Debates of May 7th, 2019

Opposition Motion—Natural Resources

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

moved:

That the House call on the government to stop raising the price of gas by clearing the way for pipelines and eliminating the carbon tax on fuel.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock.

If there were an energy paradise in the eyes of the Liberal Prime Minister, it would be Vancouver. There gas prices are higher than at any time anywhere in North America.

Recently the Prime Minister visited Vancouver, and a reporter asked about the then $1.69-a-litre price. He said that this “is exactly what we want”. He was thrilled to see high gas prices, because he believes that high gas prices are the only way we can save our environment.

Of course, he inherited a massive family fortune. He is a multi-millionaire. He drives around in a taxpayer-funded limousine, as he did for most of his childhood. He has no worries whatsoever about paying bills. Because he has never had to worry about money, he does not worry about Canadians' money. As such, he has admiration for high gas prices in British Columbia in general and in Vancouver in particular.

The Prime Minister's admiration for B.C.'s high gas prices is not new. It did not manifest itself only in that famous “exactly what we want” comment. Rather, it is the basis of his entire carbon tax program.

As the Prime Minister was beginning to roll out his plan to hike taxes on gas and other energy sources, he consistently pointed to British Columbia as the ideal model to replicate. He wants to do across Canada what the carbon-tax government has done in that province. That province has its own carbon tax regime, one the Prime Minister supports and one that he requires through a new federal law that mandates that provinces institute their own tax on gas and other fuels. The only difference between B.C.'s carbon tax and the one the Prime Minister is imposing in Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Manitoba is that B.C.'s is a little further along. The tax rate in B.C. is about $40 per tonne of carbon dioxide, whereas the Prime Minister's carbon tax this year starts at only $20.

Right now we can look to British Columbia to see the Liberal future. The Prime Minister has admitted that he plans to raise Canada's national carbon tax by 250% if re-elected. That is just by 2022. In the year 2023, which is not far off from now, it could go much higher than that. Internal government documents show that it could go as high as $300 a tonne, which would be more than 10 times higher than it is right now.

I say all of this as background, because British Columbia's tax rate is in line with where the Prime Minister wants to take the other provinces on which he has imposed the carbon tax in the next several years.

What has that meant? British Columbia now pays $1.79 a litre for gasoline. According to the records, this is the highest price per litre of gasoline ever recorded anywhere in North America. That is exactly what the Prime Minister wants.

We see this reflected right across the country. Carbon taxes have raised prices already in Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, New Brunswick and elsewhere. These higher gas prices are only the beginning. The Prime Minister has made it clear that they will have to go up, up and away. Canadians will be paying the same $1.79 a litre right across Canada that British Columbia is experiencing right now.

That sounded wonderful to the Prime Minister in theory, but now, in practice, we see what it means. Single mothers who cannot afford to get to their jobs are going to struggle to feed their children. Seniors on fixed incomes who have to drive to get groceries are struggling to make ends meet. Small businesses, which enjoy no rebate of any kind for the carbon tax they pay, have no choice but to cut the wages or jobs of their workers. I had two of them in my office a couple of weeks ago. They lay foundations for homes. They said very clearly that they cannot pass the carbon tax cost along to their customers, because people cannot afford to pay more. Housing prices are too high already. These two gentlemen do not know what they are going to do. Right now, these two very middle-class guys are paying a heck of a lot more for a tax the Prime Minister has imposed here in Ontario.

Back to the British Columbian example, the Prime Minister claims that his tax will make Canadians better off, that somehow they will get more from paying the tax than it will cost them in the first place. He wants us to believe that if we give him our wallets, he will put more money back into it than we had before. When we ask where this has ever been done, he says, “In British Columbia”. That is where the whole idea of the so-called revenue-neutral carbon tax was first invented. Now we know that this was a fraud. Subsequent studies have shown that British Columbians are now paying more in carbon taxes in B.C. than they are getting back in any other form of compensating rebate or tax relief. In fact, of all the jurisdictions that have introduced their own carbon tax in Canada, in all those cases, the government has won and the taxpayers have lost. That is true not only in British Columbia but in Alberta, formerly in Ontario, under the previous Wynne government, in Quebec and in any Atlantic province that has its own tax. In every single case, the government is taking more and the taxpayer is keeping less. These are not opinions; these are mathematical facts. The reason is that politicians are with money the way bears are with honey. Once they get their hands on it, they just cannot stop.

The Prime Minister's strategy is a good one. It is a good electoral strategy. He gives us a small cheque before the election and a massive bill after the election. He gives a few hundred dollars in enticements before people vote and many thousands of dollars in costs after they vote. We know this because the Prime Minister is running out of money. He has a $20-billion deficit. The cost of government has risen by 25% in just over three years. There is no way he can keep paying the bills without collecting more taxes. Therefore, he will raise taxes. He will ensure that he collects more than taxpayers keep. However, he will do it after the election, when he no longer needs voters but still needs their money.

Another way he is costing British Columbians is by having blocked pipelines. Most of the gasoline British Columbians use comes through the Trans Mountain pipeline, which was supposed to triple in capacity but for his bungling and obfuscation.

We will clear the way for pipelines. We will axe the carbon tax to make life more affordable, not just for British Columbians but for all Canadians, so that people not only get by but get ahead.

