Debates of Dec. 11th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada]

Mr. Speaker, wildfires have ravaged our country. In the Northwest Territories, towns were almost burned down. We had to evacuate the capital city of the Northwest Territories. What did the Conservatives do? They voted against the measures that fight against climate change, and they voted against the measures to support Canadians in their time of need as well.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that answer throws the current Premier of the Northwest Territories completely under the bus. The Prime Minister unfairly gives a tax exemption to certain Canadians and not others. His environment minister has doubled down recently and said he is going to give that exemption to some, but not others. Liberal hot air will not keep Northwest Territories residents warm this Christmas.

Will the minister come to the Northwest Territories, sit across from families in Northwest Territories and tell them why the government will not exempt them from the carbon tax?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, climate change is having a devastating effect on northern communities, with the north warming at three times the rate of the south. We have seen some of the most devastating effects of climate change this last summer, with horrible wildfires all over Northwest Territories. Our government is focused on making ends meet for northerners, while at the same time battling climate change and making sure that northerners have what they need to live a good life.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Bloc-Liberal coalition is not worth the cost. The Premier of the Northwest Territories wants to know why the provinces that voted for the Liberal Party got a tax break while the Northwest Territories are having to pay the tax when the prices there, and I quote the premier, are just getting higher and higher. With rising prices, Canadian families will have to choose between heating and eating at Christmas.

When will the Prime Minister scrap his plan to drastically increase the carbon tax for farmers and families?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, if I were a Conservative member from Quebec, I would be embarrassed this morning. I would choose my words carefully. They voted against funding for the Mégantic bypass, against assistance for Quebec's dairy, egg and poultry producers, against funding for the Plains of Abraham and against assistance for the Magdalen Islands following the hurricane. They even insulted the people of the Magdalen Islands.

If I were a Conservative, I would be darned embarrassed.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Christmas will be here in a few days. Here is what I would be very embarrassed about if I were a member of this Liberal cabinet, or a Liberal. I would be embarrassed to know that one child's Christmas wish list asked for a gift card so that he could enjoy a good Christmas meal. That is embarrassing.

When will the Liberals finally understand that their plan is broken and that their insistence on quadrupling the carbon tax will only make things worse for all Canadians and Quebeckers?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, now we have heard everything. The Conservatives are trying every trick in the book to avoid talking about what they did last week. It is disgraceful. Canadians feel betrayed that the Conservatives voted against measures, against food banks, against offering shelter and services to women and against Ukraine.

Who gives them their instructions? Is their leader being influenced by Donald Trump in the United States?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, sometimes in politics there are simple files, so my question will be rather simple.

The federal government owes $460 million to Quebec for taking in asylum seekers, something that falls strictly under federal jurisdiction. Last Friday, the Minister of Immigration met with his counterpart from Quebec.

My question is simple: Did he reimburse Quebec?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, I met with my counterpart, Minister Fréchette, on Friday. We had some good conversations.

It is clear that there are some things where we do not see eye to eye with Quebec. For example, we would like Quebec to make more of an effort when it comes to welcoming and reuniting Quebec families. Nevertheless, the meeting generally went well.

Now, we will see. The finance ministers are meeting and they will have good conversations on the issues that concern them. I am very optimistic about all of this. We all care about migration and reasoned approaches to immigrant settlement.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, no need for three-month round tables; a 30-second conversation should be plenty. The minister has three things to say. The first is thank you. The second is, to whom should I make out the cheque? And the third is, where do I deposit the money?

When will he reimburse Quebec?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, we will continue the conversation, but Bloc Québécois members will not be the first to know.

Democratic Institutions

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are royally fed up with the monarchy. That is why the Quebec National Assembly unanimously passed a motion last Friday to request the elimination of the position of Lieutenant Governor. Every elected member of every political party wants to replace this role with a democratic institution.

Of course, there would be no such consensus in this House. We know that some Canadian MPs think night and day about their fealty to Charles III. As for us Quebeckers, our desire for democratic modernization is unanimous. Will the government listen to reason and finally eliminate the position of Lieutenant Governor of Quebec?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague fantasizes about the monarchy and reopening the Constitution.

On this side of the House, we prefer to tackle the challenges of our society like housing, the rising cost of living and, most importantly, Conservative cuts. They want to make cuts in areas where cutbacks would be totally unacceptable. They voted for cuts in areas that are incredibly important for Quebec and all Canadians. They should be ashamed.

Carbon Pricing

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after eight long years, more and more Canadians are realizing that the Prime Minister is simply not worth the cost. We can now add the Premier of the Northwest Territories to the growing list of people asking the NDP-Liberal government to listen to their concerns and axe the carbon tax.

As the Christmas season arrives, the Prime Minister's gift of giving has been replaced by a gift of taking from families, farmers and first nations. Will the Prime Minister finally cancel his plan to quadruple the carbon tax and stop his plan to ruin Christmas?

