Debates of Feb. 7th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, his investments in pharmaceuticals? He gave $170 million to a pharmaceutical operation that is shutting down; that is a prime example.

After eight years of the Prime Minister wasting our money, inflation is at a 40-year high. Now home heating bills have doubled. Seniors wonder how they are going to keep the heat on because this tax is going to be tripled, tripled and tripled under the NDP-Liberal coalition.

Will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility for the misery he has put on household heating bills, and will he accept that we are going to keep the heat on to take the tax off?

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

Mr. Speaker, we invested to protect the health and safety of Canadians. Canadians watching today should just watch this guy again. Everyone in the country understood at the time that we needed to invest in all types of vaccines.

Today, we are in solution mode. We want to protect the jobs, manufacturing facility and IP of Medicago.

Canadians learned something from COVID. We have their backs. We will continue to invest in the Canadian economy.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that this government does not have their back; the government has its hands in their back pockets. That is what is happening.

There is $170 million dollars here for this wasted investment, $54 million for the ArriveCAN scam and, of course, $2 billion invested in a company that does not actually exist. Who is paying for it? Well, people are now seeing the bills on their home heating, which has doubled with higher gas prices and, of course, when our farmers and truckers are taxed with a carbon tax, they have to raise the price of the food that comes to our grocery stores.

Will the Liberals finally back down from this crazy carbon tax scheme? We are going to keep the heat on until they take the tax off.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot of hot air coming from the Leader of the Opposition, but we do not hear a lot of solutions.

On this side of the House, we are actually focused on making sure that Canadians have the support they need, whether that was at the height of the pandemic, when we made sure that Canadians could stay afloat, and guess what, that is what the Leader of the Opposition is against; whether it is now, when we are reducing child care fees by 50% across this country, and the Conservatives voted against funding child care; or whether it is the Canada child benefit, which is helping nine out of 10 Canadian families.

We are there for them. Conservatives are just not there for Canadians.

Official Languages

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is dividing Canada's people. His anti-Islamophobia advisor is an example of that. He set out to divide Quebeckers and Canadians by sanctioning Quebec bashing yet again. Another example is how he made his West Island MPs on the official languages committee attack the protection of the French language. He wants to drive a wedge between Quebeckers by spreading misinformation about the Charter of the French Language. Prime ministers should not divide their people.

Will his government reprimand its federal MPs who say things that are not true and tell them enough is enough?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois's raison d'être is to divide. That is its goal.

This bill would enable workers to work in French, yet the Bloc is voting against it. This bill would guarantee services in French, yet the Bloc is voting against it. This bill would do more for French both inside and outside Quebec, yet the Bloc is voting against it.

When it comes to defending the French language, the Bloc is speaking out of both sides of its mouth.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the dispute is not within the Bloc Québécois, it is within his caucus. He needs to wake up.

This morning, the Liberal member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell said, “The smoke show led by some of my colleagues is shameful. The Island of Montreal does not have a monopoly on linguistic policy in Canada. Disinformation has no place in this debate.” It was someone from his caucus who said that. He is right.

Why does it take someone from Ontario to say that? Why have none of the Liberals from Quebec spoken out against this? Where are the Prime Minister and his Quebec lieutenant when their colleagues are literally wiping their feet on the Charter of the French Language?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. Minister of Official Languages.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, we are the first government to acknowledge the decline of French across the country, including in Quebec. That is why the federal government is assuming its responsibilities. We introduced a bill to create more robust legislation that has teeth and to ensure that we can do what is needed to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec.

Our government wants to do its part and I hope the bill will pass as soon as possible.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, at today's health summit, Canadians need the Prime Minister to champion public health care and stand against private, for-profit delivery. Privatization is not innovation. It drains workers from our public system, costs more and allows queue jumping for the rich. It will make the crisis worse. Real innovation is better support for health professionals, shorter wait times in our hospitals and access to care based on need.

Will the Prime Minister assure Canadians that additional public dollars will go to public health care?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Mr. Speaker, our health system is experiencing significant challenges, and it is important that we work together to find the best solutions going forward. That is why, today, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health are sitting down with the premiers and the ministers of health from across this country.

Our government remains ready to work with provinces and territories to further discuss priorities, actions and results to improve the health services that Canadians rely on. That includes reducing backlogs and supporting our health care workers, enhancing access to family health services, improving mental health and substance use services, helping Canadians age with dignity closer to home, and using health data and digital health more effectively.

