Debates of May 7th, 2019

Opposition Motion—Natural Resources

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we committed to in the last campaign—and remain committed to—is phasing out ineffective, non-taxed fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. We have eliminated a number of those measures to date, but we know that there is more work to do. We are in the middle of a consultation process right now to get the help of Canadians to identify which policies are not having a positive impact in reducing our emissions.

However, we need to be careful here. Many people view fossil fuel subsidies as a cheque that is being sent to a corporate executive sitting in a big tower somewhere, when in fact if we look at some of the investments that have been made at a university in my community, we see that the subsidies are helping a university develop a technology that can detect methane leaks in oil and gas infrastructure. This technology is potentially going to help bring those emissions down by 20%.

If it is the most effective thing we can do to reduce emissions, then it will have my support. If we are going to be subsidizing oil and gas companies in an ineffective way that is going to boost production and continue to pump up our emissions, then of course that is nonsensical.

We have a plan that will help us achieve our Paris Agreement targets. It has over 50 measures in it, and I would be happy to table a report in Parliament later today if the hon. member would like to see it.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talked about how it was false to say that Canadians were better off. We have seen it time and again in recent weeks and months. Most recently we saw on April 22 that a survey conducted by Ipsos had found that the number of Canadians who are $200 or less away from financial insolvency every month has climbed to 48%, up from 46% in the previous quarter. We are not talking about Stephen Harper, which the Liberals like to do in a negative or derisive way; this was under the current government. That is under this Prime Minister. That is their record.

What I am hearing from my constituents in Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes is that they are having a tough time. People do not understand how they are going to be able to farm the land, how they are going to be able to heat their homes and how they are going to be able to get around with this disproportionate burden being placed on them by the current government.

There is no transit that people are going to be taking in North Grenville or Edwardsburgh Cardinal or Prescott or Augusta or Elizabethtown-Kitley or Merrickville-Wolford. In the Rideau Lakes, in the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands, there is no public transportation available.

There is no bad behaviour to be connected to them. They are good Canadians. They work hard. They drive only when they need to. They are doing their part for the environment every single day, and they do not need more of a burden put on them by the current government that cannot control its spending.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very good example of one of the points I tried to make during my remarks. It is an example of the opposition trying to mislead Canadians. In this case, the member has cherry-picked data from a survey that does not actually touch on the issue of whether Canadians have more money in their pockets today than they did before.

I know Canadians are struggling. They are in my community too. I have gone to gas stations that have put home heating fuel in gas pumps because people cannot afford to buy an entire tank. That is why we are making investments such as a middle-class tax cut that has reduced income tax for nine million Canadians and raised it on the wealthiest 1%, which every member of the Conservative caucus at the time voted against. That is why we are putting more money in the pockets of Canadian families with plans like the Canada child benefit, which leaves nine out of 10 families better off. As I mentioned in a previous answer, the average recipient in my riding is getting $6,800 a year tax free. It is pumping $48 million into the communities I represent each year. It is having a meaningful impact on affordability.

The hon. member tries to address transit. I also live in a community that does not have public transit, but I see that I must wrap up very quickly

If people take steps to make their homes more efficient through investments in energy efficiency, with the support that we have made available, not only will their costs be covered by the climate action incentive, but they will also be able to save additional money by bringing their power bills down because of the investments we have made.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

There are many Canadians from coast to coast who are excited about October 2019. In my travels across the country, I have talked with many who are excited about the opportunity to elect a government that will stand up for their needs as Canadians. These are people of all ages and from a variety of backgrounds, but they are saying the same thing to me: They want to see people put first. I agree with them that it is time for a government that will do that.

One might ask what it means to put people first. It is a great question.

In the fall, I found myself in eastern Europe. I was there as part of a delegation representing Canada at the Council of Europe. During my time abroad, I engaged in bilateral meetings with my counterparts from Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Armenia, Germany and the U.K. Here is what was top of mind for all of these countries: the rule of law, border security, the safety of their citizens and the economic well-being of their countries. These issues should in fact be top of mind for all of us, but here in Canada they are not. In fact, under the current government, we are struggling in all of these areas. To put people first would be to return these priorities back to Canada's repertoire. Sadly, this is not the case in Canada, but it is time to return.

We have a Prime Minister who is more concerned about maintaining his appearance and pursuing his own agenda than he is about acting in the best interests of Canadians. Though there are many examples from which I could draw today, there are two specific scenarios I will discuss: energy development within Canada and the carbon tax that is being imposed.

With respect to energy development, we currently have a Prime Minister who cares more about appearing to consult with first nations people than about actually consulting with them in order to move forward with building the pipeline. In the effort to maintain his appearance, he is ignoring their voices and what would benefit them and the entire Canadian population. Instead of taking a stand for unity, the Prime Minister is creating disunity in this regard.

