talk about the carbon tax.
The parliamentary secretary, just a few minutes ago, talked about the 50 different measures that the Liberal government had implemented to achieve its Paris targets. Well, the Liberals are failing to meet those targets. Why, out of those 50 measures, is there only one measure, the carbon tax, that is being made mandatory and being forced upon the provinces? This is only one tool out of 50. Imagine giving the provinces a tool kit and telling them that they can use whatever they want from the tool kit as long as they meet their targets, but that the one tool they need, which will be forced on them and shoved down their throats, is the carbon tax. Now Canadians are paying for it.
Why is this the one tool the government is making mandatory? It is because its plan is to make this a cash grab from Canadians: more revenues for the government to spend on its priorities rather than on the priorities of Canadians. However, we cannot tax our way to a cleaner environment. The Liberals believe the carbon tax is the be-all and end-all, but theirs is a tax plan.
The Liberals often refer to British Columbia, the paragon of virtue when it comes to the carbon tax, except for the promises that were made when that carbon tax was introduced. There were three promises. One was that it was going to be capped at $30 per tonne of emissions. What happened to that promise? It is gone. Today, the carbon tax in British Columbia is $40 per tonne and it is going up every single year, so that promise is gone and broken.
The second promise was that it was going to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the province of British Columbia. What is happening today? The emissions continue to go up and up. It is another broken promise.
The third promise was that it was going to be a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Do members remember that promise? The government takes a dollar out of one pocket and gives it right back to people in the other pocket through tax relief. Does that sound familiar, similar to what the Liberals claim is going to happen federally? What happened to that promise in British Columbia? The NDP got elected and revenue neutrality was legislated out of existence. Today, it is a tax grab. It is a cash cow for governments to spend on their political priorities rather than on the priorities of Canadians. That is what is coming down the line with the Liberal tax plan.
The Liberals' carbon tax does nothing for the environment. We have seen that they are failing. They are falling further and further behind. It is not working. All it is doing is imposing a burden on average, middle-class families, which now have to pay more for everything: for their cars, homes and to buy groceries. This is a tax on everything.
Beyond that, the Liberals were not really upfront about what they were doing. Do members know that the Liberals are charging GST on the carbon tax? It is a tax on a tax. What is happening to the GST they are collecting on all the carbon tax that is being paid? Are they giving that back to Canadians? Of course not. We are talking about half a billion dollars today, and in the future it is going to go up and up as the carbon tax goes up. Canadians are getting fleeced. Why is the government not being upfront about that? Why is it not being honest with Canadians? This rests at the feet of the current Prime Minister.
Finally, who is the target of the carbon tax? One would assume that, in Canada, if the government was going to impose a carbon tax, the biggest polluters would pay. What is happening in Canada? The Prime Minister made sure that the biggest polluters in Canada get exemptions. Members can guess how much that exemption is. Is it 30%? No. Is it 40% of the carbon tax value? No. Is it 60%? No. The exemption is up to 90%. When we add up all the carbon tax that is being collected in Canada, do members know how much is actually being paid by the big polluters? Is it 8%.
Canadians are paying the balance: 92% of the burden of this carbon tax is on the shoulders of ordinary, average Canadians. That is a national scandal, which is why we are opposing any kind of motions that are going to perpetuate the failed tax plan of the Liberals.