Debates of Oct. 30th, 2023

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our farmers are still suffering from this summer's catastrophic weather. According to a survey by the Union des producteurs agricoles, precipitation ravaged no less than 60% of Quebec's market gardens. Respondents lost a third of their revenues in the midst of an inflationary crisis. Worse still, more than half of producers think that this damage will continue to affect the 2024 crop.

What we need is emergency assistance for horticultural producers and deferral of the emergency business account loan repayment. When is the government going to take action?

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and to the Minister of Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts go out to everyone across the country affected by the extreme weather and forest fires of recent months. Farmers, producers and ranchers exist on the front lines of climate change. We recognize that the devastation caused by extreme weather and forest fires across the country has made this a difficult time for many of them. We continue to be there for them. We continue to work together to ensure that we are meeting the needs of farmers.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the government quite grasps the urgency of the situation. For producers of root vegetables, 64% of lands were damaged by rain. For strawberry and raspberry producers, it is 73%. For pea producers, it is 88%. This will affect food prices if the government does not intervene, and everybody will be impacted.

We need emergency supports and a one-year extension of the emergency account repayment deadline, and we need them right now. When will the minister understand that?

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

Mr. Speaker, I remind my hon. colleague that we unveiled the very first national climate change adaptation strategy in Canadian history last June. The strategy was praised by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, among others, who called it brave and bold. We are working with all stakeholders, including in agriculture, and with our provincial, territorial and municipal partners to implement solutions to help Canadians, businesses and corporations face the impacts of climate change.

Carbon Pricing

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the second carbon tax affects Quebec, and it is having a catastrophic impact on the lives of our constituents. Our food banks are overwhelmed and that includes Frigos pleins, Comptoir Le Grenier and L'Essential des Etchemins in my community. One in 10 people are using food banks.

After eight years under this government, with the assistance of the Bloc Québécois, everything is broken. It is costly to vote Bloc Québécois. The announcement that the Prime Minister made on Friday is not enough. He must abolish the full tax everywhere. When will the Prime Minister announce that the tax has been completely eliminated?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always a bit difficult for me to speak after this member who, for many years, was part of a government that was the first in North America to implement a carbon tax, the Government of Quebec. She was part of the government that did that.

An article in this morning's edition of La Presse said that Quebec had a record rainfall of 265 millimetres, the most rain it has seen since 1940. The impacts of climate change are real, particularly in the agricultural industry. They are driving up the cost of food. This summer in Quebec, there was $150 million in damages in the agricultural industry alone. Everyone pays for that.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years with this Bloc Québécois-backed government in power, parents are struggling. They have to cut back on everything, including meeting their children's needs.

I do not know why people on the other side are laughing; there is nothing funny about what I am saying. A family in Lévis says they have to pay almost twice as much for food because of inflation. Voting for the Bloc Québécois is costly. They want to drastically increase the carbon tax. The second carbon tax applies in Quebec and hurts our people.

When will the Prime Minister abandon his carbon tax throughout the country?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am having a little trouble keeping up with my Conservative colleague. She was there when they introduced the carbon exchange. She defended it and voted in favour of it in cabinet.

Does she change her mind every time she changes leaders, or every time she changes parties?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I would like to hear the question from the Member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, Bloc Québécois members have once again wholeheartedly supported the Liberal Party.

Nearly 900,000 Quebeckers turned to a food bank last month. After eight years of Liberal governance, that is what happens. The Liberals want to bring in a new tax, with the enthusiastic support of the Bloc Québécois, which wants to drastically increase that tax.

The Prime Minister, who is taking a nasty beating in the polls, announced last week that he is going to give Atlantic Canadians a temporary break.

Will the Prime Minister rise here and announce that he will give all Canadians a permanent break?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell my colleagues that there is a price on pollution and that pollution is costly.

With the measures we have put in place, we will speed up the fight against climate change. We have a plan and we are taking concrete action to put more money in taxpayers' pockets.

Our plan is agile. Our plan is flexible, unlike the Conservatives, who should be ashamed of themselves for wanting to continue polluting.

International Development

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, before becoming an MP, I had the opportunity to go to several countries with flawed tax systems. In other words, seniors, young people and the unemployed were left behind. I saw them in the streets.

I know that the Conservatives would like to take an axe to our tax system, but we are not going to go backward.

I would like the minister to tell us how the Canada Revenue Agency is helping countries strengthen their tax system instead of taking an axe to it, like the Conservatives would do.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency shares it expertise and knowledge with many developing countries in different ways.

