Debates of Oct. 17th, 2022

Taxation

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, just last Friday, thanks to the climate action incentive payments, a family of four received $208 in Manitoba, $275 in Saskatchewan, $269 in Alberta and $186 in the member opposite's province. This will happen four times a year.

We can fight climate change and support Canadians, and that is exactly what we are doing. The Conservatives have no plan to fight climate change and no plan to help Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have no plan to fight climate change. What they have is a tax plan, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer has concluded that the majority of people who receive these rebates, which is not even all Canadians, get less in rebates than they pay in taxes. For example, 40% of east coast Canadians are living in energy poverty. The Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador has said that the Liberal government in Ottawa should not triple the tax on home heating. Home heating prices are expected to double this winter.

Will the government get the message that heating a home in Canada is not a luxury and cancel the plan to triple the tax?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, we are helping households transition away from dirty and expensive home heating oil to more affordable and greener heating sources. We are doing that, and have committed to doing that, with our partners in Atlantic Canada. We are working with every single province in Atlantic Canada to support programs that they have put in place, with $250 million to help tens of thousands of Canadians have access to cheaper and greener energy.

We can fight climate change and help Canadians. On those two fronts, the Conservatives have nothing to say.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, here we go with the trickle-down government. It scoops up the money from hard-working people who are just trying to heat their homes, doubles home heating bills, brings the money to Ottawa and then expects us to believe the money is going to trickle all the way back down to the people who paid for it in the first place. Allow us to doubt that.

We already know that the vast majority of Canadians are paying far more in taxes than they are getting back in any rebates. Many provinces do not get any rebate at all, yet the government wants to target seniors for the crime of heating their homes.

Why does it not cancel this crazy plan to triple the tax?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, trickle-down economics is a policy that gives advantages to the most wealthy, with the idea that those at the bottom will benefit. This party opposite is a party that voted against the Canada child benefit. This party opposite voted against raising taxes on those who have the most and giving to those who have less.

I have a question for the member right now. There is an opportunity. The member opposite has an opportunity—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

We can continue. I believe the hon. member was asking a question. He can start from there.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I simply want to know this. If they do not support trickle-down economics, why do they not support dental care for children? Why do they not support those who are struggling right now with rent? They could do that. It is bad enough that they are not supporting this. At least let the House pass it.

Climate Change

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week in Washington, the Deputy Prime Minister announced Canada's new foreign policy on energy to the world.

What is Canada's new policy? Well, it is the same as the old one: sell more oil and gas. Sorry, planet, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that Canada will fast-track energy projects to export more fossil fuel. Drill, baby, drill. This confirms what many already thought.

In essence, what Canada did in Washington was drive the final nail into the coffin of its fight against climate change. Is that accurate?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Deputy Prime Minister said exactly the same thing I said and that my colleagues have said over the past few months: We need good projects with legs. We have to make sure we look at environmental impacts; we also need to have discussions with indigenous groups.

Of course we want to have good projects that will move forward.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources is answering my question, and that really says it all.

The policy that the Deputy Prime Minister announced in Washington reveals that Canada was basically just looking for a pretext to sell even more oil and gas. It found one. So much for fighting climate change. Canada is back to exploiting fossil fuels in a big way. The Liberals are going full steam ahead. The government is trying to use the war in Ukraine to sell more oil despite the climate crisis.

Who wrote the Deputy Prime Minister's speech? Was it the leader of the Conservative Party?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question and remind him that we have one of the most rigorous environmental assessment processes. It is a process, by the way, that the Conservatives opposed with Bill C-69.

We are also committed to supplying clean, renewable energy to European countries. That is why the German chancellor came to Canada to sign an agreement on hydrogen that will be produced with wind power. This is exactly what we are doing in Canada: supporting Canadians and Canadian businesses and fighting climate change.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, oil is not a renewable resource.

While many people are struggling to pay for groceries, we have learned that Loblaws plans to freeze prices on its “No Name” products. It is a nice gesture, but it comes after months of inflation, months of seeing our families struggle. The Liberals have allowed the CEOs of these large corporations to get rich off the backs of Canadians for far too long.

The NDP has brought forward some concrete solutions to support families and make these rich CEOs pay their fair share. Will the Liberals tackle this “greedflation” by voting in favour of the measures the NDP is proposing today?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that families in Canada are struggling right now. Our budget actually includes a plan to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. Our government is very committed to asking those who prospered most during the pandemic to pay a little more, and this includes banks and insurance companies. The biggest and most profitable companies will pay a bit more to help everyone else.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while grocery CEOs are making millions of dollars in bonuses, Canadians have been making difficult choices about what groceries they can afford. Today, after pressure from the NDP, Loblaws showed that it is possible to freeze prices, but it needs to be forced to do it.