We have a Prime Minister who purchased a pipeline with the money of Canadians in order to appear as if he is committed to developing Canada's energy sector. Meanwhile, he is ramming through Bill C-69, which will block all future pipelines. Again we see a Prime Minister who wants to save face in one area, but is doing a completely other thing on the side.

It should be noted that Canada has the most environmentally sustainable oil and gas production in the world, with the highest standards and strictest conditions for environmental remediation and water usage, but rather than develop our own industry, the Prime Minister would rather bring blood oil in from places like Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, where people are treated inhumanely.

In my travels I have seen a number of Alberta bumper stickers. That is the province I am from. The bumper stickers say, “Please God, give us another oil boom; we promise not to waste it away this time.” This bumper sticker causes many people to chuckle, but it is certainly more than a funny quip; it communicates an urgent need not only for Albertans but for all Canadians.

We all know that the development of the oil and gas sector results in job creation, but there is much more to the story that must be considered. Canada needs pipelines because we are competing with countries around the world to be the first to find a buyer for our product. Without pipelines, this process is significantly thwarted.

Furthermore, let us consider the fact that pipelines are the most environmentally safe and sustainable way to transport our commodity to market and generate revenue, which results in provincial and federal tax dollars. Canadians know those tax dollars are exactly what pays for the hospitals we visit when a loved one is sick, the schools our children attend in order to be educated and the roads on which we drive in order to commute to work.

Oil and gas development has created high-quality, good-paying jobs for Canadians from coast to coast and helps our country as a whole. Much of the prosperity Canada has traditionally enjoyed exists because of our commitment to responsibly developing the natural resource sector. We need the Trans Mountain pipeline and we need it built now. It is time for the Prime Minister to stop his commitment to his appearance and start defending the needs of Canadians.

Despite the fact that the Trans Mountain pipeline received government approval in 2016, it should be noted that Kinder Morgan, the company building the pipeline at the time, announced that it could not proceed with construction in the spring of 2018 because of regulatory uncertainty. The government simply was not willing to give it the provisions it needed in order to go forward with the project. As a result, it pulled out and took its investment south. This only hurt Canadians. It certainly did not serve us.

However, in an effort to save the project, the Prime Minister actually bought the pipeline, to the tune of $4.5 billion, and that money came from taxpayers from coast to coast.

It was then reported by the Parliamentary Budget Officer that the Prime Minister and the Liberal government had overpaid for the pipeline. It was not worth the amount they put on the table.

Not only that: It is clear to the House and to Canadians that the Prime Minister has actually been dishonest with them, that he has spoken untruths. He promised that he would get this pipeline in the ground and act in their best interests, but when he put up the $4.5 billion, it was again for the sake of appearances. Meanwhile, in the background he is working very hard through legislation in the House to stop that pipeline and any other pipeline that this country might require in the future for its well-being.

It should also be noted that under the former government, there were four pipelines that were successfully built without using a single dollar from Canadian taxpayers. That is what a government does. It puts people first by drawing in investment and by being true to its word.

It must be understood that Canada's energy industry holds a ton of potential, and not only prosperity, which is important, but it can also be used as an instrument of peace, freedom and security around the world, and this point must not be be lost on Canadians. For this reason, it is important to note that the leader of the opposition has announced a plan where he will be undoing this damage and moving us forward as we create a prosperous Canada.

On the carbon tax, again we have another example of the Prime Minister being more concerned about looking as if he is doing something for the environment than actually doing something for the environment. How do we know this? We know this because the Prime Minister is imposing a carbon tax on Canadians from coast to coast, but he is allowing the largest emitters off the hook. They are only paying about 20% of the total revenue that will be generated from the carbon tax. Meanwhile, soccer moms, farmers and everyone else in this country are going to be paying their fair share.

We also know that in Canada we are not going to stop heating our homes, driving to work, putting clothes on our back, glasses on our faces and contacts in our eyeballs. However, all of these things are somehow related to fossil fuels. We are not going to stop living life. Therefore, let us be realistic for a moment and acknowledge our current reality, because overnight it cannot switch. Our current reality is that we are reliant on fossil fuels, so, yes, let us hold in hand the desire and ambition to turn towards greener technology. Let us advance in that direction and let us care for our environment. However, let us also acknowledge the real life that we live and keep the lights on.

The real life that we live does require the use of fossil fuels. That said, our behaviour is not going to change because of a carbon tax, which is the stated intent by the Liberal government. As a result, we know that with the largest emitters being let off the hook and the fact that our behaviour is not going to change because of basic necessities of life, that this is in fact just a desire to collect extra revenue. It is a tax on everything, but not an environmental plan.

