Debates of Nov. 7th, 2023

Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It is my duty to lay upon the table, pursuant to subsection 23(5) of the Auditor General Act, the fall 2023 reports of the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development.

Pursuant to Standing Order 32(5), these reports are deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

Status of Women

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, entitled “Let's Talk About it, Period: Achieving Menstrual Equity in Canada”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Public Accounts

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts: the 30th report entitled “Systemic Barriers—Correctional Service Canada” and the 31st report entitled “Chronic Homelessness”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to each of these two reports.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present our dissenting opinion.

After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, Canada has been plunged into a never-before-seen housing hell. Forty-eight per cent of Canadians have given up the hope of ever owning their own home, mortgages have doubled, rents have doubled and Canada is in a housing crisis.

To address this, Conservative members of the committee recommend the immediate implementation of Bill C-356, the building homes not bureaucracy act, which includes seven recommendations:

(a) establish a target for the completion of new homes in high-cost cities that increases 15% every year and ties federal infrastructure funding allocated to high-cost cities to that target;

(b) provide for the reallocation of $100 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund to municipalities that greatly exceed housing targets;

(c) require that federal transit funding provided to certain cities be held in trust until high-density residential housing is substantially occupied on available land around federally funded transit projects’ stations; and

(d) make it a condition for certain cities to receive federal infrastructure and transit funding that they not unduly restrict or delay the approval of building permits for housing.

It also amends the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act, the National Housing Act and the Excise Tax Act in order to

(a) eliminate executive bonuses unless housing targets are met and to reduce executive compensation if applications for funding for new housing construction are not treated within an average of 60 days; and

(b) provide a 100% GST rebate on new residential rental property for which the average rent payable is below market rate.

It would also require “the Minister of Public Works to table a report on the inventory of federal buildings and land, to identify land suitable for housing construction and to propose a plan to sell at least 15% of any federal buildings and all land that would be appropriate for housing construction”.

Science and Research

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Science and Research, entitled “The Role and Contribution of Citizen Scientists”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

Health

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise and present a petition on behalf of the constituents of Regina—Lewvan.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the notion that freedom of choice in health care is becoming increasingly curtailed and further threatened by the legislation and statutory regulations of the Government of Canada. They say it is a fundamental right for individuals to choose how to prevent illness or how to address illness or injury in their own bodies. They state that Canadians want the freedom to decide how they will prevent illness or how they will address illness or injury in their own bodies, and that Canadians are competent and able to make their own health decisions without state interference.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to guarantee the right of every Canadian to health freedom by enacting the charter of health freedom, drafted for the Natural Health Products Protection Association on September 4, 2008.

I have many constituents who are concerned with the changes to the natural health product regulations, and I present this on their behalf.

Rare Diseases

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise this morning to present, on behalf of petitioners, petition e-4414.

The petitioners state that one in 10 Canadians has a rare disease and faces immense challenges in getting the appropriate care to survive and get better, that one in 15 babies in Canada is born with a rare disease and that the Government of Canada announced an investment of up to $1.5 billion over three years as part of its national strategy.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to implement the national strategy for drugs for rare diseases, work with the provinces to ensure immediate access to rare disease medicine, extend the funding for rare disease medicine, ensure that CORD and the Regroupement québécois des maladies orphelines are key partners in discussions, and finally, build out the NSDRD to include centres of expertise.

Pakistan

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to stand in this place and once again present a petition. This one has particular relevance, as I have heard from a number of constituents on this issue, including some heartbreaking personal stories of individuals who have been caught up in the circumstances that are taking place in Pakistan.

The petitioners state that the people of Pakistan and Pakistani Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned about reports of political turmoil and uncertainty in that country, and that the restoration of democracy in Pakistan is in the best interests of Canada, Pakistan and the international community.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to use all reasonable avenues of diplomacy to influence the Government of Pakistan to respect fundamental elements of democracy, including free and fair elections, freedom of the press and judicial independence.

I have heard from a number of constituents on this issue. I have heard heartbreaking stories of people who have been persecuted for trying to do what is best for their own country. With those close connections and many Pakistani Canadians being impacted by this, it is an honour to table this petition in the House today.

