Debates of May 17th, 2022

Opposition Motion—Subsidies for the Oil and Gas Sector

[Jean‑Denis Garon]

Madam Speaker, I would like to raise the fact that my colleague is not answering the question. He spouted nonsense.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Since that is not a point of order I would ask the members to listen to the response.

The hon. parliamentary secretary has time for a brief response.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the point is that we have a government that is prepared to invest in technology, to work with both private and public sectors, and to ensure that we can create the types of jobs Canadians want to see for the future.

Green transition is of critical importance. We say that, and we believe in it, and that is why we have invested literally hundreds of millions, going into the billions, of dollars. It is because that is where the future jobs, in good part, are going to be.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to take part in today's debate—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

There is an individual whom I have recognized and who has the floor, yet we still have other individuals who wish to have conversations. I would ask them to take those conversations out of the chamber, or if they are just reacting, maybe they would like to leave and come back when they have composed themselves.

The hon. member for London West.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased that my colleagues are so excited to see me rising in the House.

I will start again.

I appreciate the opportunity to take part in today's debate.

Our government fully understands the importance of phasing out or rationalizing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. We take Canada's G20 commitment to do so very seriously. More importantly, we have already made important progress toward achieving this goal. This includes action we have taken to phase out or rationalize tax measures providing preferential tax treatment to the fossil fuel sector.

Taking into account the phasing out of flow-through shares for oil, gas and coal activities in 2023, which was just announced in budget 2022, nine inefficient fossil fuel subsidies will have been phased out or rationalized by this government. This includes the phase-out of the accelerated capital cost allowance for oil sands, announced in budget 2007 and completed in 2015; the reduction in the deduction rates for intangible capital expenses in oil sands projects to align with rates in the conventional oil and gas sector, announced in 2011 and completed in 2016; the phase-out of the Atlantic investment tax credit for investment in the oil and gas and mining sectors, announced in 2012 and completed in 2017; the reduction in the deduction rate for pre-production intangible mine development expenses to align with the rate for the oil and gas sector, announced in budget 2013 and completed in 2018; the phase-out of the accelerated capital cost allowance for mining, announced in budget 2013 and completed in 2021; allowing the accelerated capital cost allowance for liquefied natural gas facilities to expire as scheduled in 2025, announced in 2016; the rationalization of the tax treatment of expenses for successful oil and gas exploratory drilling, announced in 2017 and completed in 2021; and the phase-out of the tax preference that allows small oil and gas companies to reclassify certain development expenses as more favourably treated exploration expenses, announced in 2017 and completed in 2020.

To support its efforts to phase out or rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, Canada committed to undergo a peer review of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies under the G20 process. Once the process is completed, the results will be communicated in a very transparent and timely manner. Canada will continue to review its measures that could be considered inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, with a view to reforming them as necessary.

We have been taking effective action to help Canadians with the high cost of living, and we continue to support Canadians struggling with the high cost of living, as called for in today's motion. Our government understands that Canadians are being hit by rising prices. We are also taking effective action to meaningfully support them so they can deal with this challenge. For example, we are investing in cutting taxes for the middle class while raising them on the wealthiest 1%. We continue to increase support for families and low-income workers through programs such as the Canada child benefit and the Canada workers benefit. Thanks to the CCB, nine out of 10 Canadian families have more money to help them with the cost of caring for their children than they did with previous benefits. Our expanded Canada workers benefit will support an estimated one million additional Canadians, which could mean $1,000 more per year for a full-time minimum-wage worker.

Our financial support for Canadians does not stop there. In budget 2021, our government laid out an ambitious plan to provide Canadian parents with an average of $10-a-day regulated child care spaces for children under six years old. In less than one year, we have reached agreements with all provinces and territories. This means that, by the end of this year, families across Canada will have seen their child care fees reduced by an average of 50%, which is an average of $6,000 in savings per child for families in British Columbia and Ontario. These are not savings that will appear in five or 10 years; these are savings that will occur by the end of December. By 2025-26, our plan will mean an average child care fee of $10 a day for all regulated child care spaces across Canada, meaning thousands of dollars in savings for families across Canada.