We support the Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative by making our experienced tax examiners available. We welcome technical missions, such as those from Ghana and Ivory Coast that will come visit us at the end of the year, and we participate in two forums by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. What is more, the commissioner presides over one of these forums.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the plummeting, panicking Prime Minister admitted his carbon tax is punishing Canadians and making life more unaffordable. Liberals just announced their re-election platform: Vote Liberal and quadruple the carbon tax on home heating oil after the next election.

The Liberal minister from Newfoundland admitted this exemption was not granted to Canadians across the country because they do not vote Liberal. Rum bottle politics is back.

When will the Prime Minister stop with the band-aids, cure the problem he caused and axe the carbon tax?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked us to cure the problem. The problem we are trying to cure is pollution from home heating oil. By making the investments necessary, we can replace home heating oil furnaces with heat pumps. They are cleaner, they create jobs in our communities and they save thousands of dollars every year for families that live in my community and his.

The member has described before, on this chamber's floor, heat pumps as fairy tale programs. People who live in our communities are going to save thousands of dollars. That is no fairy tale.

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

Mr. Speaker, heat pumps increased the coal demanded for electricity in Nova Scotia, but the NDP-Liberals have brought back rum bottle politics: Vote Liberal and get a free quart of rum or vote and get a free heat pump. However, here is the catch. The Liberals promised to quadruple the carbon tax after the next election. Nova Scotians are not fooled by this bait and switch.

The Prime Minister is not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister stop with his band-aids, cure the problem he caused, which is the carbon tax, and axe it?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, with great respect to my hon. colleague, I think he has missed the point of this program entirely. He is concerned that people will pay a higher price after the pause has ended and the price comes back into effect. If people install a heat pump, they will not pay it at all and that is the point.

We are making the investments necessary so people can replace a more polluting system with a less polluting system. Since he has mentioned coal, we are working to eliminate that from the grid in Nova Scotia too, which is going to help people in both of our communities.

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

Mr. Speaker, folks back home are wondering how much tax they will pay if they vote Liberal in the next election.

The Liberal MP for Long Range Mountains suggested that they want to be a government that listens to the concerns of Liberal ridings. Her and her costly colleagues voted 24 times to increase the carbon tax to 61¢ per litre.

After eight years, the NDP-Liberal government and the Prime Minister are not worth the cost. Will they stop the mass confusion and tell Atlantic Canadians how much carbon tax they will pay if they vote Liberal in the next election?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, we could say it for the fifth time and I do not think the answer would get across.

The bottom line is that we on this side of the House tried to find a way to make sure that people square affordability with wanting to fight climate change. Both are very important right now. Both are very important to people in Atlantic Canada and very important in my constituency. I think we have found a way to do that.

Veterans Affairs

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Mr. Speaker, homelessness is on the rise across the country. Sadly, this is a reality facing too many veterans, who have bravely served our country.

Everyone deserves to have a safe and affordable home. It is vitally important that we do everything in our power to help our homeless veterans.

Can the Minister of Veterans Affairs tell us what action the government is taking on this crucial issue?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the health, safety and well-being of our veterans is my top priority. We take the situation very seriously. That is why our government is investing in a new program to combat homelessness when it comes to veterans. This program will provide rent supplements and support services, as well as important research to really determine the reasons why veterans are homeless.

Canada's veterans have been there for our country. We have to be there for them and we will.

Grocery Industry

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as grocery prices continue to be sky high, 1,500 students, faculty, staff and alumni are relying on the campus food bank every week at the University of Alberta. The demand has quadrupled over the past two years. The Liberals are nicely asking CEOs to lower prices, and that obviously is not working. The Conservatives are fine with those CEOs getting richer while students and workers are forced to turn to food banks.

Why will the Liberals not tackle corporate greed so that students and workers can afford to eat, or does the government only believe that Canadians who vote for them deserve to eat?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we know that at a time when Canadians are struggling with affordability, food prices are too high. That is what we have heard right across this country. That is why our government called the five largest grocery chain CEOs to Ottawa and worked with them to create action plans, which they are implementing to lower and stabilize food prices for Canadians. This is important work, we are tracking their progress and we will have more to report soon.

Finance

[Alain Rayes, Independent, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every time we ask questions about the Governor General's indecent expenditures, government members act outraged and offer a half-hearted denunciation, but nothing is ever done to change the culture within that institution. The Governor General spends thousands of dollars in meals, alcohol, luxury hotels, travel and cleaning services. Let us consider the fact that, over the course of a single flight, she spent close to $1,000 in lime and lemon slices. I cannot make this stuff up.

I will ask the question again: Does the government intend to cut the Governor General's $33-million budget? Obviously, she does not seem to be able to manage taxpayer dollars responsibly.