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

Mr. Speaker, when the Liberal government came to power, after 10 years of Harper and the member for Carleton, we were on track to see a 12% increase in carbon emissions by 2030.

Last week we released the update on the emissions reduction plan, and it was a dramatic turnaround. We will exceed the initial target of 30%, which we then raised to 40%. We will more than achieve the 2026 interim target, and we are on track to achieve the 40% target by 2030. I am very pleased to say that our climate plan is working. Where is the Conservative climate plan?

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this is from a minister whose government spent three-and-a-half times more responding to emergencies than supporting first nations communities to prevent these emergencies.

The NDP-Liberal government refuses to listen. The newly elected AFN chief now lends her voice to the growing list of people who want to axe the carbon tax, which increases the costs of gas, groceries and home heating for all Canadians.

Will the Prime Minister finally cancel his carbon tax, so families, farmers and first nations can afford a meal on Christmas Eve?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday evening and Friday, the Conservative Party of Canada explained exactly who they are and how much they support farmers. In fact, they voted against farmers. For example, there was $337 million for the supply management program; Conservatives voted against it. It is vitally important to the agricultural sector.

I can assure the dairy farmers, chicken farmers and egg farmers in this country that we support them and will continue to do so.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals actually wanted to support farmers, they would axe the carbon tax.

After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, a turkey in northern Alberta costs $82. Why would this be? Perhaps it is the carbon tax. I talked to a turkey farmer in northern Alberta, and he says he is struggling to pay the carbon tax. Regardless of how expensive the turkey is in the grocery store, he is having to pay the carbon tax; he is unable to make a living to put food on his own table.

Will the Prime Minister quit his “bah, humbug” approach this Christmas and take off the carbon tax for families, farmers and first nations, so Canadians can all enjoy a turkey for Christmas?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I hope that turkey farmer looked at what the Conservative Party of Canada did last Thursday and then Friday.

Conservatives continually vote against agriculture and farmers. We, on this side of the House, will make sure that we fully support agriculture. Conservatives voted against funding for on-farm climate action. On-farm climate action will help the environment.

We have supported farmers; we will continue to do so and take care of the climate in this country.

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, right here in Ottawa, the average rent for a one-bedroom has hit a record high of $2,100 a month. It is close to $3,000 in Vancouver and Toronto. It is unacceptable that the out-of-touch Liberals are delaying housing funding for another two years; people cannot afford rent now.

Then there are the Conservatives, who do not even believe in community housing and would rather give handouts to luxury condo developers. Will the Liberals stop delaying and get the money out the door now to build much-needed affordable housing?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her advocacy for additional investments in affordable housing and housing more broadly. I would remind my hon. colleague that, in fact, there are programs that exist today that are rolling dollars out the door to get more homes built. In fact, just a few weeks ago, we announced more than $4 billion worth of loans; this is going to result in more than 12,000 new apartments being constructed. In addition, we recapitalized our affordable housing fund to the tune of $1 billion in the fall economic statement, on top of the more than $300 million going to co-operative housing, which will be rolling out early in the new year. I am willing to work with all members of the House, including that member, to build more homes faster.

Foreign Affairs

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Kouta family are Palestinian Canadians from London who are currently stranded in Gaza. Ahmed Kouta is a nurse who has spent months caring for the wounded at one of Gaza's besieged hospitals. He is a hero, but he and his three brothers are being denied the right to exit Gaza, and the minister refuses to explain why. Without a ceasefire, there are strong reasons to worry that the Kouta family may be killed within days if Canada does not act now. Mahmoud Kouta asked, “Is there hope or am I waiting for my death?” When will Canada get the Kouta family out of Gaza?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for having done so much work last week, voting for 30 hours in support of the work that we are doing together.

Meanwhile, I completely understand how dire the situation in Gaza is. It is one of the worst places in the world to live right now. The Minister of Immigration and I are working actively to find a very compassionate approach when it comes to Canadians and their families, and we will get Canadians out of Gaza. I am in close contact with my Israeli and Egyptian counterparts to make sure that the Kouta family can come back to Canada.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our federal government has always shown support for Ukraine as it defends itself against the illegal and unprovoked attack by Russia. In fact, this House, and indeed this country, has always been unanimous and steadfast in its support; however, two weeks ago, Conservatives voted against the modernized Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, and just last Friday, they voted against $500 million in additional aid to Ukraine. Can the Minister of National Defence highlight the support that Canada has been providing to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's illegal invasion?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, the member for Davenport is right. Just last week, the Conservatives voted against funding for Canada's military operations, they voted against compensation improvements for CAF members and they voted against military aid for Ukraine under Operation Unifier. Under Operation Unifier, we are doing vital work, including training nearly 40,000 Ukrainian troops and supplying Ukrainian forces with the munitions and equipment they need.

We will stand up for our troops. We will stand with our allies and partners. We will stand up for Ukraine, even if the Conservatives cut and run. Hansard remembers.

Slava Ukraini.