To support vulnerable Canadians at the other end of the demographic spectrum, we have also increased the guaranteed income supplement to top up the benefit for low-income single seniors and enhanced the GIS earnings exemption. We are also increasing old age security for Canadians aged 75 and older in July of this year. This 10% increase would provide about $800 in additional benefits to full pensioners over the first year. About 3.3 million seniors would benefit from this and no action will be required on their part. They would automatically receive the payment if they are eligible. This is the first permanent increase of old age security pensions since 1973, other than just adjustments due to inflation.

To protect Canadians from the impact of inflation, the government indexes the Canada child benefit to inflation, as well as the Canada pension plan, old age security, the guaranteed income supplement, the goods and services tax credit and other benefits for the most vulnerable people. To further help make life more affordable for Canadians, we have also increased the basic personal amount, BPA, that Canadians can earn before paying any federal income tax. To ensure this support is targeted to the middle class, the benefits of the increased BPA are phased out for high-income taxpayers. When this measure is fully implemented next year, single individuals will pay $300 less in tax each year and families will pay $600 less.

Our government is also returning the direct proceeds from the federal carbon pollution pricing system to their province or territory of origin, with most of these proceeds going to families in those jurisdictions. In fact, in jurisdictions that do not have their own pricing system consistent with the federal benchmark criteria, which is to say Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, approximately 90% of direct proceeds from the fuel charge are being returned to the residents of these provinces through climate action incentive payments. Between 2022 and 2023, a family of four would receive $745 in Ontario, $832 in Manitoba, $1,101 in Saskatchewan and $1,079 in Alberta. In addition, families in rural and small communities are eligible to receive an extra 10%. The reality is that, as a result of these CAI payments, most households are getting back more than they paid in increased costs they faced from the federal carbon pollution pricing system. What is more, the remaining fuel charge proceeds are being used to support small businesses, farmers, indigenous communities and other organizations. Going forward, the federal carbon price will continue to be revenue-neutral for the Government of Canada.

At the same time, we are also ensuring that taxes are appropriate and fair. Our government knows that those who can afford to buy expensive cars, planes and boats can also afford to pay a bit more, and Canadians agree. Our government campaigned on this promise in 2019 and 2021 and was elected to enact this. To that end, we are also following through on our commitment to introduce a tax on the sale of new luxury cars and aircraft with a retail sale price of over $100,000 and on new boats over $250,000. The revenues raised by this tax can be used to offset costs for Canadians and invest in a strong economic recovery that supports their highest priorities.

Another example of our government's commitment to tax fairness is our proposed tax for non-resident-owned, non-Canadian-owned residential real estate that is considered to be vacant or underused, which would become effective as of January 1, 2022. While this tax would not be paid by individual Canadian homeowners, it would definitely benefit Canadian families. That is because the recent and rapid rise in housing prices has made finding an affordable place to call home increasingly difficult. The underused housing tax would help support investments in housing affordability so that all Canadians can have a safe and affordable place to call home.

Our recent federal budget introduced what may be the most ambitious plan to build new housing that Canada has ever seen, putting Canada on the path to double the number of new homes we build over the next 10 years. These—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am sorry. The hon. member's time is up. I have been trying to give her some signals, but she was quite into her speech and I can understand that this is a very important issue.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

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

Madam Speaker, families in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford right now, when they are filling up their vehicles, are looking at those eye-watering prices, and then they read the news and hear about the billions of dollars of profits that oil companies are making. Then, to add insult to injury, they learn that their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are directly subsidizing those companies, especially in unproven technology.

I have a very clear question for my hon. colleague: Does she not agree that this is precisely the wrong time to continue subsidizing oil companies, not only because of the climate danger, but because of the pressure that working families are feeling? Is it not time to directly invest those dollars, instead, into the pockets of working families to help them out and give them a break?