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

Madam Speaker, Canadians have been waiting very patiently, for well over a year now, since the current leader indicated that he has a plan. The problem with his plan is that he does not want to share it or let Canadians know what the plan is. I suspect that he does not have a plan. The only thing we hear from the member opposite is that the plan is going to axe the price on pollution. That is the Conservative Party's plan to date.

There are four provinces this actually applies to. His whole speech was centred on the province of British Columbia, implying to the citizens of British Columbia that if the Conservatives win, they are going to get rid of the carbon tax. How is the Conservative Party going to get rid of a carbon tax in the province of British Columbia that is going to result in lowering the gas price? Can he give a specific answer as to what the Conservative Party is going to do for the residents of B.C.?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Madam Speaker, yes, I can give that answer. Right now a coalition of the high-tax NDP premier of B.C. and the high-tax Liberal Prime Minister of Canada have imposed this joint carbon tax on British Columbians. British Columbians are making clear that they no longer want to pay this tax, but here is the bad news for now. Even if their provincial government were to flip-flop and eliminate or reduce the tax, the Prime Minister has passed a law allowing him to reimpose it. Right now British Columbians do not even have the freedom to get rid of the carbon tax until they get rid of the Prime Minister.

Our plan is to get rid of both.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and commend him for his ability to throw political darts at his opponents.

However, I would like to ask him a much more serious question that goes beyond partisan games. According to the IPCC, we have 12 years. The planet has 12 years to see us dramatically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions; otherwise, global warming will exceed 2°C, 3°C or even 4°C. That will increase the number, intensity, frequency and scale of natural disasters and the damage they cause. It will cost Quebeckers and Canadians a fortune. We will see more and more droughts, forest fires, floods and hurricanes, which will hurt the economy. The cost of inaction on climate change will be much higher than the cost of taking action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

How does the Conservative Party intend to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if it wants to increase oil and gas production? That does not make any sense.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Madam Speaker, we will do it with technology, not with taxes.

Let me give the member an example of the Liberal Party's flawed logic. The carbon tax will be levied on CO₂ that a farmer in my riding emits to grow tomatoes, even though all that CO₂ is absorbed by the plant. That farmer is paying for CO₂ that will not even enter the atmosphere. As a result, Canadian tomatoes from my riding will be more expensive than Mexican tomatoes. Transporting tomatoes from Mexico to Canada will pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere so Canadians can buy a Mexican tomato in Canada for less than they would pay for a tomato from my riding. That is bad for the economy and the environment.

That is just one example of how the carbon tax will harm the environment and the economy. We will replace it with technology.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise this morning to call on the government to stop raising the price of gasoline by clearing the way for pipelines and eliminating the carbon tax on fuel.

The Liberal government has entirely missed the boat when it comes to fighting climate change. It talks a good game. It gloats about its environmental plan, but in truth, this is not an environmental plan; it is a tax plan. It is a punitive tax plan that is increasing the cost of living for every single Canadian, including driving already skyrocketing gas prices even higher.

It is a pointless tax. It is not changing Canadian habits and it will not impact climate change one bit. It is an unfair tax plan that targets rural Canadians disproportionately. Rural Canadians have no other choice but to use their vehicles to drive their kids to after-school programs, to go grocery shopping and to get to work so they can pay for increased heating and fuel costs while the big polluters get exemptions.

I will share a quick story from my own riding. It is a very rural riding, so we have a couple of options. When there is no natural gas, people will usually use propane or oil. If they are being forced, through the carbon tax, to pay increased costs for that and go to electricity, for those who have enough money to change over their furnaces and boilers into electric baseboard heating, here in Ontario we have some of the highest electricity rates anywhere in North America, thanks to the failed policies of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Either way, taxpayers in rural Canada are being punished because of these bad Liberal policies.

Instead of going after the big polluters, the Prime Minister has made rural Canadians his foil. Over the last two years, Conservatives have asked the government dozens of times how much it will cost a middle-class family in new taxes, and each time the Liberals have refused to tell Canadians. We are now getting the picture of this, and Canadians simply cannot afford it.

Several provinces have recognized the Liberals' tax scheme for what it was and prepared their own locally developed environmental plans, only to have the Prime Minister impose his tax anyway. Prince Edward Island had a plan. In fact, it demonstrated that its carbon emissions had already dropped by 14%, which is better than half of the Canadian provinces. The Prime Minister rejected that plan and imposed the tax anyway. Why? It is because P.E.I. said that it would meet its emissions reduction targets without a carbon tax.

The government cannot possibly start having rogue provinces showing it how to actually reduce carbon emissions without taxing Canadians to death. That does not meet with the Prime Minister's narrative. The idea that the carbon tax is revenue-neutral is laughable. Everyone knows what is going to happen when the Liberal government starts seeing new tax dollars coming in: The temptation to spend them on another pet project is just going to be too hard to resist.

The B.C. Liberal government, which brought in a provincial carbon tax in 2008, promised that every dollar raised would be returned to the people of B.C. in the form of lower taxes. For a short time, it appeared that it would be just so. However, former Liberal premier Christy Clark could not resist all that B.C. taxpayer largesse. The B.C. Liberal government began spending the money on, among other things, tax goodies to encourage filmmakers, filmmakers who, I am sure, fly in electric jets as they criss-cross the continent.

The current New Democrat premier, John Horgan, quashed the whole idea of a revenue-neutral carbon tax from the get-go, treating it as another source of government revenue to be spent on whatever priorities the government of the day deems necessary.