We will always be there to support our universal public health care system.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a word about standing up to privatization. I hope that the minister is going to be able to do better after today's talks.

When the Prime Minister was trying to win votes, he said he would do everything he could to defend our public health care system. Now he calls tactics like privatizing our health care “innovation”. Let me be clear. Privatization does not add workers to our public health care, it takes them away from the public system. We need investments to tackle the crisis and hire more health care workers.

Will the Prime Minister send a clear message today that federal health funding cannot be used to privatize our health care system?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps my colleague did not hear me when I said that we will always stand up for our fundamental public universal health care. I will say it again: We will always stand up for our public universal health care.

Our government remains ready to work with the provinces and territories to further discuss priorities, actions and results to improve health services for all Canadians. That includes reducing backlogs, supporting our health care workers, enhancing access to family health services, improving mental health and substance use services, and the list goes on.

Carbon Pricing

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians are suffering more than ever. His out-of-control spending fuelled a 40-year high in inflation. Rents have doubled. Home heating has doubled. Even food inflation has gone up. He pile-drove Canadians further by taking more off their paycheques and is going to take even more and cause even more suffering when he triple, triple, triples his failed carbon tax scam.

Will the Prime Minister show some humility and take the tax off so that Canadians can keep the heat on?

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

Mr. Speaker, Conservative politicians are making a lot of misleading claims about the price on pollution. The facts are that 70% of gas price increase is due to crude oil prices going up, largely because of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine. Another 25% of the price is the result of provincial taxes and refining margins—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. We started off fairly well and now it seems to be going not so well. I am just going to ask everyone to listen to the questions and listen to the responses, so that we can all hear together.

The hon. minister, from the top, please.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative politicians are making a lot of misleading claims about the price on pollution. The facts are that about 70% of gas price increase is due to crude oil prices going up, largely because of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, and another 25% of the price is the result of provincial taxes and refining margins that have gone up by 113% in the last two years.

That means that 95% of the gas price has nothing to do with the price on pollution. The price on pollution puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians and it remains one of the best ways to fight climate change.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, maybe they should start taxing the hot air coming out of the minister's mouth.

Canadians are watching the hypocrisy of the Liberal government taking more under its failed carbon tax scam while emissions go up because it has missed every climate change target it has set. Liberal inflation is driving up food prices and this failed carbon tax is contributing to one in five Canadians skipping meals.

Will the Liberals finally show some humility and take off the tax so that Canadians can keep the heat on, or do they think there is no business case for struggling Canadians to eat and heat their homes?

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

Mr. Speaker, according to British Columbia's auditor general, on 2021 disaster costs, the atmospheric rivers in British Columbia cost the province $5 billion in damages. That is more than the 19 previous years combined.

According to a study by MacEwan University, the total cost of the Fort McMurray forest fires is above $10 billion, with $4 billion of damage to homes and businesses and $1.7 billion in loss of production to oil sands.

Climate change is real, no matter what the—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Lethbridge.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister's carbon tax, Canadians continue to struggle. They continue to struggle to be able to heat their homes, to be able to feed their families, to be able to commute to work. After eight years, things are not looking better.

Recently, a 70-year-old woman came into my office with her heating bill in her hand and tears down her face because she cannot afford it. She has turned her thermostat down to 17°C. It is -36°C outside.

My question is very simple: Why will the government not show a little compassion and take the tax off so that Canadians can keep the heat on?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Minister of Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Speaker, we all know times are tough for Canadians, but I want to remind the House of the 105 homes in my riding that do not need to be heated anymore because they were destroyed by hurricane Fiona; 105 families no longer have a home. If anyone wants to talk about why we need to address climate change, come visit the southwest coast of Newfoundland.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is the answer of a government that is entirely out of touch with the needs of Canadians and the pain they are truly feeling in this country right now.

Another constituent of mine came in and joked that to get from A to B in Canada, B now stands for “broke”. What he was talking about was the need to be able just to get to work and the skyrocketing cost that has ensued there, as well as the need to feed the family and heat the home. These costs have gone up because of the Prime Minister's carbon tax.

Once again, when will the Prime Minister finally wake up to the reality that is out there, that Canadians are truly experiencing pain, and when will the Prime Minister decide to keep the heat on by taking the tax off?