Debates of Nov. 9th, 2023

Grocery Industry

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is anti-scab legislation thanks to the NDP.

Now, Loblaws and Walmart have rejected the government's voluntary code of conduct on grocery pricing. That is 40% of the Canadian market, which means that the government's voluntary plan has failed.

Conservatives have never raised the issue of food price gouging, but Liberals have a choice, thanks to the NDP. Will they stand up against food price gouging that hurts so many Canadian families? Will they adopt the NDP bill to lower food prices now?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we did even more than that. For the first time in Canada's history, we called all the CEOs to come to Ottawa to tell them one thing. We expressed the frustration of 40 million Canadians, and we expect everyone to do their part, including signing the grocery code of conduct to help stabilize prices in Canada.

However, there is one thing that the members on the other side can do to help Canadians, which is to vote for Bill C-56 so we can reform competition and ensure that we have more competition in this country. Why will they not act?

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, the costly Bloc-Liberal coalition's plan for the environment is a tax plan, not a climate plan. That is why the Liberals' recent partnership with the Bloc Québécois is very bad news for all Canadians. The Bloc Québécois wants to radically increase the tax, and the Liberals are getting on board.

Even with that, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development says Canada will not meet the 2030 target, despite their repeated assertions over the past eight years.

Does anyone in this government have the honour and dignity to admit that this is a tax plan, not an environmental one?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour and dignity to stand behind the promises we made to Canadians in the last election.

We promised to continue putting a price on pollution. That is what we are doing. The Conservative Party made the same promise, but now it is reneging. We promised to institute a clean fuel standard. That is what we did. The Conservative Party made the same promise, but now it is reneging.

I do not see why Canadians should believe anything the Conservative Party says. It cannot be trusted on the environment, it cannot be trusted on the economy, and it cannot be trusted on affordability.

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

Mr. Speaker, please do not take this personally, but I am going to address the Minister of Environment directly.

The Minister of Environment spent his entire career defending the environment. Despite that, this is the minister who, just a few days ago, agreed to grant an exception to the Liberal carbon tax.

Would the minister who speaks of honour and dignity please stand up with honour and dignity and proudly say that he is happy about the carbon tax carve-out?

This is proof positive that it is a tax plan, not an environmental plan.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

All members know that all questions and answers must go through the Chair.

The hon. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased to reply to my hon. colleague, through you, that I am proud to be part of a government that not only believes in climate change, but that has been fighting to put measures in place for eight years. It is working. We have gone from a more than 12% increase in greenhouse gases to 8% below 2005 levels. I am certainly not thanking the Conservative Party, because it did not do anything for 10 years.

Our plan is working. We are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets. I agree with the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development that there is still work to be done. That is why Canadians must continue to support us so that we can make progress in the fight against climate change and not let the Conservatives take us back to the Stone Age.

Climate Change

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Liberal government's record on climate change is in. The opening sentence of the Environment Commissioner's report says it all: “The federal government is not on track to meet the 2030 target”.

It is now clear that the government's environment plan is a mishmash of regulations and taxes that are not working. It is clear not just to the commission; it was clear also to COP27, where Canada was ranked 58 out of 63 countries for climate change performance.

Change starts with acknowledging failure. Will the government?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find it quite ironic that the member campaigned for the leadership of his party on a carbon taxing platform. Now, all of a sudden, it does not work and he does not believe in it.

This morning, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was at the environment committee. He said that pollution pricing not only is working, but it is also responsible for up to 30% of emissions reduced in Canada since 2019.

The Conservatives do not want to talk about climate change, because they do not want to talk about the fact that they are buddying up with their friends in the big oil companies. God forbid that we would do anything to affect their profits.

We want to fight climate change, and we want to help Canadians in the process.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I campaigned on a revenue-negative carbon tax. The Liberal government's environmental plan is revenue-positive, with a mishmash of taxes and regulations that are dragging the Canadian economy down.

Emissions still have not risen to prepandemic highs. That is because the economy still has not recovered. Per capita GDP and productivity are lower this year than in 2017.

After eight years, will the Liberal government admit that its environmental plan is not working and that its economic plan is not working, with productivity and per capita GDP lower today than six years ago?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. I am surprised that not only do they not have a climate plan, but they do not even have an economic plan. Their only plan is to cut services, cut investments and cut programs in Canada.

I have a piece of good news: Today the OECD ranked Canada third in the world for foreign investment attraction. Our plan is working. We are creating prosperity. We are creating jobs, and we are building Canada in the 21st century.

