Debates of Nov. 22nd, 2022

Climate Change

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada got a failing grade at COP27. Next up is the biodiversity conference, COP15. What happened in Newfoundland while the minister was in Egypt? Five oil companies got the green light for oil exploration in a marine protected area. Canada does not even allow fishing in that area in order to protect biodiversity, but it is allowing companies to drill into the seabed to find more oil.

What credibility does it have to talk about biodiversity at COP15? Is this conference already doomed to fail too?

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague should know that the organization that authorized exploratory drilling operates independently of the federal government. It seems to me that the Bloc Québécois should have a good understanding of the word “independence”. It was that agency, not the federal government, that proposed this exploratory drilling.

Carbon Pricing

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Chris in Grand Falls-Windsor just this morning. He explained how the $5,000 that was announced yesterday would only be a drop in the bucket to help convert his elderly parents from burning oil to heating their home with a heat pump. His parents struggled last winter, and now their oil bill has nearly doubled. That is without the carbon tax. In the new year, the carbon tax will add another 20% to their home heating bill.

Will the Liberal government stop forcing the carbon tax down the throats of Canadians?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, these are challenging times for Canadians and we want to help. The price of home heating oil has certainly increased over the past year and we want to make sure that people are not forced to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table.

That is why, yesterday, the Nova Scotia regional minister announced a program that would give up to $5,000 to low and middle-income families to help with the cost of replacing their furnace with new and more efficient heat pumps. Transitioning away from heating oil will save families thousands of dollars on their annual heating bills, reduce pollution and create new jobs across the country.

Today, in Nova Scotia, the carbon price rebate was announced, which will more than compensate for any increase in home heating oil and fuel for cars.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, that member should have better sense. He knows that program is garbage. The carbon tax cult opposite continues to gloat about the need to tax Atlantic Canadians, but the evidence is in. The carbon tax is not working. We rank 58 out of 64 countries in fighting climate change. Canada's emissions are higher now than ever. The carbon tax just fuels inflation.

When will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax down the throats of Canadians?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, certainly, affordability is extremely important. We have taken significant steps to address affordability issues, including the investment of $250 million for heat pumps yesterday.

It is also the case that no matter how much the Conservatives try to mislead the House, eight out of 10 Canadian families actually get more money back than they pay with respect to the price on pollution. Certainly in Newfoundland and Labrador, it will mean money in the pockets of folks there.

As I said before, and it bears stating again, every member of that side of the House campaigned on putting in place a price on pollution in the last election. What do they say to their constituents? My goodness.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotia surpassed the Liberal federal government's 2030 emission targets already and will reach net zero by 2050 without a carbon tax, but those Liberals today are imposing one. That carbon tax is going to add $360 to a tank of home heating oil when 40% of Atlantic Canadians are living in energy poverty. The Liberals seem more focused on ineffective taxes than they are on actual results.

When will the Liberal government stop forcing Canadians to have the failed carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, maybe the member opposite should listen to the Leader of the Opposition, who recognized earlier that this would not take effect before July of next year. I do not know about him, but in July, I do not intend to heat my home very much.

The Conservatives would like Canadians to continue to be dependant—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please. The hon. minister, from the beginning, so we can all hear the answer.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition said earlier during this question period, this will not take effect before July of next year. In the meantime, we are helping tens of thousands of Canadians get rid of their home heating oil, which is more expensive, more polluting and less efficient.

The Conservatives would like to condemn those Canadians to continue being dependant on systems that will cost them more and more over time as opposed to systems that will save them thousands of dollars every year. That is the unfortunate truth.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, those Liberals are proud that, in 2023, they are going to add $360 to a tank of home heating oil. In the 2015 election, the Prime Minister said that provinces that did the hard work of reducing carbon emissions would not have the carbon tax imposed, yet Nova Scotia has already surpassed the 2030 carbon reduction targets of the Liberal government.

I will ask again. When will the Liberals live up to their campaign promise and stop forcing their failed carbon tax on Nova Scotians?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, what we are proud of is that we do have a plan to fight the climate.