In Alberta, former NDP premier Rachel Notley promised revenue neutrality, but never delivered it. At least here in Ontario, former premier Kathleen Wynne never made any pretense of returning the tax and was rewarded by being fired by Ontarians for wasting billions of taxpayers' dollars and refusing to come clean with the cost of an unrealistic energy plan and a poorly considered carbon tax scheme.

Make no mistake, Madam Speaker, this carbon tax ruse will raise the price of everything for Canadians. The Canadian Transportation Agency just raised the Prairie grain freight cost index, which represents hikes of 1.82% for CN and 3.7% for CP. The changes stem mainly from increases “in the fuel and material components”. Specifically, the CTA forecasts fuel price increases of 2.25% for CN and 2.79% for CP, taking into account increases in “fuel-related taxes”. I am sure the CTA made a mistake and actually meant to say, “fuel-related prices on pollution.” This increase in costs will be transferred to consumers on food, manufactured goods, fuel and anything transported by rail in this country. The cost of food at the local food truck is going up.

New Brunswick's Bangkok Food Truck manager, Adam O'Brien, says the federal carbon tax is already affecting the company's bottom line, and the burden of higher fuel prices and food costs will be passed on to consumers. O'Brien said it is unfortunate that customers will bear the brunt of higher food and fuel costs, but someone has to eat, no pun intended, that extra cost. “We don't want to raise the prices,” he said. “We don't want to do that, but unfortunately, dollars and cents, we have to make a profit, so we can keep our staff employed.” O'Brien expects each plate of food to increase by between $1 and $1.50. This is happening to chip trucks all across the country.

In Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the Prime Minister's carbon tax is being felt in education budgets. In its recent budget deliberations, the Greater Saskatoon Catholic school board is estimating a $200,000 hit to its budget because of the carbon tax. Saskatchewan's education minister said that the province had to introduce $14.5 million in inflationary funding for school divisions for this exact reason. Once again, taxpayers are on the hook to ensure that their kids can get to school and that they will be warm once they get there.

Despite B.C. having the highest carbon tax in Canada, emissions have continued to rise in British Columbia. As a result, British Columbians now pay more for gas than anyone else in North America. B.C.'s carbon tax is not helping the environment, either; it is just costing people more to get to work and to take their kids to hockey and soccer practice. At least they have the fitness tax credit to ease this; oh wait, the Liberals cancelled that too.

With gas breaching $1.70 per litre, it is not hitting just the wallets of average Canadians, but local government fleets of vehicles as well. Engineering, sanitation and parks departments, ambulances, fire trucks and police cars are costing cities and towns more money, which means they are costing taxpayers more money. The City of Surrey anticipates that taxpayers could be on the hook for an additional $150,000 to $180,000 to fuel its fleet in 2019, compared to 2018. A Metro spokesperson said that if gas prices stay at $1.68 a litre, taxpayers will contribute about $200,000 more to fuel its fleet in 2019. BC Ferries, which Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands residents depend on for access to hospitals, food and pretty much everything, spent just over $100 million on fuel in fiscal year 2018 and can simply pass along tax increases to its customers via fuel surcharges.

The Prime Minister and his Liberal government have further exacerbated the situation as anxiety continues to mount between Alberta and B.C. over the Trans Mountain pipeline. Alberta's premier, Jason Kenney, proclaimed legislation that would allow his province to turn off the taps on gas shipments to British Columbia. Alberta supplies as much as 80% of B.C.'s domestic fuel needs. Demand for fuel is high in British Columbia, and supply is limited because of the region's limited pipeline and refining capacity, issues that could be resolved by building the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, and yet the Prime Minister continues to delay any announcement on exactly when shovels will finally get in the ground on a pipeline approved years ago.

The B.C. NDP has stated that high gas prices can be resolved by having more refining capacity to meet demand. I am not sure who would actually invest billions of dollars to build refineries in B.C. when its government will not allow crude oil to be transported through its province. This sounds like the perfect investment for the current Liberal government. The truth is that none of this would be an issue today if the Trans Mountain pipeline were being built by the private sector. Private sector investment for refineries would be there and not fleeing to the United States, if it were not for the current Liberal government. Canadian taxpayers would not own a $5 billion-plus pipeline to nowhere.

If the government would simply recognize, as province after province in this country has recognized, that its carbon tax is a tax and not a plan, it could provide real relief to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

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

Madam Speaker, the independent office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer has been very clear on the issue of what is going to happen with the price on pollution, particularly in the four provinces where it is being put into place. In fact, this independent office has made it very clear that 80% of people, and I would suggest it could be even higher for the residents I represent, will actually see a net gain because of the climate action incentive.

The Conservatives have no plan whatsoever to deal with climate change and have not shared that with Canadians. The Conservatives attack the current plan, which is going to have a real, tangible, positive impact for Canada's environment, and they say they would get rid of it. Does the member realize that a vast majority of the constituents I represent actually get a net financial benefit? Is he telling the people in Winnipeg North and in regions all across the country that the individuals who were getting that incentive would have it taken away by a Conservative government?

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to respond to my friend.

I have a couple of things to say. First, it is Canadian taxpayers' money. The fact that the government is going to take it from them and redistribute it on a program it believes will actually change the climate is absolutely ridiculous. The Liberals have a tax plan, not an environmental plan. That is point number one.