Carbon Pricing

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, they can huff and they can puff, but their carbon tax house is falling down because it was built on two pillars that have completely collapsed. The first is that it is revenue-neutral, but the Prime Minister's own budget watchdog has said that Canadians pay far more in the tax than anything they hope to receive. The second is that it would allow the government to hit its own emissions targets, but the Liberal-appointed Environment Commissioner confirmed this week that the government has no hope of hitting its targets, even with the carbon tax.

After eight years of failure, will the Prime Minister put his ego aside and admit he has a tax plan, not an environment plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are getting there. We are 85% of the way to meeting—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. minister, from the top, please.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are getting there. We are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets.

Do members know what is worse than not even trying? It is not even being willing to admit that climate change exists. Last week, the Leader of the Opposition was asked in a scrum, right over there, whether he would meet the Paris targets. He was like a deer in front of headlights. He could not even answer the question. He would not even answer the question.

On this side of the House, we are doing everything we can to achieve our 2030 targets, as opposed to the Conservative Party that wants to bring us back to the Stone Age.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, his own government has admitted that it is not going to hit those targets. The Liberals are getting there? Does somebody have a participation trophy we could send across the way? Maybe they would get there faster if they stopped saying no to clean energy projects, like when they killed a tidal electricity project in Atlantic Canada that would have created zero-emissions power for Canadians, when they say no to nuclear or when they say no to carbon capture. There were 18 LNG terminals on the books when the Prime Minister took office. Zero have been completed.

Instead of cancelling clean energy projects, why do the Liberals not cancel their carbon tax?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, as is too frequently the case in the House, the member is just factually wrong.

At the end of the day, the previous Conservative government got almost nothing built, including zero LNG facilities, because it gutted the environmental assessment process. It paid no heed to environmental impacts and did not have a climate plan.

At the end of the day, we have put in place measures to ensure that we are going to see good projects go ahead, including offshore wind in Atlantic Canada, battery manufacturing plants in Bécancour, the Volkswagen electric vehicle plant, Air Products' hydrogen plant and a whole range of other things.

We have to have a climate plan if we want to have an economic plan. The Conservatives have neither.

Finance

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Bloc Québécois unveiled its expectations for the economic update on November 21. We presented seven responsible but urgent demands.

With winter approaching, we need an emergency homelessness fund. We need a $50‑million emergency fund for the media. We need the repayment deadline for the Canada emergency business account loans to be extended by a year while maintaining access to the forgivable portion.

The minister no doubt realizes that the key word is “emergency”. Will she include these urgent measures in the economic update?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that my colleague is so enthusiastic about the fall economic update.

I want to point out that Canada's economic fundamentals are strong, and we are delivering results for Canadians and Quebeckers. A million more Canadians and Quebeckers are employed than before the pandemic. The IMF predicts that we are going to have the best economy of the G7 in 2024. We will continue to build housing, we will continue to build an economy that works for everyone, and we will unveil our plan on November 21 when the Minister of Finance delivers her fall economic statement.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Before continuing, I would just like to encourage members to stay seated until I recognize them.

The hon. member for Joliette.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind members that being responsible in the current economic context does not mean austerity. It means investing wisely.

To address the housing crisis, the Bloc Québécois is proposing funding for more than 100,000 housing units that could be ready as of next July. To help seniors deal with inflation, we are calling on the government to increase the old age pension for all seniors aged 65 and over. To fight climate change, we are calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies in favour of a green shift. That is what it means to be responsible.

Will the government include our responsible proposals in its economic update?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that my hon. colleague is so excited about the upcoming fall economic statement, which will be presented shortly, on November 21.

We are making responsible, forward-looking investments, such as the investment in Bécancourt and investments in Air Products in Edmonton. We are making investments from coast to coast to coast, to build a green economy for the future, one that will put people to work from coast to coast to coast. We will have more information on our plan, on the debt and on our investments on November 21, with the fall economic statement.

Small Business

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the economic update, being responsible starts with helping 220,000 small and medium-sized business avoid bankruptcy. The deadline for repaying CEBA loans must be extended by a year while maintaining access to the forgivable portion. That is all our businesses want: a little flexibility.

I sincerely hope the Minister of Finance is listening right now. Forty SMEs in her own riding have told the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that they are on the verge of bankruptcy. What message will her economic update send to those 40 businesses in her riding? Will she help them or turn her back on them?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, I can reassure my colleagues that we are here for small businesses.

We have already given small businesses an extra year to access the forgivable part of the loan. They asked for more help, so we gave them more flexibility to refinance, more time to access loan forgiveness and a one-year extension of the repayment deadline.