Madam Speaker, It is an honour to rise in the House today to speak to this.
There is an ancient saying that has been with us, has withstood the test of time, and has been tested time and time again and found to be true. Leaders should follow this advice, and it is that we should all be quick to listen and slow to speak. Oftentimes, it would seem in this House we maybe put the reverse in action and are maybe quick to speak and slow to listen, but Canadians are speaking. They are speaking loudly and clearly. I think they are all wondering whether we are listening.
It seems that right now the direction the current government is taking is out of touch with the needs of ordinary Canadians, who are frustrated, growing ever more anxious and wondering how they are going to make ends meet. As time keeps marching on, the bills keep rising, their taxes keep rising, the cost of living keeps soaring, interest rates are rising and inflationary pressures are abounding, Canadians are wondering whether those who represent them are listening to their cries and hearing what they are saying.
I rise today to say that here on this side of the House we are hearing what they are saying and we are going to take action. That is why we proposed this bill to axe the carbon tax and make life more affordable for everyday Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Too many Canadians are feeling absolutely disconnected from those who represent them. The current government is tremendous in the art of virtue signalling and verbosity, and is excellent at throwing out grandiose phrases about how it is going to turn back the tides and heal the planet, and that somehow if we tax it enough it will go away. However, when we get beyond the “tax solves all things” approach, we get down to the realities of where most Canadians are living, and that is how they keep the heat on, how they fill up their cars and how they keep groceries in the cupboard. Seniors are thinking they cannot take any more pressure on their bottom line when their income is fixed and their costs keep soaring. The question many Canadians have is whether the government hears them and whether it will respond.
The government has a tremendous opportunity to take that classic absolutely amazing first step by supporting this bill and saying, because of the duress Canadians are under, the pressure they are feeling and the overwhelming soaring costs they are facing, it is time to axe the carbon tax and put an arrest on it so Canadians can start heating their homes without feeling that undue pressure they are feeling at this time.
The Liberal government's plan to triple the carbon tax is not an environment plan; it is a tax plan. It is designed to bail out a government that has overspent and lived beyond its means, yet the Liberals send out the grandiose phrase that they are going to stop hurricanes and cause all kinds of wonderful things to happen, if people only pay more taxes. It is not reality. It is, in fact, very expensive virtue signalling.
What Canadians need to know is who is listening to their practical needs in this time of economic crisis for their households. Grocery bills are going up, gas is going up and home heating is going up, yet we get up and talk about how we are going to increase the tax until we feel better on the inside about what is happening internationally.
I think Canadians want practical solutions. They want a government that responds to their needs, and right now they are in need. They need a government that responds to that need, and we are here to make sure their voices are heard and represented. That is why we brought forward this motion in response to their cry. The reality is that this plan to triple the carbon tax will only increase the cost of gas, groceries and home heating for citizens all across the nation.
Rural Canadians are disproportionately affected by these taxes. I represent an area that is filled with small towns. They are rural communities, where people have to drive to work. They have to drive to get their kids to sports. It is not a matter of luxury. They cannot jump on transit; there is no transit. They have to drive in order to live and function. There are producers and farmers in my area, whom I hear from, and their input costs are soaring. People are wondering why grocery bills are going up. It is not the farmers' faults. It is overtaxation and the burdens and cumbersome regulations that have bogged down the best of Canadian society.
I think what I hear from the farmers, producers and harvesters across the region is to let the farmers farm, let the producers produce, let the growers grow, let them get back to work, so they can do what they love to do, and to stop being on their backs.
If members hear what I am hearing, Canadians are saying that enough is enough. We can be responsible environmental stewards, which is a priority for this side of the House, and it can be done through technology and innovation, not taxation. We can do it by getting innovative. We even have proof from a neighbouring jurisdiction.
While we were virtue signalling and signing accords all over the place, our carbon emissions were going up. We ranked 57th out of 60 nations at tackling climate change emissions, yet the jurisdiction closest to us cut its greenhouse gas emissions while expanding its energy sector, which is amazing. How did that happen? It was transitioning from coal to natural gas and utilizing that. Canada has an abundance of that type of supply. We have nuclear innovations, all kinds of hydroelectric power and some amazing innovations. We can be a pro-environment and pro-sustainable planet and develop our resources out of the best environmental regulations and regimes on the planet. It is a good-news story.
Let us stand up for Canadian energy and Canadian resources. Instead of punishing those who produce our wealth, let us help them up. They are not looking for a handout, but for someone to say that the current government understands what they are doing. We can pull the country out of the economic malaise if we enable our private sector to do what it does best: innovate, produce and get to work.
We hear so much about this, and I would tell members that the carbon tax has got to be probably the most extremely expensive and ineffective virtue signal for environmentalism in the history of the planet. It has cost Canadians more and produced no results. We heard testimony at the natural resources committee from the environment commissioner of Canada who was asked if there is a metric that can tell us how much carbon has been taken out of Canada's environment as a result of the carbon tax, which has been in place for over a decade in some jurisdictions in this country, including British Columbia. The answer was that we have no such metric as of yet. Therefore, the landmark signature piece of environmental legislation from the current government does not even have a metric that can tell Canadians how much carbon has been reduced as a result of its implementation. If we were to ask them, I would say that Canadians, and those in my region in particular, would tell the government there is no evidence of its effectiveness, other than its diminishing effect on their pocketbooks, and would ask it to scrap the tax and get rid of it.
Our country has the fifth-largest supply of farmland and we continue to hinder farmers from doing what they do. We never give them credit for the carbon sequestration happening with respect to our agricultural lands. We do not give our energy producers credit for using innovation to make energy cleaner. We never talk about the amazing stuff that is happening in Saskatchewan with respect to carbon sequestration and carbon capture. We have an amazing story to tell, but instead the government brings out another tax and then says it is going to triple it. That is the last thing Canadians want to hear. It is not effective.
What would be effective is if the government responded to the cries of Canadians from coast to coast who are hurting and whose pocketbooks are dwindling by saying that it hears the opposition, that it is a good idea, and that it is honest enough to admit that this approach is not working so it will scrap the tax and give Canadians a break. That would be amazing news and a tremendous sign of unity in this House.
I fully expect that Canadians will be voting for us to axe the tax. It would be an amazing accomplishment for all Canadians. I am sure they would cheer it. It would have a great effect.
I would ask members to reflect on this expression. I have to wind down and conclude. Pardon me for getting excited, but this is an area of passion. There is an old saying in leadership circles that goes, “Many are those who curse the wind, but real leaders adjust the sails.” We have been cursing the winds, the changes in climate and all of the stuff that is happening, and somehow we have convinced ourselves that if we tax it it will go away. I would say, rather than cursing and taxing the wind, how about we adjust the sails and say we should adapt. Let us help the world's environment by getting more Canadian-produced clean energy and food on the markets and help the planet become greener and cleaner. We will all do better. Join us in axing this tax.