Second, we have unveiled different parts of our environmental plan, and more will be coming. What we will be doing is showing leadership that will show actual, concrete and tangible results to help the environment, including not allowing raw sewage to be dumped into our lakes and rivers by municipalities.

I will also talk about a local issue in my region. The Lake Simcoe cleanup fund, which the Liberals cancelled, actually saw federal dollars given to local decision-makers to fix the Lake Simcoe local problem. This is something the Liberals cancelled when it had tangible results. We were seeing results in water quality and shoreline improvements. The Liberals took it away and replaced it with a tax plan, not an environmental plan.

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

Madam Speaker, at times the truth can be a little elusive within these hallowed halls. I just want to set the record straight for British Columbia and then ask the hon. member a question.

British Columbia has had a carbon tax in place since 2008. I live in British Columbia. In 2007, we received a cheque from the government. In 2008, the carbon tax kicked in under a Liberal government. By the way, many B.C. Liberals are card-carrying Conservatives federally; I just want to make that very clear. It was brought in by the Liberal government at the time.

For the last 11 years, British Columbia has had one of the strongest economies in Canada. I am vice-chair of the environment committee. We were studying climate change, and we had a number of witnesses come forward. These independent witnesses verified that having a carbon tax in place in British Columbia did reduce GHG emissions.

Could my hon. friend explain the fact that British Columbia has had a carbon tax for 11 years and the sky has not fallen and the economy has done very well? Where is your climate change plan?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member that he is to address the questions to the Chair and not the individual member.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my friend.

I would show the hon. member the Sierra Club BC website, which I am looking at right now. It actually shows that emissions have gone up, despite the carbon tax. I would also say that paying $1.80 per litre for gas, for people trying to get to work or take their kids where they want to go, is not an actual plan. Punishing people without options is not a plan. In rural areas, people do not have a variety of options.

I will tell my friend from the Liberal Party how we are going to get there. We are going to do that by incentivizing the private sector to do what it does best, and that is coming up with the newest and greatest products in an open, competitive market that allows companies to compete for the best product, the best service and the best price, giving consumers a variety of choices based on market demands to choose what they feel best suits their lives.

As the market grows toward more environmentally friendly products, vehicles and such, people will make that decision based on a variety of options. That is done by having lower taxes, less government and reasonable rules, regulations and red tape.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Conservative opposition for giving me and other members the opportunity to highlight the two different approaches that are before Canadians, between the Liberal government and the Conservative opposition.

There are two different opportunities for the future. One is from the opposition where the government would take a step back, leaving Canadians without a real plan to deal with climate change or the rising cost of living. The second opportunity is where the government would take a step up, becoming a leader in both supporting affordability for the middle class and protecting our environment.

As members have heard today and in the last couple of months, Conservatives want to make pollution free again and make life less affordable for Canadians. They want to take money away from their constituents. However, we are fighting climate change and making life more affordable for Canadians.

I want to be clear that affordability is at the forefront of everything that our government does and has done, from the middle-class tax cut to the Canada child benefit, to the CPP expansion and new benefits for seniors and working Canadians. Our focus is always on creating more jobs and helping Canadians save and spend on the things they care about.

The motion put forward today shows us that the opposition does not care about our environment and has no plan to confront the very real dangers that climate change poses to Canadians' future, nor do they want to show any attention to middle-class Canadians, just like they failed to do during the decade they were in power. Instead, they want to block the plan that our government has put together, which is a plan that will protect Canadians, our economy and future generations.

Where the opposition's motion is blind to the effects of climate change, we are not, and Canadians definitely are not, because they see these effects every day. They see them when extreme weather events threaten their safety or their family's safety and when their business or livelihoods are at stake. We just have to look at what happened this past week in Ontario and Quebec where flooding has forced people from their homes and businesses.

Canadians are already paying the high price of pollution in structural repairs, lower property values and insurance premiums, not to mention the cost in emergency services. In fact, climate change is expected to cost Canada's economy $5 billion every year by 2020. We do not think that Canadians should be faced with these costs. However, we cannot wait. It has been over a year since the party opposite promised a climate plan, which they still have not delivered, yet it is now that we need action.

Our plan to put a price on pollution and give the money back to Canadians is based on scientific consensus and the advice of Nobel Prize-winning economists. It is based on an agreement with our international partners and years of co-operation in building the foundations for an effective and coordinated global approach to stopping climate change before it is too late.

There is consensus that carbon pollution pricing is the most effective and economically efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with climate change. It is why many provinces and territories have already implemented or are on track to implement a carbon pollution pricing system. However, in communities that do not have a system that meets the federal standard, we are not turning our backs on those Canadians. We are discouraging pollution in the place they call home and reinvesting all the money collected back into their province. Canadians can then use this money to make cleaner and more environmentally sustainable spending choices.

As we have been saying from the very beginning, this is not just the right thing to do for our future, but it is the right thing to do for our economy. Our plan is not just the right thing for the future for the environment, but as was so eloquently mentioned by my NDP colleague from British Columbia, in the provinces that have had a price on pollution for some time now—in the case of B.C. since 2008 and Quebec since 2013—those economies have been growing steadily. Life has not been made less affordable because of it. Under the federal backstop, I would argue it makes life even more affordable for 80% of Canadians, as the PBO has reported, and it also helps to fight climate change.

Putting a price on carbon pollution signals to big business that it is time to innovate. It is time to invest in clean technologies and long-term growth opportunities that will pay off. As more and more countries realize that climate change is real, man-made and is happening now, we want them to turn to Canada to find the tools, the talent and the ideas they need to transform their own economies.