Meanwhile, here is what we are committed to going forward. We do believe that our planet should be stewarded. We do believe that our environment should be looked after. I am extremely proud of calling Canada my home. I believe that this includes conserving our land, protecting our waterways and natural habitats, investing in green technologies and making sure that we recycle and reduce waste wherever possible. It means scrapping one-time-use plastics and working with other countries from around the world in order to better take care of the environment. This is a positive plan for Canada. This is a plan that puts Canadians first. This is a plan that the Conservative Party of Canada endorses. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is simply concerned about his image and generating revenue.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who is an independent officer of Parliament and is very much apolitical, did an analysis of the price on pollution. Through that analysis, we know that 80% of the citizens in those provinces, including my home province, Manitoba, are going to be receiving more money than they are paying into it. This means that more than 80% of the residents of Winnipeg North, for example, would have a net financial benefit because of the price on pollution.

Governments around the world are recognizing the value of a price on pollution, but the Conservatives' position is to get rid of the price on pollution. Does the member believe that the net financial gain to my constituents will be taken away by the Conservative Party if, heaven forbid, it were to form government? Why would it take the money away from the residents? That also applies to the constituents the member represents.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for proving exactly my point and for admitting that this is, in fact, just a plan to cycle revenue around. For those who need clarification, basically what he is saying is that the government is going to take money in the form of a carbon tax; it is then going to put that money through the cycle of bureaucrats, and then the money is going to filter back to Canadians, from whom it originated.

Somehow, magically, as that money filters through bureaucracy, he is saying that 80% of those people are going to receive more money. I would like to know in what world, through this loop of bureaucracy, money increases by 80%. In what world does that happen? Somehow there is this grand investment scheme where it cycles through a bureaucracy and comes back with an 80% return. Sign me up; I would love to invest in that. It is just not possible. It is a falsehood.

At the end of the day, let us acknowledge that this is exactly what the member opposite is declaring it is, which is a revenue scheme. It is a tax scheme; it is not an environmental plan.

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

Mr. Speaker, last week we had record flooding. We watched houses in the Ottawa area being lifted off and dumped into the river, and then Jason Kenney came to town. To introduce himself to the rest of the country, he threatened British Columbia and said he was turning off the taps. He threatened Quebec and said that it had to shape up. He then threatened to separate. I do not know where he is going to build his pipeline. Is it going to run around the interior ring of Alberta? I am asking myself what kind of disconnect this is from the Conservatives in Alberta, to think that if they huff and puff, the rest of Canada is going to say, “What an excellent idea.”

We never heard anything from Jason Kenney about his environmental plan. In my region, which is resource-based, we are seeing record forest fires year in, year out. We are seeing dramatic changes in the climate. We want to know that we have a partner who is taking this seriously. I have yet to hear anything from Jason Kenney.

When I hear the Conservatives talk about their plan when there is no plan, it means nothing to people in the rest of this country. We see Jason Kenney threatening to separate and run his pipelines within his own province unless he gets his way. That is not how this country operates—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Lethbridge.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Jason Kenney no longer serves in the federal government or on the side of opposition. In the House of Commons in the nation's capital, Ottawa, we debate federal issues.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am really pleased to stand and speak to what is a two-part motion. One part is about the carbon tax, and the other is about getting the Trans Mountain pipeline built.

As I give my comments, I am going to put a British Columbia lens to it, because I think a British Columbia lens will be very important. We often hear members in the House hold up British Columba's carbon tax as this great example of something that has been in place for a number of years. However, they do not tell the whole story. A part of the story is missing.

British Columbia introduced a carbon tax, and at that time I reluctantly decided to watch and see how things would go with this particular carbon tax. I have a few things to say about it. First, it certainly did not do exactly what the government said it would do, in terms of reducing the emissions. However, the government did say that it was going to make the tax revenue-neutral. There was a small decrease in rural property taxes. There was some money that flowed back to the citizens. There was a process to audit that money and how it was returned to the citizens to prove that revenue neutrality was maintained.

This went on for a few years. When the NDP government was elected, the first thing it did was to take the revenue neutrality away from the carbon tax. All of a sudden, it became a tax grab for the province. There was no more offsetting in terms of money in, money out. It became a tax grab, pure and simple. The government was going to spend it wherever it wanted.

That is a cautionary tale for Canadians. In Ontario, Alberta and the other provinces, right now people are being told by the government that this is a great deal and that they will get more money back than they spend. Canadians should remember the example of British Columbia that the government holds up so often as the way to do things. What is going to stop the Liberal government when it starts to realize that its spending is so out of control that it cannot afford to send out those cheques for carbon tax rebates anymore? Quickly, the citizens of this country will have been hoodwinked into another tax grab by the Liberal government, because there is nothing that compels the government to keep it the way it is right now. That is a lesson from B.C., that it will take nothing for the government to change what it is doing.