I want to hear a clear answer from my Liberal colleague on putting that money directly into working families' pockets through an increase in the GST credit.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague across the aisle. I believe that our government has been working to invest in making life more affordable for Canadians. There are a number of measures that we put in budget 2022 to make sure that families are able to afford life. There are things that we are working through right now, after the pandemic, but we are taking strong measures to have a green recovery, to invest in child care, to invest in families, to invest in young Canadians being able to afford homes.

I understand that gas prices have been frustrating, as the member on the other side mentioned, but the important part is that we are committed to making sure that life is more affordable for Canadians and we have taken measures to do so.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member from London West made the comment that most Canadian families are getting a bigger carbon tax credit than the carbon tax they would incur throughout the year. I would suggest that a lot of the carbon tax that families are going to be incurring throughout the year is now hidden in the cost of goods and services and we can see that, whether it is on the grocery shelves, in the lumber stores or in retail shops.

Can the member explain to us exactly why she thinks that the average Canadian family will actually receive more back than it is costing them? The costs will certainly be hidden.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I find that question very interesting, because I did mention the numbers and the amount of money that we are going to be putting in the pockets of single people and families to make sure that Canadians are getting the money from this tax back.

Once again, I just want to reiterate that budget 2022's main goal and primary driver is to make life more affordable for Canadians, and we are doing that.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to point out that Canada subsidizes the oil and gas sector more heavily than any other G20 country.

The member talked a lot about subsidies for families, but I would like to talk about subsidies for oil companies. She spoke about the carbon tax. On one hand, the government is taxing carbon, taxing pollution, but then on the other hand, it is subsidizing the polluters.

Does she not find that somewhat illogical?

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Madam Speaker, once again, I want to reiterate that our government is committed to reducing fossil fuel subsidies. At COP26, we reiterated our commitment to phase out Canada's fossil fuel subsidies by 2023, two years earlier than originally planned. We continue to do that and we continue to do all that we can to have a green recovery for all Canadians.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague, the member for Vancouver East.

We put forward this motion for a number of reasons. I want to lay out, first of all, the context. In our country right now, Canadians are paying over $2 a litre for gas. That means that families are being hurt. Families have been isolated because of this pandemic and have not been able to visit their close ones, and now, when they finally have the opportunity, they are considering cancelling road trips to visit dear family members because they simply cannot afford it.

What makes it even more offensive is that oil and gas companies are posting massive profits, in some cases record profits. Imperial Oil is experiencing the highest profits it has enjoyed in 30 years. In light of that, what adds insult to injury is that the Liberal government continues to hand out billions of dollars in subsidies to these very profitable oil and gas companies. That is wrong.

Gasoline costs more than $2 a litre in much of the country. People are struggling, and it is getting harder and harder to make ends meet. At the same time, these oil companies are making huge profits, record profits in some cases.

It gets worse. The Liberal government continues to throw billions of dollars in subsidies at these companies. People are struggling, while big oil is making record profits. That is unacceptable, and we are saying that we can do things differently and fix this problem.

Any time the cost of everything goes up, it hurts families, but there are also winners. While families are hurt as the cost of living goes up, inflation rises and gas rises, oil and gas companies are benefiting from this moment. The sad thing is that the only solutions ever proposed in times when there is inflation are measures that make things even worse for families, increasing interest rates, which only further squeezes families that are already so hurt. Why is it that the only response in difficult times is to put more pressure and burden on the families and workers who are already struggling?

The New Democrats contend that to deal with the rising cost of living, to deal with the cost of goods going up and to deal with inflation, we have to find a solution that does not follow the traditional path of putting more burden on families. We have to find a solution that helps families, does not put the burden on them, lifts them up and provides them with support.

Whenever the cost of living rises, there are winners and there are losers. Families lose because the cost of living goes up and it gets harder and harder to make ends meet. Oil companies win because they rake in huge, record profits.

The only solutions proposed, traditionally, actually make things worse for workers and families. New Democrats believe profoundly that we need solutions that help workers and families, and that is exactly what we are going to put forward.