Work Permits

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, in the petition I am tabling today, the petitioners note that in 2009, the immigration committee report on temporary foreign workers and non-status workers recommended that the government discontinue employer-specific work permits. They also note that in 2016, the HUMA committee report on the temporary foreign workers program found that “employer-specific work permits can place migrant workers in a vulnerable position with negative implications for their physical and mental well-being.” It recommended that immediate steps be taken to eliminate employer-specific work permits.

In 2019, Canada acknowledged that employer-specific work permits create a power imbalance that “favours the employer and can result in a migrant worker enduring situations of misconduct, abuse or other forms of employer retribution” when it implemented the open work permit for vulnerable workers, OWP-V, policy. Since then, numerous regulatory reforms attempting to improve the protection of temporary foreign workers, including the OWP-V policy, have failed to meaningfully counteract the high risk of abuse imposed on workers by employer-specific work permits.

The petitioners are calling for a just and equitable immigration system that provides full and permanent status to all workers coming to Canada, and regularization programs for those currently without status. In the interim, the petitioners are calling on the government to eliminate, without delay, the employer-specific work permit and adopt a work authorization regime that permits temporary foreign workers to freely change employers while in the country regardless of their occupation or national origin.

Climate Change

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present yet another petition on behalf of constituents calling to the attention of the government the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which indicates that Canada will continue to see, in addition to what we are already experiencing, increased flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures. The petitioners highlight that addressing the climate crisis requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and note that the oil and gas sector is the largest and fastest-growing source of emissions. The petitioners indicate that in 2021, the federal government committed to cap and cut emissions from the oil and gas sector to achieve net zero by 2050.

The petitioners are calling on the government to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.

Natural Health Products

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present three more petitions from citizens in the North Okanagan—Shuswap who are concerned about the NDP-Liberal government's overreach into their lives, especially when it comes to natural health products.

The petitioners call on the Minister of Health to work with the natural health products industry and adjust Health Canada's cost recovery rates to accurately reflect the size and scope of the industry, and to only implement changes once the self-care framework is adjusted, backlogs are cleared, operations run efficiently and there are policies and procedures in place to ensure that stable operations continue.

Carbon Pricing

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions to table today.

In the first petition, the petitioners draw the attention of the House to the Liberals' imposed carbon tax, saying it will continue to drive up the cost of home heating for Canadians. They say that in Canada, heating one's home in the winter is not a luxury; it is a necessity, and that after eight years of the Liberal government, Canadians now must decide whether to heat their home or put food on their table. The petitioners also say that never before in Canadian history have Canadians paid more in tax than under the Liberal government, and that inflation has caused massive increases to costs faced by non-profits and registered charities and is further compounded by the carbon tax.

The petitioners call on the House to cancel the tripling of the carbon tax on home heating, ensure no new taxes on Canadians and ensure that Canadians are put first: their family, their paycheques, their home and their future.

Freedom of Political Expression

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling is in support of Bill C-257. This is a private member's bill I have put forward that would add political belief and activity to prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The petitioners say that it is in the best interests of Canadian democracy to have a free public exchange of ideas, to protect the political speech of those with different points of view and to protect them from the possibility of discrimination or punishment for their perspectives.

The petitioners ask the House to support Bill C-257 and to defend the rights of Canadians to peacefully express their political opinions.

Children and Families

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the final petition I will table today raises concerns about the Liberal government involving itself in decisions that should be made by parents and provinces. They highlight the circumstances of the Prime Minister's attempt to interfere in New Brunswick politics in relation to policy 713.

The petitioners note that in the vast majority of cases, parents care about the well-being of their children and love them more than any state-run institution. They say the role of government is to support families and respect parents, not to dictate how they should make decisions.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to butt out and let parents raise their own children.

Seniors

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to table a petition on behalf of a constituent who has been a very strong advocate for seniors and people 55 and over who get exploited through fraudulent means such that their life savings are often taken away.