On top of that lesson, in my opinion British Columbia has the worst kind of carbon tax, in terms of its not providing offsets. What British Columbians also have right now are some of the highest taxes in the country, in terms of the highest gas prices in the country. This is what the provincial NDP government says it wants. It wants gas prices high, and it wants people to change their behaviour. The Prime Minister said that this is what a carbon tax is for: to raise the prices so people change their behaviour.

I want to give a couple of examples of people who are having to change their behaviour, but perhaps not in the way the Prime Minister anticipated. Someone I know fairly well was laid off from her job a number of years ago. She took her severance money and took a big risk. She put her severance money into starting up a small business. It was enough to keep her going, to pay her bills, to have some success in running her own show.

A few months ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and was going to need treatment. When small business operators have cancer, they are suddenly not bringing in any money. In Kamloops, when people need cancer treatment, they have to go to Kelowna. Not only does she not qualify for employment insurance and has meagre savings, but she has to travel back and forth to Kelowna to deal with radiation therapy. That is a two-hour drive every time, and she has had to do this for weeks and weeks.

Every time she goes, she fills up her gas tank and wonders how she is going to deal with this, as it is costing her more and more. Maybe she will find some program someday that will reimburse her for those costs. In the meantime, she is struggling every minute, every day, to simply fill up her gas tank to drive a couple of hours to Kelowna to get the radiation treatment for her cancer. Can my colleagues imagine the stress that this adds to her life?

During this time, when she was dealing with record sky-high prices for filling up her tank, she noticed something about the Prime Minister. No one begrudges holidays for the Prime Minister, but when she saw him fly from Ottawa to Tofino and back to have a holiday, she said, “He is trying to change my behaviour. I don't see him trying to change his own behaviour for a minute.” I just had to tell members how that made her feel, when she could barely afford to put gas in her tank, that the Prime Minister wants her to change her behaviour but he is not doing a thing in terms of his carbon emissions.

I have another example. In rural Clearwater, there was a shutdown of the mill for six weeks over the Christmas period, and another shutdown has just been announced. It is going to be only for a week, maybe two weeks, but there are continually shutdowns. What happens when a mill shuts down is that the employees do not get paid for six weeks. They might get a bit of EI, but they do not get their pay for one week. They live in a rural community and lots of them need trucks to do their jobs. They are going into the bush. As they see gas prices hitting $1.60, $1.65, $1.70, they are saying, “Oh my goodness, I am not going to be getting a paycheque for next week. The mill is closed down. There is no money coming in.” How does that change their behaviour? They are having to make decisions in terms of not being able to buy meat for their families and having to use rice and do other things, simply to fill their trucks with gas. They do not have choices as people do in Vancouver, where they can make decisions around public transit. They are people who have to live with the carbon tax creating increased challenges in their lives.

I think colleagues can see that the carbon tax is creating huge challenges, especially at the gas pump. Certainly, a small measure of help would be for us to look at whom it is really hurting and how it is hurting them.

The other part, of course, is the Trans Mountain pipeline. I talked about Clearwater. The people in that community have been looking forward to that pipeline going through the community. Maybe the mill is going to be shut down for a week or two, but they saw other opportunities. They saw that there would be potential work digging to put the pipeline in. There were local contractors and restaurants all looking forward to this construction season happening right now.

As we look at the Trans Mountain pipeline, that is another important piece of the puzzle. I think that some analysts say it would give increased capacity. That would help with the shortage issue in B.C. and actually help with gas prices in B.C. However, the other, more important thing is that it would provide an opportunity for all Canadians.

This really is a motion with two parts that go very well together. It talks about the carbon tax on the one hand, and it talks about the Trans Mountain pipeline on the other.

I toured the Trans Mountain pipeline in the winter. It was a wonderful opportunity. I toured it looking for the stories that were positive, because we hear too many negative stories. I talked to first nations, who saw a huge opportunity. I talked to communities and mayors. There are enormous opportunities.

Members should really think about this motion and think about the people who are being impacted, and how the carbon tax and the Trans Mountain pipeline need to go hand in hand in terms of this motion. Hopefully, they will think of that cancer patient I just talked about or the mill worker who is really struggling with decisions about how to put food on the table.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the examples that the member opposite has given. I want to remind her that this government has taken a holistic approach to dealing with Canada's economy and has made very solemn commitments to focus our attention on Canada's middle class and those aspiring to be part of it.

We brought in many different programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of people to be lifted out of poverty. We have a growing economy, with over 900,000 new jobs created over the last few years. In a very tangible way, the government is putting more money in the pockets of Canadians.

The member opposite chooses to share some of her concerns, but I would ultimately argue that our government has taken into consideration the environment, the pipelines, and many positive social policies, and when all is said and done, average families are seeing a net benefit of $2,000 more a year. Does the member not think that will be of help to many constituents who are in need?

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Liberals have done for the lady I was talking about who has cancer treatments and is having challenges with the cost of filling her gas tank is call her a tax cheat.