I want to be very clear. Whenever the cost of living rises and inflation rises, there are winners and there are losers. Families are hurt, workers are hurt and people who are precariously employed are hurt, but the oil and gas companies are benefiting. They are winning. They are making more and more profit, and the only solutions proposed, traditionally, are solutions that put further and further weight and burden on the shoulders of families. That has to end. The New Democrats believe profoundly that we need solutions to deal with the cost of living and inflation that actually support families, help workers and lift people up.

People across this country are paying hundreds of dollars more in their costs, and oil and gas companies are enjoying record profits. On top of that, they are receiving billions of dollars of public money, which is our money. Our solution is to stop subsidizing already profitable companies, end those subsidies and invest that money back into people by doubling the GST tax credit, increasing the child benefit and supporting families that need help the most.

While oil and gas companies make massive profits as the cost of oil rises and enjoy profits they have never seen in 30 years, the New Democrats are calling on the government to end fossil fuel subsidies and use that public money to invest in people, to support families and to invest in renewable energy. That is the way forward.

Right now, families are struggling. They are spending hundreds of dollars more because the cost of living and the cost of gas have gone up. New Democrats want to end fossil fuel subsidies and invest that money to help families.

We want to double the GST tax credit, increase the Canada child benefit and invest in renewable energy in our country. That is what we see as the way forward, a way that will do more to help people.

Families are struggling at the pumps with the cost of gas going up. At the same time, families are struggling with worry about the climate crisis. We have seen the impact in our lives in B.C., with intense flooding and intense record-setting temperatures, the cost of which was a loss of lives. We see flooding and forest fires across the country. We know that the impact of the climate crisis is real and it is now, and instead of giving public money to these profitable oil and gas companies, we must end those subsidies and use that public money to fight the climate crisis, invest in renewable energy, support workers who are hurt by the climate crisis and help families that are struggling with the cost of living.

While the Liberals talk about ending fossil fuel subsidies, their actions are very different. Instead of ending fossil fuel subsidies in this budget, they have increased them by $2.6 billion for a carbon capture tax credit, which we are not very certain is actually going to help in tackling the climate crisis. Either way, we should force profitable companies to do the right thing, be environmentally conscious and make the right decisions to protect our planet and our environment. We should also be spending public money on sectors that need more support, such as the renewable energy sector, so that we can have renewable energy in our country and good jobs that are long-lasting.

At the end of the day, politics is about choices. The choices we make reflect the priorities we have. It is clear that the Liberal government's priority is protecting the profits of billion-dollar oil and gas companies. It continues to give them billions of dollars more in public money instead of standing up for workers, families and people struggling with the cost of living.

The New Democrats would make different choices. Our choice would be to end the billions of dollars in public money flowing to profitable companies and use those financial resources to help families and people and invest in renewable energy. There are better choices we can make, and the New Democrats are outlining those better decisions.

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, Canada has made the ambitious target of reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40%, relative to current levels, by 2030, and is in the process right now of developing regulations to cap emissions and have them steadily reduced to net zero by 2050. I think we would all agree on the need to reduce emissions, but as we develop more stringent regulations, there is a risk that jobs and investment could move to countries that have less stringent regulations but have deposits of energy.

Would the member for Burnaby South want Canada to work with industry to reduce emissions and keep jobs in Canada, or would he rather that emissions be eliminated in Canada simply by eliminating production and we move them to another country?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to remind the member that today's motion is about ending fossil fuel subsidies. How does it make any sense that as a G7 nation we give billions of dollars to a sector that is already profitable and is right now making massive if not record profits? I would contend that makes absolutely no sense. Instead, we should be spending our public money, those precious public dollars, on helping workers who are impacted by the climate crisis and whose jobs go through bust and boom cycles. We should invest it in families that are struggling with the cost of living and invest it in building more renewable energy, which we know we need today and for the future.

This is really the fundamental question here: Why would we be giving profitable companies more public dollars?

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Madam Speaker, what I find interesting is this trumped-up indignation that the member has with respect to the coalition party, which his party continues to support. I also find this really fascinating: When this side of the House proposed a cut of eight cents per litre to the price of gasoline, where was the member's party? That is the question I have.