Already the global market for low-carbon goods and services is estimated to be worth $5.8 trillion. That is a lot of potential for Canada, but only if we can help businesses to make the smart investments now. For Canadians, we are taking the same approach. We are giving every dollar collected through the price on pollution back to Canadians, encouraging them to use that money to make more sustainable purchases.

Middle-class Canadians will get more money back through the climate action incentive rebate each year than they would ever have to pay. This is something that the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed in his latest report, as I have mentioned.

Rather than telling Canadians how to spend their money to reduce emissions, the carbon price allows them to make those decisions in a manner than best suits their needs. That will lead to more demand for sustainable alternatives, turning into even more profits and incentives for companies and entrepreneurs developing new ways to produce goods or provide services at reduced emissions. Helping Canadian businesses stay competitive has always been in mind when we designed our plan to fight climate change.

It is why in provinces that do not have their own plan for reducing carbon pollution, we are giving a portion of the funds raised to businesses. That is on top of the steps we have already taken to reduce the small business tax rate and help businesses of all sizes write off capital investments faster.

When we took office, it was our firm intention to help hard-working Canadians tap the benefits of a strong and growing economy. That is exactly what we have done. For a decade, this country's prosperity was not inclusive, but now it is.

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 created the Canada child benefit. This summer, it will be indexed two years ahead of schedule, as it was last summer. Compared to the previous child benefit, this one is simpler and more generous and targets the families that need it most. Unlike the former child benefit, this new benefit is tax-free.

With the Canada child benefit, nine out of 10 Canadian families are getting more in benefits than they did under the previous system, and Canadian children are better off as a result. The Canada child benefit has helped lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. A few weeks ago, Statistics Canada reported that, under our watch, overall poverty in this country has been reduced by 20%, and child poverty is down nearly 40%. All Canadians should be proud of that. It certainly would not have happened if the Stephen Harper government were still in power in this country. Reducing inequality was not particularly high on its list of priorities.

The additional support provided by the Canada child benefit is making a big difference for those working hard to make ends meet. This additional support helps pay for the things that can make a real difference in a child's future, like nutritious food, sports activities or lessons.

Yesterday we announced that we are increasing the Canada child benefit for the second time as of July 20, putting more money in the pockets of middle-class families.

Thanks to the tax cut and the Canada child benefit, a typical family of four receives, on average, around $2,000 more a year, according to the OECD. That money helps families provide for their children, save for the future, and grow our economy, which benefits everyone. These two measures help families across the country. A couple with two children and two incomes—one an average salary and the other two thirds of that salary—now gets to keep nearly 85% of their gross income. For a single mother or father earning an average income with two kids, or for families with two children where only one parent earns an average income, the benefits are even greater. These families pay an effective tax rate lower than 2%. That is how it should be. In other words, these families get to keep 98% of what they earn.

For Canadians working hard to join the middle class, we also replaced the working income tax benefit with the Canada worker benefit, which is more generous. The Canada worker benefit puts more money in the pockets of low-income workers by encouraging more people to enter the workforce and stay there, since it provides real help to more than two million workers across the country.

In addition to being more generous, the Canada worker benefit will be more accessible than the program it replaces, since the Canada Revenue Agency will be able to calculate the Canada worker benefit for anyone who did not apply for it in their tax return. Canadians will start receiving improved benefits under the new Canada worker benefit in early 2020, when they file their 2019 tax return.

That is what we have done for Canadians just through the tax system. We have also done much more to help Canadians keep more money in their pockets and especially to reduce inequality across the country, with the results we have seen.

We know, for example, that buying a house or a condo is probably the most important investment that most Canadians will make in their lifetime. Aside from the fiscal plan that we have put forward, this is where we have come a long way in helping Canadians who need it most. Unfortunately, for too many hard-working Canadians, especially young people, the current market makes them feel like home ownership is beyond their reach, especially in larger cities.

To help, budget 2019 builds on our national housing strategy with new actions to improve housing affordability, especially for first-time homebuyers. To start, we are creating the first-time homebuyer incentive to give first-time homebuyers greater flexibility, both in purchasing a home and in managing its ongoing costs. It would allow eligible first-time homebuyers to finance a portion of their home through a shared equity mortgage with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC. With a shared equity mortgage, first-time homebuyers would save money every month, leaving them with more money to pay down their traditional mortgage sooner or to spend on other priorities. All told, the first-time homebuyer incentive will help make the dream of owning a home a reality for many more Canadians and make the overall experience easier on the pocketbook.

Budget 2019 also plans to provide first-time homebuyers with greater access to their RRSP savings to buy a home, raising the withdrawal limit from $25,000 to $35,000, all while increasing housing supply by making significant investments in building and repairing homes across the country.

Our efforts to help Canadians with the cost of living do not stop there. As with housing, we know that the price of electricity is leaving less and less money in people's pockets. We see rates rising, outpacing salary increases, making it more and more difficult for many to make ends meet.

Our government believes that more needs to be done and can be done to make sure that hard-working families can afford their monthly electricity bills. That is why budget 2019 proposes to invest $1 billion to increase energy efficiency in residential, commercial and multi-unit buildings. This support would go a long way to making Canada's homes and buildings more energy efficient, which will help reduce Canadians' electricity bills, whether they are homeowners, renters or building operators. It is the sort of investment that pays dividends today and for the long term. Like carbon pollution pricing, these measures are the right thing to do for Canadians and for our economy. Even when you do not take into account all the benefits of a greener Canada, like healthier communities, better technology and protected wildlife, the economic benefits are expected to be significant.