She has a small business. That is the legacy of the government for our small business entrepreneurs who are trying to get ahead. The Liberals changed the rules to make it more difficult for them. They do not have the benefit of pension plans and they do not have the benefit of health insurance to see them through. They work hard, day to day, and she certainly is not any better from any of the decisions the government has made.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in October of last year, the United Nations released a report from climate change scientists that said we have 12 years to take serious action if we are going to try to combat climate change. Yesterday the United Nations released another report; it said that one million species of plants and animals around the world are at risk and that one of the reasons is climate change.

Across the world, including in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia, students are walking out of school on Fridays because of their very serious concern about climate change and whether they will even have a future.

I realize the best defence is an offence, so the Conservatives' attack on a carbon tax or a price on pollution is understandable from a political perspective, but if the Conservatives are really serious about the environment and the future of our children, where is their climate plan?

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the environment is absolutely important. My colleague might be aware that we have committed to releasing a comprehensive environmental plan within the next few weeks, but is not going to be a plan that is simply a tax grab. It is going to be a plan that is effective and practical.

With regard to the last Parliament, the report that came out yesterday about diversity of species talked about Canada and how it has done pretty well because of the targets that we had set and the areas we had set aside as protected areas.

I can look at the history of our Conservative government previously and say that we did many things in terms of protecting the environment, because it is absolutely complex and comprehensive. It is more than just emissions. It is about the sewage that is being dumped into the oceans and many other things.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Winnipeg South.

I would like to thank the hon. member for Carleton for his motion. Unfortunately, I cannot support it. Canadians expect more than simplistic solutions to the complex problems that they are facing, that we all are facing, and that we must address together.

Instead of proposing simplistic solutions, we have a climate plan with more than 50 measures. These measures include putting a price on pollution, accelerating the phase-out of coal-fired electricity while ensuring a fair transition for workers and communities, and making generational investments in clean technology, green infrastructure and Canadian ingenuity.

I am an Albertan. I am an Edmontonian. I know first-hand that the previous government's approach to pipelines hurt workers, communities and, frankly, all Canadians.

When the Federal Court of Appeal made its decision on the proposed Trans Mountain expansion project in August 2018, we had an important choice to make. We could have gone along with the failed approach that the Conservatives touted, an approach that disregards the courts, has no plan to protect the environment and coastal communities and has no meaningful two-way dialogue with indigenous communities, but we knew then, as we know now, that Canadians are counting on us to get this right so we made a decision: We committed to doing the hard work necessary to move the process forward in the right way on the Trans Mountain expansion project.

In particular, we must act in accordance with the directives handed down by the Federal Court of Appeal. However, we have heard very little about that today.

Instead, we have seen a lot of finger pointing, expert assessments swept under the rug and history being rewritten. We have also heard attacks against our energy sector. The Conservatives are trying to disparage our energy sector. In fact, in recent weeks and months, a final decision was made to invest $4.5 billion in a petrochemical facility in Sturgeon County, not far from Morinville, where I grew up. This project will create jobs for 3,000 workers at the peak of construction, as well as several hundred permanent jobs once the facility is operational.

Inter Pipeline announced two new $3.5-billion facilities in the industrial centre that will create more than 2,000 direct full-time jobs at the peak of construction and more than 200 full-time jobs once all the facilities are operational.

Moreover, Nauticol intends to develop a $2-billion methanol plant south of Grande Prairie, which will create 1,000 direct construction jobs. These projects add value to our products, and innovation in the sector will help fight climate change.

The motion states that we should be clearing the way for pipelines to be built. The fact is that the previous government failed to do exactly that. It failed to get our oil to new markets. This is a Canadian resource that supports communities across Canada, including that of my own family, and supports good, middle-class jobs in my home province.

When the Conservatives began in government in 2006, 99% of Canadian oil went to the United States. When they finished in government in 2015, 99% of Canadian oil was still heading to our greatest and best customer, the U.S., until it was no longer our greatest and best customer. This has led to our resources being sold at a discount, a discount so deep that it counts in the billions of dollars per year, and all Canadians, from coast to coast to coast, have seen and felt the impact.

The Conservatives and the conservative press have tried to refute this, but the facts speak for themselves. The Conservatives boast about a pipeline flow reversal and a connection to an existing pipeline, but it is an empty boast and it does nothing to help workers in our energy sector and the families that depend on those workers to have well-paying, middle-class jobs. This includes my constituents and their families and friends and my family and my friends. These are jobs that build strong communities. They are jobs that keep our economy going.

If we had not lost a decade under the previous Conservative government, we would not be in the situation we are in today, and in 2015, Canadians rejected that failed approach.

We have listened to Canadians. Our government is committed to developing Canada’s abundant resources the right way.

The environment and the economy go hand in hand.

That is why we approved the Line 3 replacement project. It is because the environment, the economy and energy all go hand in hand.

