Debates of Feb. 17th, 2021

Foreign Affairs

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's foreign policy will always be grounded in Canadian values, including the promotion and protection of human rights. Advancing human rights will continue to be a guiding principle in the Government of Canada's engagement with China. The government has taken steps to help Canadian firms mitigate the risks of doing business in China, and Canada will continue to stand up for human rights at home and around the world.

Veterans Affairs

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be here tonight and to speak.

We have heard from a lot of veterans about the carbon tax. They are paying a lot more carbon tax in their homes and there are a lot of concerns.

However, the carbon tax on agriculture is also growing significantly. We have the carbon tax and the clean fuel standard. It is sort of wreaking havoc in the agricultural sector. I have 50 dairies in my riding. Dairies are not located in cities. They need diesel trucks, huge trucks, to move that milk, which is an actual supply chain of food that we have in our own country, but the carbon tax and the clean fuel standard cost a lot, which they do not get to recoup. It is not rebated to them. We have a great industry in my riding in our country, but they are paying huge costs, and the cost is going to go higher.

This is tough. This is hard. At this time of year, there is a lot of heating of external buildings. We have calving, transporting of feed and shipping of the final product. Whether it is the cattle and calf industry or the dairy industry, the carbon tax and the clean fuel standard are really hurting our agricultural sector.

Then they have irrigation. There are 17 irrigation districts in Alberta, five in my riding. At $30, the carbon tax is costing farmers in my constituency, as calculated, over a million dollars. Over a million dollars leaves my constituency from one of the five irrigation districts with the carbon tax at $30. Imagine what that is going to be when it goes much higher. That is money that is leaving our communities. The carbon tax and clean fuel standard costs are not rebated. This is going to be tough. These industries are supply chains within our own country that we are penalizing. That is wrong.

Let us look at something else that is having a problem. The agricultural chain is working, but vaccine supply is not working well. The supply chain on vaccines is problematic. Instead of supporting companies like Providence Therapeutics in Calgary, which contacted Health Canada numerous times and got crickets for answers, the government went to China to try to make a deal. We have supply chains that work in agriculture, but not in vaccines. We need this to work in our country. We need those vaccines built here.

The last part of that is really interesting: The Liberals will not release the contracts. In other countries, the drug companies and governments have released those contracts to the public, but not in Canada. What are they hiding in those contracts that they do not want us to see? Again, if they had not gone to China, they could have done it here.

The last thing I want to talk about is gun legislation. We had a tremendous private member's bill that would have penalized those people who were in possession of illegal guns. That was a great piece of legislation that dealt with the real issue of illegal guns and those who are using them. What did the government do when we brought that to a vote? It voted against it. It was a piece of legislation that would have made a difference right where the issue is, which is not with legal gun owners but with the people who have illegal guns and are committing the crimes. That is where we should have focused, but the current government did not support that bill.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for what might have been a question, but he was not very clear in what he was asking. I will tell him, though, that he is someone with whom I have spent some time on committee, and I have a very good affection for this gentleman. I actually nicknamed him “the walrus” because of that beautiful moustache of his.

The member has given us a bevy of issues, all in a late show question, and in a short period of time it is difficult to speak to all the things he brought forward. However, this gives me an opportunity to talk about the diverse contracts that we have for vaccines for Canadians.

By the end of March of this year, we will have six million vaccines in Canada. By the end of September, every Canadian who wishes to have a vaccination will have a vaccination. From day one, this government has had the backs of Canadians. We have done everything we could possibly do to keep Canadians safe, and we will not stop. There is more work to do, but the good news is that Canadians know that we have their backs and Canadians know what it takes to keep them safe.

We know what worked in wave one with COVID, and we have learned an awful lot about COVID-19. On this side of the House, we have the backs of Canadians. We will continue to have the backs of Canadians. I invite my friend, the member from across the way, who has sort of asked me a question, to join team Canada, to hop on the bus rather than coming around in the middle of the night and trying to let the air out of the tires.

I appreciate the time.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Nova Scotia for responding. We have worked together, and I agree that he is an honourable member. I have enjoyed working with him. We have often talked about issues and we were able to discuss things in what could be called a very parliamentary way. I appreciate that he does that.

I am very familiar with Team Canada. I have two former students who were Olympic athletes. I have been to the Olympics. I have been to Canada House. I have seen Team Canada and how it works, which is not like what we do. I appreciate what Team Canada is because I have seen it in motion at the Olympics and I know how it works.

I have one last thing on seniors. We have a tremendous number of seniors on fixed incomes. They are desperate. They write to me about what the carbon tax is adding to their costs. Their mental and physical health is deteriorating, and they identify those costs that are coming because of the the carbon tax. That is a challenge for our seniors in this country.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I share the member's thoughts on seniors. Our seniors are so important and have been quite impacted by COVID-19.

I am very proud of our government for having a minister of seniors. I get a chance to hear regularly from members of my community who are seniors and who are happy that we have started a ministry for seniors. We have more work to do, but we recognize that this extremely important segment of our population, who mean so much and who built this country, deserve to be taken care of in the best possible way by this government.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 8:19 p.m.)