The opposition would prefer to ignore the pollution problem and hope that it goes away. Canadians know where that approach leads, and they know that we do not have a choice at this point. We cannot ignore the problem anymore. We can pretend that pollution is free and climate change poses no threat to our health, our communities and our economy. However, we must face the problem in a way that not only creates a positive impact, but also creates jobs and grows the economy.

During the last election, Canadians chose between the Conservative plan for austerity and cuts, and the NDP's plan which would hurt business growth. Our government came with a plan that can invest in the middle class, create jobs and build an economy that works for everyone. The results are quite telling. With a strong and growing economy, middle-class Canadians are seeing first-hand that our plan is working. Canadians have created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, pushing unemployment to 40-year lows and giving Canada one of the strongest records of economic growth in the G7.

Middle- and low-income Canadians have significantly more support. As I have mentioned, according to the OECD, a typical family of four is $2,000 better off today than they were four years ago under Stephen Harper's Conservatives. There are 825,000 Canadians who have been lifted out of poverty by things like the Canada child benefit. That is a 20% reduction in poverty in Canada in a short three and a half years. Nearly 900,000 low-income seniors have received more from the guaranteed income supplement. One of the first things we did when we took power was to increase by 10% the guaranteed income supplement for low-income and vulnerable seniors. More than two million working Canadians will benefit from the new Canada workers benefit.

During their mandate for the country, the Harper Conservatives ignored the needs of the middle class, and failed to fight inequalities, failed to fight climate change.

Today, more Canadians are working, families have more money in their pockets, and we are doing our part to fight climate change and protect the environment, so I call on all members in today's debate to join Canadians, make the right choice and reject today's motion.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, I would like to hear the member's response to the response from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to a question I posed from a home builder in my riding, who indicated to me that because of the carbon tax, the cost of his product—homes—was going to go up significantly in our province and make it harder for young people to purchase a home.

The minister's response to me was that business was very much on board with the government's plan. She quoted a company named Vari-Form, which had reduced its carbon footprint by 80% on its own initiative and increased its bottom line by $1 million, giving this as evidence that the plan was working. However, what she failed to mention was that this took place in 2014, under the previous Harper government, so I would like to know why the Liberals see the carbon tax as so crucial.

Clearly she was very proud of the efforts of this particular business. I can assure the member that there are many more that are innovative and working hard to take care of our climate as they produce products in Canada.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Madam Speaker, there is no doubt that in spite of the previous Conservative government's total unwillingness to do anything to protect the environment or tackle climate change for a decade, there are Canadians and businesses across the country that have taken advantage of opportunities and decided to innovate and reduce their environmental footprint. Even if the federal government did not show leadership, the provincial governments did and the private sector most definitely did.

Putting a price on carbon has been found to foster growth. That is also what we heard from experts in committee, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the media. Carbon pricing had a positive impact not just on the environment, but also on the economy, particularly in British Columbia and Quebec, where it has performed very well. It also encourages entrepreneurs to innovate.

That is why it is hard to understand the Conservatives' stubborn refusal to face the facts while major corporations and business associations across the country support this price on pollution.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, I must say I am a little dismayed here today with yet another debate in which the Liberals and Conservatives are trying to outdo each other with respect to how fast they can build pipelines or make it easier to burn gasoline when we have had year after year of forest fires and floods in my riding and throughout British Columbia and floods for the third year running in eastern Canada. Canadians want a really bold plan to allow us to meet our Paris targets and meet meaningful targets, yet we are just spinning our wheels here.

Last year I was down in Argentina with the Minister of Natural Resources at the G20 energy meeting, which was all about the grand transition to a low-carbon future. What did he report to the world? It was that we bought a pipeline for $4.5 billion and we wanted to sell fossil fuels to China. Every other country there had a bold plan to make this transition, and we did not.

I want to ask the parliamentary secretary this. Why does his government continue to give billions of dollars in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry when we clearly need to move in the other direction?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is refreshing, compared to the Conservative Party motion before us today. The Conservatives are really sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to combatting climate change. I commend the NDP for its work on these issues. I think the New Democrats are on the right side of history here, unlike the Conservatives.

In response to my colleague's question, I would say that we have to look at the government's actions overall. No federal government has ever been as ambitious and had such political will to combat climate change as this government. I agree with my colleague; it is mind-boggling that in 2019 we are debating a motion like this in the House of Commons and that the Conservatives are so stubbornly refusing to put a price on pollution, which is a good, effective measure that is good for the environment and the economy.

We have started to reduce tax credit support for the fossil fuel sector. This is being done gradually, as is the case for any transition.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Speaker, I do not agree with my colleague's claim that the Liberals have started to reduce their support for fossil fuels. In the last year they handed out $19 billion in support to the oil industry, by offering tax credits, buying a pipeline and renovating pipelines. That claim could not be further from the truth.

Meanwhile, as the media have reported, Dominic Champagne and some 60 organizations are urging the government to take action, proposing a green new deal. They are proposing strong measures to transform our economy and make the green shift.

Is this government prepared to adopt the green new deal? The first step would be to cancel the announcement of $19 billion in support for Canada's oil industry.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to clarify a few things.