Line 3 is almost complete on the Canadian side. It will add 370,000 barrels of new export capacity for our oil, and it has created thousands of jobs during construction.

That is why we have always supported the Keystone XL project. Keystone XL is moving forward here in Canada. Our Minister of Natural Resources continues to strongly advocate on behalf of this project south of the border.

That is why these projects are not happening in isolation. They are moving forward in tandem with a comprehensive climate plan. It is the strongest climate plan Canada has ever had.

Of course, the Conservatives think we should simply put our heads in the sand and hope for the best. They believe the planet is not going to warm up that much. They say it is only water vapour. The science has to be wrong. It is only thousands of scientists; there are probably three in the world who disagree with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, so the Conservatives want to focus on those three.

Canadians expect and deserve better. Future generations are counting on us to get this right.

With respect to TMX, we followed the recommendations of the Hon. Frank Iacobucci, the former Supreme Court of Canada justice who was appointed as a federal representative to oversee the consultation process with indigenous peoples and provide guidance during the process.

We listen to what the consultation teams hear on the ground, and we respond accordingly. These teams now have about 60 members, which is twice as many as they had initially.

We have made it clear that a final decision on the project will not be made until we are satisfied that the Crown has adequately fulfilled its duty to consult and that we have mitigated and taken into account any impact on indigenous communities. We will then make a decision on the project based on the National Energy Board’s reconsideration report, strengthened by our draft principles, which now guide major review projects.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives voted to defund and kill this very reconsideration process.

Let us be clear. We will do the right listening. We will do the accommodations needed. We will proceed at the right time in the right way so that the Trans Mountain expansion can unfold in the right manner.

The Conservatives have shown their complete disregard for this process. To kill the NEB's review of marine shipping and to end our consultation with indigenous communities would have stopped the project outright. We knew that, and we are proceeding with a better way.

In 2019, the approach needed to develop resources is a detailed approach that takes into account both the environment and our constitutional duty to consult indigenous peoples. In fact, that is the only way to proceed.

The motion before us today needs us to make sure that we do this right. The motion today would have us skip crossing our t's and forgetting to dot the i's when dealing with major resource projects. It would bring us back to the old ways of barging ahead without taking the time to do things right. It would try to short-circuit the courts, disregard our constitutional duty to consult and ignore the urgency of a changing climate.

That is not the way our government is going to proceed. It is not the way Canadians need us to proceed. They told us they want a better way forward. We have listened to Canadians and we have heard Canadians and we are now acting.

We are putting in place a system in which Canadians can have confidence, a system that will allow great projects to be built across this country. It is the right time and the right way to do this. It is a system that will create good, well-paying middle-class jobs. Our environment and our economic health depend on it, and so does our future.

That is why I call upon members of the House to reject this motion and for all of us to work together to build a better Canada that works for everyone.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals talk about all the good they are going to do for the people of Canada and how they are saving them money. Could the member tell me what his government is going to do about the fact that in North America, the largest number of vehicles sold in any given year are large, full-size pickup trucks. Small compact cars amount to about 14% of the total vehicles sold in Canada. The rest are large vehicles. Has the member's government taken that into account?

What is his government going to do to try to change the attitude of the people of Canada, or is his government just using its carbon tax as a tax grab?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I love pickup trucks. My first vehicle was a pickup truck. My whole family drives pickup trucks.

We need good, well-paying jobs so that people can pay what they need to pay to keep those trucks running, while also ensuring that we are respecting our international climate change obligations through the Paris Agreement.

That is why we need a climate action plan that puts a price on pollution. Over 85% of Canadians want to see a price on pollution.

Doing the right thing and choosing the vehicle of one's choice when one has a well-paying job is something that all Canadians can do and are welcome to do.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on a couple of themes that have been raised by the official opposition, and that is the question of pricing emissions. I take my inspiration from Preston Manning, Stephen Harper, Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan, all good Conservatives who argued for 30 years that the best way to move forward when it came to the greenhouse gas emissions challenge was to put a price on emissions. That is why Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan negotiated the cap and trade system to reduce sulphur dioxide and other gases that were polluting our lakes and creating acid rain. That is why Mr. Harper previously planned on putting a $60-a-tonne price on a cap and trade system he was designing to effect that exact change.