We talk about choice. That is a choice. When are we going to make this change, vote against the government and end the speNDP-Liberal coalition? Will the member commit to that?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I find it fascinating that the member would use the word “trumped” when there are a lot of concerns about his party being affiliated with that type of rhetoric and ideology. It is very troubling.

We are talking about billions of dollars in subsidies. The member is talking about eight cents. We are talking about doubling the child benefit and increasing the GST tax credit in a direct way so they go directly to families in need. The member is talking about an idea to get help to people that may or may not work. We are talking about getting help directly to people in need. I think the member would rather protect the profits of the oil and gas sector than help families that are struggling right now.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, 30,000 Canadians and 400 academics have said that we must not invest in carbon capture and storage.

When the member for Burnaby South says that the federal government must stop giving subsidies and invest in renewable energy, I would like to know in what year he thinks that should start. It is surely not 2022, because he is supporting the budget, which includes $2.4 billion for carbon capture and storage.

When should the government stop the subsidies?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, we completely agree that the Liberal government's approach is the wrong one and that it will not solve the current crisis. The crisis requires urgent action.

We want the government to stop, cancel and eliminate oil subsidies immediately, this year. We want it to reinvest in the priorities of Canadians, families and workers and in renewable energy.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of the motion put forward by my colleague, the member for Victoria.

The NDP motion calls for the government to stop using Canadian taxpayers’ money to subsidize oil and gas companies, and to instead reinvest that money into renewable energy and measures to help Canadians with the rising cost of living.

The motion could not have come at a more desperately needed time. This week, constituents in my riding are paying over $2 a litre for gas at the pump. Many of the people scraping together the necessary funds to pay for fuel are essential workers, small business owners, families with young children and people with mobility challenges who need to drive for their livelihoods or to access essential goods and services.

Canadian families are already struggling with sky-high housing costs and income precarity exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. Even before the rise in gas prices, people were living paycheque to paycheque and struggling to make ends meet. Retirees and people on fixed incomes have not seen a rise in income to account for the rise in living costs.

By glaring contrast, the oil and gas companies are making record profits, while being heavily subsidized by taxpayers’ money. This grossly unjust situation is a direct result of the government’s heavily misaligned priorities. The NDP motion calls on the government to fix this dire situation and place people and the planet before oil and gas company profits.

As Canadians are struggling more than ever, we are also faced with the most urgent crisis of our time: the climate change crisis. The most recent IPCC report states:

It is unequivocal that climate change has already disrupted human and natural systems.

It goes on to say:

Societal choices and actions implemented in the next decade determine the extent to which medium- and long-term pathways will deliver higher or lower climate resilient development.... Importantly climate resilient development prospects are increasingly limited if current greenhouse gas emissions do not rapidly decline, especially if 1.5°C global warming is exceeded in the near term.

A new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization pointed out that there is a fifty-fifty chance that the annual average global temperature will temporarily reach 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level for at least one of the next five years, and this likelihood is increasing with time.

Let us just think about that for one minute. They are saying that we are not going to meet our target. I should not need to remind anyone in this house of the importance of the 1.5° mark. Climate scientists have long established that holding global warming to 1.5° could limit the most dangerous and irreversible effects of climate change.

Our global temperatures have already risen by 1.1° since pre-industrial levels. We are already feeling the devastating effects of climate change. B.C., my province, has just experienced one of the most challenging years of extreme weather in recent memory, with a heat dome that shattered temperature records and killed hundreds of people, followed by weather bombs that destroyed critical infrastructure, livestock and agricultural lands with record precipitation and floods. For days, B.C. was cut off from the rest of Canada by rail and road because of the damages from the unprecedented floods.

Left unchecked, extreme weather connected to climate change will continue to wreak havoc on Canadian lives and livelihoods.