In budget 2016, we announced the expiration of the accelerated capital cost allowance for liquefied natural gas facilities. In budget 2017, we announced the elimination of certain tax credits related to exploration expenses in the oil and natural gas sector. Together with our G20 partners, we committed to phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. That commitment stands.

I fully agree with the member that we have a lot of work to do on the environment front. I will always be an advocate for that in government. Our actions matter.

I have heard people such as Équiterre's Steven Guilbeault and Sidney Ribaux say that if we look at what government as a whole is doing, it is clear that no other federal government has ever been this ambitious or had as much will to fight climate change as our government. One look at the Conservative Party and Conservative leaders across the country, who are completely out of touch with reality, proves that the work we are doing, though not easy, is important.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, my riding is a very rural riding. At this time of year, farmers are beginning to plant new crops. Hopefully they have nothing to say about the weather and the rain, but they are very conscious of the input costs that they have to deal with, such as the cost of fertilizer and the cost of seed. This year farmers in my riding are talking about the cost of fuel, which is a massive issue to them, but it does not really stop there.

A number of individuals have referred to other countries around the world and the taxes they put in place to curtail the use of fossil fuels, but many of these countries have a small land mass. I look at Germany as an example. Some provinces in Canada are larger in area than Germany, although it has 80 million people. It is not just the planting of the crop that is of concern to farmers; the cost of transporting grain, of transporting the harvest, is also a concern.

What is my colleague's answer to this massive increase in transportation costs? Farmers need to get food products to cities and across this large country, so what is the government's answer to the high cost that farmers are expecting?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member was so elaborate I thought he was starting a speech. I missed part of his question. I apologize for that. It was not intentional.

The hon. member talked about the cost of living in Canada. I would say to him that there has never been a government that has done more to reduce inequalities, unlike the Stephen Harper government.

As I said in my speech, according to the OECD, a typical family of four in Canada has $2,000 more in their pockets than they did under the previous government. While the Conservatives gave handouts to the wealthy, we chose a different approach. They doubled the TFSA limit, sent cheques to millionaire families, and voted against raising taxes on the wealthiest 1%. That was their focus. I am not sure what they will campaign on in the upcoming election, but their 10 years in power were disastrous when it comes to reducing inequalities and helping the middle class in Canada.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, I wish to inform you that I will be sharing my time with my distinguished colleague, the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.

I am pleased to rise in the House to speak to the official opposition motion. It saddens me that the Conservative Party has this tendency to try to politicize the debate and play partisan games with an issue as important as our collective ability to take responsibility and fight climate change and rising global temperatures.

Unfortunately, it looks like the debate may turn into a battle between the Liberal government and the Conservative opposition. They have blinders on that keep them focused on a single issue. They are either for or against pollution pricing, which the Conservative opposition calls a carbon tax and the Liberal government calls putting a price on pollution.

We in the NDP have a much more holistic, comprehensive and broader vision of all the actions that need to be taken to successfully tackle the challenge that our generation and we, as politicians, are now facing.

I think the amount of populist rhetoric and demagoguery surrounding pollution pricing is unfortunate. The NDP thinks pollution pricing is a valid yet inadequate tool, because it is too little, too late.

The Liberal government has dragged its feet for the past three and a half years and has an utterly pitiful record. Now the debate is turning into a clash between the two main political parties, exclusively centred on pollution pricing, taxes, costs and so on, even though there are many other things that could and should be done. The progressive and environmentally conscious NDP is going to expand the debate. We are going to open up new horizons and examine the full suite of measures that must be taken to effect real change.

Putting a price on pollution is obviously a good idea. Pollution should never be free, but will this measure be enough to help us meet our national emissions reduction targets? The answer is obviously no, it is not enough. The clock is ticking and we must act now. We are missing our targets. We are betraying our children and grandchildren, leaving them a planet that will be much warmer. A warmer planet has serious consequences on ecosystems and also experiences more natural disasters. I will talk more about this later.

This Liberal government's failures are overwhelming. The Liberals are great at breaking out the violins and delivering beautiful, teary-eyed speeches about future generations and our responsibility to the future of the planet and life on Earth, but then they turn around and do the complete opposite, making things worse and setting us back. This Liberal government is missing the Conservatives' greenhouse gas reduction targets. It's unbelievable.

With each passing year, we are falling further and further behind. In December 2017, Environment Canada said that we were going to miss our 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets by 66 megatonnes. In December 2018, the same department confirmed that we are going to miss those targets by 79 megatonnes. In other words, this Liberal government is not even capable of meeting the Harper government's greenhouse gas reduction targets. That is nothing to be proud of or brag about.

That is not even the worst of it. The icing on the cake came when the government bought a pipeline. The Liberals never mentioned during the 2015 election campaign that they were going to use public money to buy a pipeline that was so risky that even private investors did not want it. The Liberals are shifting the risk onto all Canadians in order to increase, to triple even, production of the dirtiest oil in the world.

How are we supposed to reconcile that with speech-making about being responsible, taking care of the planet and meeting our Paris commitments to limit global warming to 1.5°C? It is completely hypocritical. The Liberals are literally saying one thing and doing the opposite.

