Debates of Dec. 11th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, in a shocking turn of events, just last week, the Conservative Party held hostage the progress and investments that we continue to make in Canadians. When given the chance to support increasing the number of child care spaces in rural and underserved communities, what did the Conservatives do? They voted against.

What does this mean? This means not supporting new and much-needed child care spaces in rural and underserved communities. The Conservatives are just not worth the risk.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what the Liberals simply do not understand is that their plan is just not working. It is not just Conservatives saying it. The Chiefs of Ontario, representing 133 first nations, nearly a third of which are located in the Kenora district, are taking the government to court. They argue that the carbon tax leaves them worse off and breaches the principles of reconciliation. Therefore, why does the Prime Minister not finally show some common sense and axe his tax on farmers, families and first nations for good?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are always trying to cancel climate action, but last week the Grinch, or the leader of the Conservative Party, tried to cancel Christmas as well. Instead, he cancelled—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. As the hon. parliamentary secretary and all members know, we are not supposed to call members of Parliament mock names.

I would ask the hon. parliamentary secretary to rephrase the question, please.

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are always trying to cancel climate action, but last week. the leader of the Conservatives tried to cancel Christmas too. Instead, he just cancelled his credibility.

Last week, the Conservatives voted against the GST being taken off psychotherapy and counselling. Last week, the Conservatives voted against seniors getting their teeth fixed. When will he admit that his reckless plan is putting Canadians at risk?

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 133 chiefs from across Ontario are calling out the government's unjust carbon tax as driving up the cost of everything for first nations communities. In what is typically a festive time for many, indigenous families are wondering how they are going to pay the cost of food. The Prime Minister's quadrupling of the carbon tax is driving up the cost on farmers and truckers, which raises the cost of food.

Will the Prime Minister finally cancel his plan to quadruple the carbon tax on families, first nations and farmers forever?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, today I have heard a lot about rising costs. I just want to make sure Canadians watching appreciate that, when parliamentarians vote for 30 hours, and it costs about $70,000 an hour to keep this place running, it is costing Canadian taxpayers about $2 million. That is the first point.

Second, with respect to the point that was just made by the member opposite, if Conservatives were so concerned about the price of food, I would have thought they might have voted in favour of a school food program to keep food prices down for young Canadians in this country. Alas, they voted against it.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal-NDP government, quality of life has not improved for indigenous peoples. Now, 133 first nations in Ontario are taking the government to court over the carbon tax, stating that the climate cannot be helped at the expense of communities. The Prime Minister is making life harder for everyone by raising the cost of food through his carbon tax, so Conservatives will delay the Prime Minister's vacation until he removes it.

Will the Prime Minister finally cancel his carbon tax, so indigenous families can share a meal with friends and family on Christmas?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives had wanted to make life easier for first nations people, they would not have voted against so many measures that first nations leaders need and are essential to running good communities, things like education, emergency management, water infrastructure and the building of homes.

These are the kinds of things that Conservatives voted against last week. They have never been there for indigenous people, and they continue to vote against them.

Climate Change

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, COP will come to a close tomorrow, ending in failure, with a final declaration that obfuscates the importance of eliminating fossil fuels.

Canada blames the OPEC countries. However, the Liberals just announced a plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions for oil companies, but that does not apply until 2030. There is nothing until 2030, and if we have not cut emissions by 60% by then, global warming will have shattered the Paris Agreement targets.

Do the Liberals realize that their record at COP is no better than that of the oil monarchies?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is at COP28 to show that we are committed to advancing the low-carbon economy.

We are working on a plan to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector and ensure that this sector makes a significant contribution to meeting Canada's climate targets.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the COP review, and the year-end review as well.

When Quebeckers look back on their year, they will think about the forest fires that turned Quebec's skies into a science-fiction set. They will think of the torrential rains that cancelled vacations, ruined harvests and caused rivers to burst their banks.

Quebeckers will not be thinking about COP, but they will be thinking seriously about climate change. At the end of the day, that is how the success or failure of governments is measured at COPs.

Do the Liberals realize that they are once again ending the year on a failure?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to, once again, say that Canada was the first nation ever to put a cap on oil and gas emissions at COP28.

That comes in the exact same week as Canada was the first country ever to suggest that we were going to reduce our methane oil and gas emissions by 75%. That is leadership in climate action.