With respect to the comments that have been made on the other side, it is absolutely unbelievable that those members are still denying that climate change is real. We can look at Atlantic Canada, and my colleague will ask this question. In his province of Nova Scotia, we have seen the devastation first-hand. We realize that we have to tackle this and we have to tackle it immediately.

Again, I ask my colleague this. Why are the Conservatives against focusing on really fighting climate? It is an emergency that we have to deal with right now.

Climate Change

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment is back from COP27, empty-handed. He spent his time defending the interests of big oil companies.

Today, he had a chance to make carbon pricing fairer and ensure that big polluters really pay what they owe. Again, he failed Canadians.

Why is it so hard for that minister to stand up to big polluters?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would quote the words of the Canadian climate action network, which said that, on the issue of loss and damage, which was one of the victories of the COP27 conference, Canada was the “first mover among rich countries to make this thing happen.” We fought for this. We fought for stronger language in the text on eliminating the use of coal all around the world, including in Canada. We fought for stronger text on the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.

Health

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, Manitoba's Conservative government announced a plan to privatize health care services in our province. Hospitals in Winnipeg are overflowing after years of cuts. What is its answer? Moving toward a system where the size of one's wallet determines the quality of one's care.

Public administration is one of the five principles of the Canada Health Act and it must be defended. Will the Liberals stand up and stop this attempt to dismantle our public health care system piece by piece?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we are all very mindful of the challenges that our public health care system is going through now, with health workers being tired, leaving in large numbers and sometimes thinking about their future, nurses in particular.

That is why we want to maintain and support our public health system. That is exactly why we need to do that in collaboration with and in support of provinces and territories.

National Defence

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, other colleagues in the House and I had the opportunity to participate in the Halifax International Security Forum. It is a forum that brings together political, military and industrial leaders from around the world to talk about today's security challenges.

I remember being a part of the forum last year during the Russian build-up in Ukraine. We were trying to contemplate whether this was just a provocation. A year later, we know that this was not the case, with the terrible, illegal invasion that we have seen and the challenges it has created.

We know the importance of Canada's relationship with NATO. I ask the minister if she can provide an update to the House on the announcement she made in Nova Scotia, which matters to Canada and NATO's relationship in providing security.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, Canada stands firmly with our allies on the side of democracy and the rule of law. That is why we will continue offering unwavering support to Ukraine.

This weekend, Canada announced that Halifax would be the location for the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA, which will bring together innovators, tech companies and researchers to solve critical security challenges. As we face new threats and pressures, this is exactly the type of leadership that Canada will continue—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Thornhill.

Public Safety

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, “I do not feel safe in Canada.” That is the message from Iranian Canadians, and it is being ignored by the Liberals.

Canada's spy agency says that it is investigating multiple death threats on Canadians who stand with the tens of thousands protesting the brutal regime that kills its own people in Iran. These are death threats.

They are pleading for protection from the government. When do they go from the platitudes of monitoring the situation to actually protecting our own citizens here in Canada?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we will always stand with Iranian Canadians and with those in Iran as these protests are going on.

That is why we have taken serious action to ensure that the entities that must be treated severely are being treated severely. We will always stand with Iranian Canadians in standing up to the actions of the Iranian government.

Foreign Affairs

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Global News reported that, last January, the Prime Minister was briefed by CSIS about a vast campaign of interference by Beijing in the 2019 election.

After two weeks of silence, suddenly and narrowly, the Prime Minister claims that he was not briefed about candidates, but that of course does not address the broader question of whether the Prime Minister was briefed about Beijing's interference.

Was the Prime Minister briefed, yes or no?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House that the purpose of foreign interference is to sow chaos and throw our democratic institutions into disarray.

That is why we are taking action to combat attempted foreign interference, beginning with our national security agencies who conduct investigations and use all the tools at their disposal. It also includes significant work to shore up Canada's institutions and critical infrastructure, such as Bill C-26, which would bolster cybersecurity and give new tools to the RCMP. I invite all members of the House to support the government in supporting Bill C-26.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my question was about what the Prime Minister may have learned in January. Non-answers like that and incomplete information from the Prime Minister after two weeks of silence hardly instill any confidence that the Prime Minister is being open and transparent with Canadians.

Again, with respect to January, was the Prime Minister briefed? Did he receive intelligence memos? What does he know about Beijing's interference?