The petitioners are looking for more stringent rules to be put in place. In particular, they ask us to undertake a serious and comprehensive review of the current transit system for Canadian citizens' money in this country, with the aim of putting more stringent procedures, protocols and safeguards in place to protect seniors, in particular from losing their lifetime savings and wealth to manipulation and fraud.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Mrs. Carol Hughes]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Opposition Motion—Reducing Home Heating Costs

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

moved:

That, given that,

(i) 2023 saw a record fire season due to climate change, in which the area burned was double that of the historic record, and hundreds of thousands of Canadians were evacuated from their homes,

(ii) Canadians continue to struggle with dramatic increases to the cost of living while Canada’s biggest corporations, including oil and gas corporations, post record profits,

(iii) federal government programs aimed at supporting energy efficient retrofits such as heat pumps are hard to access, especially for low-income Canadians,

(iv) effective climate action must also address the very real affordability concerns of ordinary Canadians,

the House call on the government to:

(a) remove the GST from all forms of home heating;

(b) make eco-energy retrofits and heat pumps free and easy to access for low-income and middle-class Canadians, regardless of their initial home heating energy source; and

(c) finance these changes by putting in place a tax on the excess profits of big oil and gas corporations.

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my good friend, the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

Canadians right across this country are struggling with the cost of living, including food, housing and home heating. In every province and territory, Canadians also want to see action on climate change. It is the challenge of our time, an existential challenge that affects all of us, our kids and future generations.

It is not only that we can address these two urgent issues of affordability and the climate crisis at the same time, it is that we must address these emergencies at the same time. That is why New Democrats brought forward this motion today.

The motion would do three things. The first is that it would remove the GST from all forms of home heating. The GST, after all, is a Conservative tax that was brought in by a former Conservative government and is being applied to something that, as we have heard many times in this place, is an essential.

The Liberals surprised everyone with their nakedly political decision last week to give some people a break in some parts of Canada where Liberals seem to be facing tough polls. Unlike that decision, this motion would give a break to everyone in every province and territory, for all forms of home heating. This is a pretty simple policy proposal. It is one that the NDP has put forward again and again, going back to the time of the late Jack Layton.

The other thing this motion would do is make it easier for Canadians to choose clean forms of home heating that save them money on their heating bills, especially heat pumps, which, right now, are transforming the home heating of millions of people around the world. We have seen double-digit increases in the number of people using heat pumps to heat their homes; here in Canada, we have a lot of work to do.

The Liberals' current approach to helping Canadians install heat pumps or do eco-energy retrofits of their homes, particularly for low-income people but for all Canadians, including middle-class Canadians, is deeply flawed. Last week, they made changes for people mostly in Atlantic Canada who heat with home heating oil. These changes make it dramatically easier to afford these kinds of changes to improve their housing envelope, insulate their homes, add weather sealing and install heat pumps. Those are the changes we need right across this country for people in every province and on all forms of home heating.

Where are we when it comes to achieving the government's stated ambition on reducing climate pollution from home heating sources? We are far behind. Canada's commitment is that heat pumps must be used for more than 10% of home heating by 2030 in order to achieve what is in the emissions reduction plan. Right now, we are at 6%. By 2030, we need to get to that 10%, and that equates to about 560,000 heat pumps installed across the country. That is 70,000 heat pumps per year.

New Democrats had an Order Paper question, in which we asked the government how many heat pumps it has incentivized under its greener homes program since 2021, when it was brought in. We got the numbers back this past March. What was the number? It was not 70,000, but 438 heat pumps.

Granted, heat pumps are being installed for reasons other than the greener homes incentive program, but what this shows is that this commitment on heat pumps is being broken. It is like the promise for two billion trees to be planted; the environment commission just told us it is not going to meet its goal and has become a tree-counting program instead of a tree-planting program. Canada is far behind meeting its ambition and realizing the pace of change that we need if we are going to tackle this existential crisis.

The government's heat pump program is far too difficult for people to access. I want to tell the story of Perry, one of my neighbours in Smithers, B.C. Last June, his natural gas furnace was at the end of its life, and he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to put in a clean heat pump system that was going to run on clean B.C. electricity, save his household money and reduce climate pollution. He learned about the greener homes program and had an energy adviser do an audit of his house. He found an installer who was skilled and able to install a heat pump system. He went through all these steps, and it is not a simple procedure.

The installer installed the heat pump system. He looked through all the rules and specifications and put in two units. He submitted the paperwork to Natural Resources Canada, to the greener homes program. After months of waiting, he received the answer that although the outside unit that was installed was on the approved list of equipment, it was not approved if used with the inside unit that had been chosen. The inside unit was also on the list of approved equipment, but not in conjunction with the outside unit. One cannot make this stuff up.