This afternoon the Conservatives and the Liberals have an opportunity to help people instead of the rich CEOs who are profiting off of struggling Canadians. Will the government admit that it has let corporate greed go unchecked by finally voting with the NDP to defend Canadian families?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on making sure that we make life more affordable for Canadians. I would like to thank that member and all members in the House for supporting Bill C-30, which would see $2.6 billion delivered to the 11 million households that need it the most. That includes more than 50% of seniors. We have a chance to do more with the recovery dividend. We have a chance to do more with the 1.5% tax on the excess profits of banks and other corporations. There is a lot more work we can do in this place, and we are going to do it.

Taxation

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as an immigrant to Canada whose family came here with little, and through the grace of God, hard work and opportunity, it is an absolute honour to stand here as a member of Parliament and the new finance critic for the Conservative Party.

However, this is not the reality for many newcomers and low-income families. Because of unjust inflation and rising taxes, it is impossible for families to make ends meet. When will the Liberal government have some mercy and get rid of the unjust tripling of the carbon tax?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by congratulating the member opposite on his new role. I hope we can work together to make life more affordable for Canadians and to work on affordability, just as his predecessor did when their party supported Bill C-30. I hope he can use the new-found power he has in his critic role to challenge his own party and ask why it is obstructing our measures to make sure that the kids who need it the most can get their teeth fixed. I would ask him to use his power responsibly.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are about to get hit with an almost 100% increase in their home heating and electricity bills just this winter. The banning and cancelling of good energy projects in Canada by the Liberal government has led to Canadians paying more to heat their homes, fill up with gas and buy groceries.

Canadians are already suffering from Liberal-made inflation, rising rents and the carbon tax, which the Liberals plan on tripling. Will the Liberal government cancel its plan to triple the carbon tax, or does it want to leave Canadians in the dark and in the cold?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, 10 prime ministers ago, in 1970, a program was created to help Canadians face the impacts of natural catastrophes in this country. Since 1970, $8.5 billion has been paid, but a third of that was paid in the last six years.

The cost of natural catastrophes is increasing in Canada. We just need to talk to people in Atlantic Canada. If the Conservatives do not care about finances, then maybe they will care about human suffering and loss of life due to climate change. They have nothing to say about that, but we do.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government should be concerned about Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet. Canada has shot up rapidly on a global list for being the 25th most expensive country to live in out of 195.

Even though a year ago the governor of the Bank of Canada talked about deflation, he now admits Canada's 40-year-high inflation is increasingly self-inflicted by the government. Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat or drive under the NDP-Liberal costly coalition, so will it cancel its plans to triple its taxes on everything?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, everybody in the House will have an opportunity very soon to vote in favour of Bill C-22 to make life way more affordable for persons with disabilities living in poverty. They could also make life more affordable by voting in favour of dental for kids with disabilities or rent for low-income persons with disabilities. There are a lot of important decisions to be made. I hope the other side will understand how we can make life more affordable for everyone.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is these Liberals who are making life more expensive for every single Canadian. They are so out of touch. Healthy groceries are up 15%. Home heating costs will double for most Canadians this winter, and they will triple, up to 300%, for some. Almost a million Canadians cannot heat their homes already. Gas bills have increased 50% since last year, and diesel spiked a record 13¢ this weekend, but these NDP and Liberals are going to make everything more expensive and hike taxes on all essential goods. Will they cancel their plans to triple their cruel carbon tax?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have an opportunity to demonstrate that they care and want to help low-income Canadians. They have several opportunities in fact. They could support the bill for dental care for low-income children to get their teeth fixed. They could support the bill that would put $500 into the pockets of low-income renters. They could support the bill that would provide a disability benefit for Canadians with disabilities.

There are lots of opportunities for Conservatives to demonstrate in the House how they care for Canadians. I just do not understand why they will not.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since 2015, the Liberals have increased the debt more than all other governments combined. In 2021, before interest rates went up, they spent $20.2 billion on debt servicing alone. Let us not forget that the Prime Minister and his Minister of Finance said that we could afford to run deficits because interest rates were low. We have seen what happened over the past year. Their excessive spending caused inflation, which has significantly increased the cost of living for Canadians.

When will the Prime Minister cancel his plan to triple the carbon tax, which is also increasing the cost of living?