Therefore, for us on this side of the House, we are wondering how it is that the Conservative opposition has lost its way. It has been the Conservative Party over decades that has been leading the discussion. Now that we are implementing that pricing mechanism, whether it is through pricing emissions or using a cap and trade system like some provinces have done, we are a bit bewildered on this side of the House as to why the Conservatives have abandoned the very principles they have been pushing for 40 years.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I come from Alberta and I am a Liberal, which puts me on the blue spectrum of where Liberals reside in the first place. I am a social progressive but also a fiscal hawk, and I want to see us manage things properly. However, I have to say to my hon. colleague that I think the progressive Conservative Party is gone. We now have a Conservative Party in this country that was taken over by the Reform Party, rebranded a couple of times and mishmashed in different ways. It has now abandoned the fundamental Conservative principles of preserving the only planet we have and using the market to price pollution. If someone dumped a whole bunch of garbage on our lawn, we would want them to pick it up. That person would have to pay for it. That is what we are doing when we pollute the environment. There needs to be a price on pollution. It is a Conservative theory. The fact that the Liberals are advancing it tells us just how far the Conservatives have lost their way.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, 31 indigenous partners were counting on the northern gateway pipeline before the current Liberal Prime Minister outright rejected it, instead of redoing the consultations and getting it right. There are dozens of indigenous communities who were not consulted over the shipping ban, Bill C-48, robbing their communities of future opportunities. Hundreds of indigenous-owned businesses and dozens of indigenous communities oppose the no more pipelines bill, Bill C-69. Indigenous, northern and Inuit communities were not consulted about the government's unilateral ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in the north.

How can the member possibly ask anyone to believe a single word he says when he talks about consulting indigenous communities and people on major resource projects, given the Liberals' own record of running roughshod over indigenous communities that support it?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we have 60 people on the ground meeting full time with indigenous stakeholders. The Minister of Natural Resources has met with over 120 first nations organizations not only to listen but to make sure that we accommodate them.

We will take no lessons from 10 years of failed governance in the area of pipelines and energy management from the old Conservative government on this side. The Liberals are going to get this done in the right way.

[Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to have the opportunity today to speak about how we must invest in the middle class and build an economy that works for everyone, an economy that provides more good, well-paying jobs for the middle class and helps those working hard to join it, an economy where everyone, no matter their age, can live and work with pride.

At the same time, people across the country want to protect their children and grandchildren from the dangers of climate change. They want to invest in technologies that will help us lower the cost of living and reduce the emissions that cause climate change.

A Canadian green deal is based on balance. Failing to invest in a cleaner more sustainable future threatens the things that Canadians rely on for their success: an affordable cost of living; good, well-paying jobs and resilient communities. It would make it harder to help those who are poor, because it would make it difficult to ensure that we have those things to pay for those services.

Climate change, as we know, is real, and we need to take action today. Budget 2019 made significant investments to protect Canada's environment while also creating new jobs and making life more affordable for Canadians. These investments go hand in hand with efforts to help more people find a home, find and keep good jobs, retire with confidence and get affordable prescription drugs when they need them. The budget also delivers on a promise of a stronger middle class, and advances the plan to protect the health of all Canadians, the health of our economy and the health of future generations.

During their 10 years, the Harper Conservatives ignored the needs of a better future for all, the needs of the environment, of the middle class, and especially the needs of those who are most poor in our society who want government to work for them. Today, more Canadians are working, more families have more money in their pockets and Canada's middle class is growing.

The current leader of the Conservative Party, as well as Ford and Harper, all spent time cutting services and are cutting services today, like local library services, day care centres and even tree planting. This is absolutely unconscionable. The priorities of Ford and the current leader of the Conservative Party are about slashing funds for city services while moving forward with a pricey campaign promise to bring beer into convenience stores. They want to make it cheaper and more affordable so that we can drink beer. “Where is the sense in that?”, said Mayor John Tory. “Cutting public health programs and daycare programs to find the extra money to pay the Beer Store to change their contract?” That is what he said.

In Manitoba, in alliance, the leader of the Conservative Party and Pallister continue to cut services, including emergency services at a hospital in my riding, the Misericordia Health Centre. They are about to cut it at the Concordia Hospital. Gone. They have been reducing services in health care right across the province.

In fact, Premier Brian Pallister is leaving money on the table, including $547 million for public transit, which is important to having a good climate change program to ensure we protect the environment. The Manitoba government left $451 million of green infrastructure dollars on the table. Where is the Canadian green deal in that, a deal based on balance? It is not with the Pallister government. It left $61 million behind for community, cultural and recreation infrastructure. We need more good programming to ensure we do not have the meth crisis we have in Winnipeg right now, and to ensure that young people do not have to join gangs in order to find something to do. The government also left $112 million of rural and northern programming on the table. It is absolutely unconscionable.

On this side of the House, we have taken action to ensure there is a price on pollution right across Canada in 2019. We have implemented a federal backstop system in jurisdictions that do not have a standard that meets that standard at the federal level. As part of this plan, the federal government will be returning the bulk of the direct proceeds from the fuel charge in the form of a climate action incentive payment directly to individuals in the provinces, meaning it is costed so that those dollars are going back to the citizens. The residents of Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have a government that is looking out for them and for all citizens. Their families can claim that climate incentive on their personal income tax returns. The remainder of the direct fuel charge proceeds will be used to support small and medium-sized businesses and other particularly affected sectors in these provinces.