The NDP does not accept that. We will keep reminding the government about it in the months leading up to the next election. We paid $4.5 billion to buy a 65-year-old leaky pipeline, and we will put another $9.7 billion into its expansion; these are huge sums of money. Despite the opposition of British Columbia, indigenous communities, environmentalists and community groups, they want to force the pipeline down people's throats. About $15 billion in taxpayers' money, our money, will be invested in yesterday's energy, which is not going to stand the test of time. Even from an economic and financial point of view, it is a bad investment. Massive investments are being made in renewable energy by countries around the world, whether it is the United States, in spite of Trump, China or Europe. We are behind the times. We should be investing this $15 billion in good jobs for Canadians. We should be able to harness geothermal energy, tidal power, wind power and solar power. Instead the government used taxpayers' money to buy a pipeline. It was not even debated for one minute in Parliament and the House. The Minister of Finance issued an order in council, spent $4.5 billion and that was that, no problem.

When global demand for oil plummets, which is inevitable given the massive investments the rest of the world is making in renewable energy, investors will not be interested in the oil that costs the most to produce. That is what the Liberal government did with the Trans Mountain pipeline. In 20, 25 or 30 years, investors will stop buying oil because it will be too expensive. Saudi Arabian and Venezuelan oil will be much cheaper for those who still want to use this energy source.

We have a responsibility. That is what our children are telling us. Young people have taken an extraordinary stand. Unfortunately, the Liberal government is not listening to them. It is doing the opposite of what our children and grandchildren are asking it to do.

In March, the whole world took a stand. Millions of people in hundreds of cities around the world participated in a march to call for an emergency plan to deal with climate change. As a member from Montreal, I am proud to say that the biggest demonstration took place in Montreal, where 150,000 people took to the streets. High school, CEGEP and university students marched to tell us that we are not doing enough and that they are the ones who are going to have to live with the consequences. Meanwhile, the Liberal government has been all talk. Its track record is an absolute disaster. Greenhouse gas emissions have increased every year since the Liberal government took office. The Liberals took three and a half years to put a price on pollution and then used taxpayers' money to buy a pipeline.

Urgent action is needed. The IPCC report has told us so. We have maybe 11 and a half or 12 years to rethink our economy and the way we consume energy, the way we produce goods, the way we use the things we buy, the way we travel and the way we build and heat our homes.

That is why the NDP will have a big-picture vision for all actionable sectors. We need to invest in renewable energy, public transit and transportation electrification for zero-emission vehicles, rethink our buildings and create sustainable buildings that are made of reusable construction materials and will have a long useful life.

We need to act on that big-picture vision, a comprehensive vision that will enable us to overcome this challenge. Unfortunately, neither the Liberal government nor the Conservative official opposition has a concrete, achievable plan that will meet the challenges of global climate change.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, again, I thank the new member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

I disagree with most of what he said, but he did make one extremely important point: the Liberals say one thing and do another. The Liberals got themselves elected because they promised people the moon, but as it turns out, they do not keep their promises. We saw that yesterday in British Columbia. The public wants frank and honest opinions, not flip-floppers who change their mind like they change their shirts.

All the same, I would like my colleague to clarify a few things. He said that greenhouse gas emissions have gone up over the past three years on the Liberals' watch. Would he tell us more about that?

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I also thank him for his honesty. At least we know where the Conservatives stand. For them, there is no problem. They want to foster the oil and gas sector and invest in it. They are open to the idea of running the energy east pipeline through Quebec.

The NDP does not support that. However, the hon. member is right when he says that the Liberals' record of the past three years is absolutely atrocious. The Liberals do not keep their promises. Even the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said in her last report before she retired that she was particularly concerned about the Liberal government's inaction and inadequate measures. We need drastic action to turn things around and the Liberal Party cannot get us there. People cannot trust the Liberal Party; it campaigned on one thing and did another when it got to power.

I think we can put a price on pollution. Quebec did it, and British Columbia did it a long time ago. It works, it is going well, but it is not enough to help us fulfill our responsibilities and meet our international commitments. The NDP will remind voters of that in the coming months.

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

Madam Speaker, I disagree with the member opposite, to no one's surprise, no doubt.

This is a government that has developed a national program for a price on pollution. All signs indicate that the Conservatives, the official opposition, are resisting it at all costs. We heard earlier from the member who introduced the motion that they not only want to get rid of it at the national level but that they are going to do whatever they can to get rid of it at the provincial level.

We have a national government that has done more in recognizing the importance of a price on pollution than any national government in decades. We have the Conservative Party saying that we are going too far and the NDP saying that we are not going far enough.

I believe that this government is listening to what Canadians want and expect of the government, and that is the reason we continue to push on the need for a national price on pollution.

Will the member opposite at the very least recognize that it is important to have a national government that continues to fight for a national price on pollution from coast to coast to coast? This is something I believe Canadians want to see.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal government's plan is not working at all. Not only did the Liberals drag their feet for three and a half years before putting a price on pollution and not only did they use billions of dollars of taxpayers' money to buy a pipeline, but they also gave Loblaws $12 million to buy fridges as part of their fantastic plan. Wow. A company that made $1 billion in profit last year and hid $400 million in tax havens is getting gifts from the Liberal government. I think Canadians will be wondering whether the Liberal government's plan was to use taxpayers' money to buy new fridges for billionaires who need no help from the government.

What could the government have done with that $12 million? It could have funded a lot of worthwhile local projects, whether in my riding, in Montreal, or in Quebec. However, the Liberals would rather buy fridges for billionaires. That is the Liberal government's plan and it is shameful.