I welcome the questions from the Bloc and the NDP about how we fight climate change, because the questions from the Conservatives are so consistently about whether or not we fight climate change.

The answer is yes. We rise to the challenge and we are climate action leaders here in Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about Canada's leadership in the global environmental arena.

As we all know, COP28 is happening right now. I am participating virtually, which means that I regularly attend the discussions, but with zero emissions and zero cost. Let us not forget that last year, at COP27, a document was published on the effectiveness of countries in terms of climate change. Canada ranked 58th.

Would the minister please stand up and tell us where Canada stands one year later?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change has done a tremendous job. He has already given very good answers to the many questions posed by the opposition.

However, there is one thing that I do not understand. The last battle on the Plains of Abraham took place in 1759, but during the votes last week, we saw that the Conservatives want to wage another battle on those plains. They voted against renovating infrastructure at the Plains of Abraham and making it safer. We know that there are very few Conservatives in the Magdalen Islands and that they are not welcome there.

Will the Conservatives be a little embarrassed to visit the Plains of Abraham in the coming weeks?

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

Mr. Speaker, I can understand why the minister would be embarrassed, because Canada dropped from 58th place to 62nd in just one year. That is the result after one year under this Liberal government. What happened after eight years? The Liberals have spent the past eight years lecturing everyone and setting high targets that they are never able to meet. Canada has now fallen to 62nd place.

By the way, who was saying, in 2015, that “Canada is back”? The Prime Minister. Today, Canada is way, way back. That is the reality of their eight years in this cabinet.

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

Mr. Speaker, we take no lessons from the Conservatives.

Last week, they voted against the aerospace industry. They voted against tourism businesses. They voted against the Plains of Abraham. Imagine that, the Plains of Abraham. The member for Louis-Saint-Laurent should be ashamed to have voted against the Plains of Abraham.

Will he use his influence to bring his colleagues to their senses? On this side of the House, we will fight for Canadians.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal-NDP government, even a report from COP28 is showing that this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The climate change performance index ranked Canada 62nd out of 67 countries on climate change performance, despite the fact that Canada has one of the highest carbon taxes in the world.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that he does not have an environment plan and that he has a tax plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Conservative Party opposed to addressing affordability in this country and not only is it opposed to fighting climate change, it has a hard time keeping its statements straight.

In 2008, the Conservative Party platform stated, “We will work...to...implement a North America-wide cap and trade system for greenhouse gases.”

The 2021 platform, on which all of these members were elected, stated, “We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use pricing mechanisms.”

More recently, the member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, who asked a question here about carbon pricing, sat in Premier Campbell's caucus and voted in—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Guelph.

Housing

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, housing is too expensive everywhere. To solve the housing crisis, we need to get more homes built faster. One simply cannot get more homes built by cutting housing funding.

My question is for the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.

How will the housing measures included in the supplementary estimates, which the Conservative leader just voted to cut, help solve the housing crisis?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, we know from the course of our history that we have to make investments if we are going to solve the national housing crisis, but with the Conservative position to cut everything, Canadians are right to ask what it is they are going to cut. Thankfully, they put on a full display of a series of measures that they want to get rid of. This includes investments that were going to build thousands of affordable homes for Canadians. This includes investments that are going to build apartments at reasonable prices. This includes investments in indigenous housing initiatives, investments in transitional housing for women and children, and investments in homelessness supports for veterans.

If Conservatives cannot stand along with the vulnerable, they will stand with no one but themselves.

Public Services and Procurement

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Ethics Commissioner has launched an investigation into a second Liberal-appointed member at their billion-dollar green slush fund. Two Liberal appointees together have funnelled more than $600,000 to their own companies. It is clear the Prime Minister is not worth the cost to struggling Canadians. Though the NDP-Liberal government tried to silence the whistle-blower, the whistle-blower will be testifying at committee tonight.

Can the Prime Minister cut the drama so that we do not have to wait for this evening, and tell Canadians how many other Liberal insiders got rich?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us cut the drama. These Conservatives are so against climate change that they want to cut one of the institutions that funds clean technology in this country.

The moment we learned about the allegation, we launched an investigation. We took remedial action. The chair of the board has resigned. The CEO has resigned. We are going to get to the bottom of this, restore confidence, have governance and continue to fund clean tech in this country.