There have been months of frustration and appeals to the program to use some common sense. He put in a heat pump that uses electricity and cuts his climate pollution down. This is the goal of the program, and he has done it; however, the program refused all his appeals and said he was not getting his $5,000 rebate. What happened then? The installer went back, tore out one of the units and put it another unit the installer felt was inferior, but now both were definitely on the list and should be approved. He resubmitted the paperwork. Another energy audit was done. After six months, he received an email from the program saying that his account had been closed.

It has been a year and a half, and Perry still has not received his $5,000 rebate. He has put so much time into fighting with the government program that, if he paid himself minimum wage, he would have over $5,000. This just points out how ridiculous the government's approach is to getting people these systems that are going to save them money. We are going to change that.

How are we going to pay for this program? How are we going to put heat pumps in low- and modest-income houses across the country? How are we going to help people on low incomes to afford insulation and weather sealing so they can drive down their bill and have a cost of living that is easier to afford? The answer is very simple.

We are calling for the imposition of a tax on the excess profits of the oil and gas companies, which are making obscene profits and are making money hand over fist during a climate emergency. These companies are fuelling the climate crisis and making life more unaffordable for Canadians in every province and territory.

This is hardly a radical idea. This is exactly what the Conservative government in the U.K. did during the pandemic. It imposed a 25% profits tax on the oil and gas industry in the U.K. They took those revenues and drove them into affordability measures for ordinary people. Not only that, but the tax was then increased to 35%. The time for this idea has come.

Last week we heard from the Parliamentary Budget Officer that if we were only, as a country, to extend the very modest excess profits tax the government has placed on banks and insurance companies of 15% to the oil and gas industry, it would generate $4 billion in revenue. That could go into such programs as the one we are putting forward today to get heat pumps into the homes of low-income Canadians and help them make their homes more energy-efficient, with a proper low-income energy efficiency program. That is going to go a long way.

These companies can afford it; right now the profits the oil and gas industry is making are eyewatering. I am going to provide some of the numbers. In 2022, Canadian Natural Resources had $11 billion in profits. For Suncor, it was $9 billion. I will add that Rich Kruger, the CEO, has said that the company is going to move away from climate ambition toward making even more money. Cenovus had $6.45 billion in profit in 2022. The total for Canadian oil and gas companies is $38.3 billion. This corporate profit-taking is driving inflation, making life less affordable and fuelling the climate crisis. It is time they paid for the solutions Canadians need.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, my question is on how the NDP sees the GST as something that is going to be applied for, let us say, such things as hydro versus gas versus propane. Is it going to be spread across all things that are classified as heating?

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, the answer is yes. It would be taken off all forms of home heating, including electricity. This would make a substantial difference. It would add up to at least what the government has done for people in Atlantic Canada and provide cost savings for people right across the country. That is the goal of this measure.

I would add that I hope the parliamentary secretary can help Perry from Smithers get his $5,000.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, it was difficult to see the way the Liberal-NDP government decided to separate Canadians, initially, in this program.

The member claims that the motion would provide equal benefit to all types of heating fuel. However, I question why he and his NDP colleagues continue to prop up the corrupt, divisive and unaccountable Liberal government time after time. They bring forward a motion like this, on a day like today, when they say they are an opposition party yet never oppose the government when it comes to things that really matter.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, I have enjoyed my time working with my Conservative colleague in this place.

We have put forward a motion today that would make life more affordable for Canadians right across the country and that would have a measurable impact in Canada's fight against climate change. I believe that all of us as opposition parties should be not only in opposition but also in proposition, that we should push for the ideas that make this country better, that help Canadians in their daily lives.

That is what we would be doing with the motion: taking the GST off all forms of home heating, making it easier to install heat pumps in homes across the country and putting an excess profits tax on the oil and gas industry at a time when it is making record profits.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have a question for my colleague.

In Quebec, we heat and light our homes with hydroelectric power, a clean and renewable energy. In your measures, how did you distinguish between the provinces that use less clean forms of energy and those, like Quebec, that use renewable, more environmentally friendly energies?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would ask the member to make sure she addresses her questions through the Chair and not directly to members.