The Canadian green deal is about balance. It is balanced to help reward good behaviour that will have an impact in protecting the environment and stop, or even at some point reverse, climate change.

As the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed last week, most households will receive more in climate action incentive payments than their increased costs resulting from the federal carbon pollution pricing system. People are going to be better off under this plan.

We know that climate change is not just an environmental issue but also an economic and social issue.

Our government's plan will grow the Canadian economy, build a nation of innovators and create good, well-paying jobs that strengthen the middle class.

Budget 2019 proposes significant investments and, above all, enables the government to implement new measures to help Canada's middle class and all those working hard to join it.

In budget 2019, our government announced several actions that build on our plan to help Canadians and support our communities. For example, we intend to lower the energy costs of Canadians by investing $1 billion to help increase energy efficiency in residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings. The budget also proposes to provide new infrastructure to help build cleaner and healthier communities through a major municipal infrastructure top-up investment of $2.2 billion. We are helping communities. This will double our government's commitment to municipalities and help communities fund their infrastructure priorities, including public transit, water and green energy projects. However, this is not all that we are doing.

We asked the wealthiest 1% of Canadians to pay a little more so that we could give the middle class a tax break. That tax break is helping over nine million Canadians.

We have also created the Canada child benefit, or the baby bonus. This baby bonus is important to the people of Winnipeg Centre. In 2018-19, every month, on average, we make 8,490 payments of the baby bonus to citizens in Winnipeg Centre, helping 15,510 children. It is helping to lift thousands of children out of poverty. It is $790 on average, which is $6,733,000 a month directly into the economy of the people of Winnipeg Centre.

This is not all that we have done. We have also helped seniors in my riding. We have made 9,580 payments under old age security, for an average of $6,520 under the guaranteed income supplement; 4,620 payments for an average of $6,490; as well as our top-up, which came in the last budget, of 2,620 new payments, for a total of $1,040 a month, to seniors in Winnipeg Centre. That is $96 million which is going to help Canadians advance in life.

In closing, I would like to say that Canadians want a plan that will enable them to prosper in a world where the climate is changing. Our government is investing in a cleaner and healthier future for all Canadians.

We have made a lot of progress since the fall of 2015, since the decade of darkness. However, we know there is more work to be done, and we are not going to lose sight of that goal. We will keep helping the middle class and those working hard to join it. Our government will work hard for Canadians to build an economy where everyone has a fair and true chance of succeeding, lifting thousands of Canadians out of poverty. We will ensure that our government works, not just for the few as under Harper, not just for those who might vote for them, but for all Canadians no matter what their political stripe, so that we ensure we are all better off in the future.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have been hearing all day from the government members touting their so-called accomplishments throughout their speeches. However, what we are talking about specifically with this motion is the issue of gas prices and the impact it is having on Canadians right across the country, and not just in B.C., which I know is very high.

We are asking the government to put a specific focus on ensuring that those gas prices are brought down and that Canadian energy can get to those markets, where they need them, to reduce the price of gas. I would like to hear from the hon. member on what his government's plan is to do that.

[Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Liberal, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite proud of the four years of hard work that we have done on this side to actually improve the lives of Canadians, lifting children out of poverty. That is why we want to talk about it, because that is something to be truly proud about.

It is four cents on a litre of gas. It is important. It does have a great impact on people's bottom line, but that money also goes directly back to Canadians in the form of the climate action incentive. Canadians are receiving it back. What this plan hopes to do is modify people's behaviours so that we do not have forest fires across the country, so we do not have major flooding and so we continue to have snow. The climate is changing in such drastic ways across the country.

Let us talk about more things we are proud of. Under the Harper Conservatives, in 2013, garbage was sent to the Philippines. I am proud to say, working with the member of Parliament for Winnipeg North, that we are going to make sure that garbage comes back, that we do not send garbage to poor countries and developing nations, that we actually spend time ensuring that we look after our environment here and that we look after the garbage we produce here.

We should be very proud about that. That is why we talk about it. That is why I am proud to serve with people like the member for Winnipeg North who cares about those things and who will make sure that we get our garbage back from the Philippines, unlike the Harper Conservatives who sent it there in the first place.

[Kent Hehr, Liberal, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to applaud the member for his speech and in particular for his referencing things we have done to make life more affordable for Canadians, such as the Canada child benefit, our infrastructure investments and our national housing strategy, which is going to see $40 billion invested in affordable housing to reduce homelessness by 50% and also has green components to make our economy stronger.

Could the member comment on the fact that we are not only bringing in a price on pollution but we are ensuring that we move forward in the right way on the Trans Mountain pipeline to ensure big projects get built? Could the member just comment more on that balance, on how we are going to do that to move forward through to a better Canada?