Around the globe, we are witnessing how climate change has caused substantial damage to terrestrial, freshwater and coastal and ocean marine ecosystems. We are seeing glaciers melt, mountains change and permafrost thaw in the Arctic ecosystem. Let us be clear: This is the result of human-induced climate change. That is why we must fight the climate crisis like we mean to win.

Despite the urgency of the climate crisis on our doorstep, Canada has failed to meet any of its climate targets to reduce carbon emissions over the past 40 years. In fact, not only has Canada repeatedly failed to meet its climate targets, Canada is also one of the few wealthy countries where carbon emissions continue to rise. Industrialized and wealthy nations are responsible for most of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world, but the effects of climate change impact developing nations and indigenous peoples the hardest.

Climate justice is justice, period. Continuing to subsidize oil and gas companies while delaying the economic and infrastructure overhaul and transition to green energy is the very opposite of climate leadership that Canadians and the world so desperately need. The new carbon capture tax credit is, in effect, a $2.6-billion subsidy to oil and gas disguised as a so-called climate solution by the Liberal government. It is the wrong path to take.

Earlier this year, more than 400 Canadian climate scientists and academics pleaded with the finance minister to scrap the plan to create the carbon capture tax credit. Professor Christina Hoicka, from the University of Victoria, stated that carbon capture is expensive and unproven in its effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Julia Levin, senior climate and energy program manager, stated that by relying on unproven “techno-fixes”, the government is “gambling with our lives.”

Carbon capture projects exist at the demonstration level only, and have not successfully been deployed at the scale needed to make them part of a viable pathway to reach net-zero by 2050. More than 80% of the carbon capture projects attempted in the United States have ended in failure. Shell's Quest carbon capture facility near Edmonton is emitting more greenhouse gas than it captures.

Across the board, scientists are calling for the government to invest in proven climate solutions, including renewable energy, efficient affordable housing and the electrification of transportation as the way to go. The choices we make today will have a lasting impact on future generations.

It has long been my belief, and the NDP's belief, that a just transition must not only create a healthier environment, but also create better opportunities and improve affordability for Canadian workers and families. A just transition creates good jobs in the renewable energy sector and supports workers and communities in transitioning to jobs in this sector.

Canada could become a world leader in renewable energy development. Investing in energy-efficient home retrofits and affordable energy-efficient new homes, as well as investing in a robust electric public transit system, would make life more affordable for Canadians and reduce emissions. In other words, a just transition would help to build a stronger, resilient economy. It is an opportunity that any government that values people and the planet would jump on. Instead, Canada is spending 14 times more on financial support to the fossil-fuel sector than it does on renewable energy.

The Liberals promised a just transition act in 2019, but have failed to deliver and were recently rebuked by the Environment Commissioner for their lack of a plan to support workers and communities through the transition to a low-carbon economy. At the same time, oil and gas companies are making record profits, and Canadians are being decimated at the pump with record-high prices while the world is on the brink of a climate disaster.

The majority of Canadians are concerned about climate change and affordability as the cost of living continues to rise. If the Liberals eliminated the tax credits for oil and gas exploration and development right now, it would bring in almost $10 billion over the next four years. Instead—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member's time is up. I have been trying to signal that to her.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Kings—Hants.

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

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague made it very clear that she is against any type of public financing for the oil and gas sector. The way I view it is that this particular tax credit is meant to incentivize a reduction in emissions, but I respect her point and her view on this.

My question is a bit broader. Does she feel the Government of Canada has a role in working with private-sector entities to reduce emissions? She has made it very clear that she does not support that in the oil and gas sector. Where would she delineate, if at all, whether or not the Government of Canada should be providing these types of incentives to other private-sector industries?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, instead of subsidizing very profitable big oil companies, the government can provide immediate relief to struggling Canadians by suspending the GST on residential energy bills, doubling the GST tax credit and increasing the Canada child benefit to all recipients by $500. That would be an immediate help for Canadians.

By the way, the oil and gas industry should be paying for the work that needs to be done to make the planet better. It is making record profits and can afford to do it. There is no good reason why the Canadian Liberal government continues to subsidize it. That money should be invested in people and renewable energy.