Debates of Feb. 8th, 2023

Canada National Parks Act

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre is rising on a point of order.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have raised this several times in the House before, to refrain from using the words “our indigenous people”. We are not owned. We are independent individuals. We are human beings and we are not owned by anybody.

I would like to remind the member not to use the word “our”.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

That is not really a point of order but a good suggestion for all of us who speak in the House of Commons.

I will also remind the hon. member who is speaking.

The hon. member for Windsor—Tecumseh.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent point of order and well taken.

The Parks Canada process is the best path forward for one major reason. It prioritizes, from the very start, community consultation with our community and also with indigenous communities like Caldwell and Walpole Island, which have historic ties to Ojibway.

Consultation with first nations from the start on the design of the Ojibway national urban park is especially important, not only because Canada has a constitutional duty to consult with indigenous communities on the creation of national parks, but because Ojibway provides a genuine opportunity to strengthen our relationship with indigenous peoples and advance reconciliation.

Imagine an innovative made-in-Windsor model where indigenous communities and environmental groups co-design an Ojibway national urban park and share stewardship of an Ojibway national urban park. Imagine a process that allows other community groups to have a real voice in the design of an Ojibway national urban park. In the spirit of Black History Month, we want to hear from the Amherstburg Freedom Museum or the Essex County Black Historical Research Society, to connect Ojibway to the story of the Underground Railroad.

Again, I want to recognize my colleague, the MP for Windsor West, for being a passionate champion of Ojibway all these years. His contribution to this work cannot be overstated.

However, Bill C-248 bypasses community consultation, falls short of our duty to consult with first nations and creates a duplicate process that could jeopardize the progress and partnerships already developed by Parks Canada.

Here are some of the most significant concerns I have with Bill C-248—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Climate Change

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by taking a moment to express my heartbreak and condolences to the parents, the day care staff and the children, and to everyone who is impacted by the tragedy in Laval. It is hard to find words to express the depth of loss that these families are facing. We are grieving with them.

Every year, more people across Canada are forced to face the devastating reality of the climate crisis: increasingly severe hurricanes on the east coast, and forest fires, extreme flooding and heat domes on the west coast. We are in a climate emergency, and it is impacting everything that we hold dear. People have lost their homes and their jobs, and hundreds of Canadians have lost their lives.

It has been four years since the government declared a climate emergency, and yet it still refuses to take climate action at the scale or speed required. Why would the Liberal government say it believes there is a climate emergency but then refuse to treat it like an emergency? Why would it continue to hand out billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies? Why would it buy the Trans Mountain pipeline? Why would it approve Bay du Nord? Why is it openly planning to increase oil and gas production?

We are in a climate emergency. These are not the actions of a government responding to an emergency. These are the actions of a government that is captured by the oil and gas lobby.

This past year was the most profitable year ever for the five biggest oil companies. Take that in. Big oil and gas made more profit than they ever have before. While they rake in these record profits, profiting off the backs of Canadians who are struggling just to make ends meet, these companies are also announcing that they are scaling down their climate commitments, lowering their emission reduction targets and walking back their pledges to climate action.

Instead, they are upping their spending on new oil and gas. Just two weeks ago, Canadian oil and gas executives claimed they could not invest any more in clean energy and renewable projects, that they want to but there is no place to invest these billions in. If that is true, why would the federal government give them billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies? These companies are making more money than ever before, and they claim they want to spend it on climate action. Why would the government not require that they pay for their own pollution, regulate them, force them to reduce their emissions, and make big oil and gas put their exorbitant money where their mouth is?

Instead, the government decided to give the oil and gas sector billions more for carbon capture technology. Not only is carbon capture an unproven technology, which according to the IPCC, according to the world's top climate scientists, is one of the costliest and least effective options out there, but this $2.6-billion carbon capture tax credit is money that the government could have invested in renewable technology that is readily available, that is proven. The government could have excluded oil and gas companies from this handout. It could have forced these companies to pay for their own carbon capture projects.

Instead, the Liberals keep footing the bill for the oil and gas industry. What that actually means is that the Liberals are making Canadians foot the bill. Among the G20 countries, Canada has the worst track record when it comes to public financing of the oil and gas sector. These are choices about how we spend our public money. Profitable oil and gas companies should be paying to clean up their own pollution.

If the Liberals truly believe that we are in a climate emergency, they could implement a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies. Other countries have done it. We could use that money to invest in climate solutions, in making life more affordable for Canadians, in making communities more climate-resilient.

Why is the government so focused on protecting the profits of big oil and gas instead of protecting Canadians and our communities from the climate crisis?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we know two things. We know that energy profits are at record levels, and we know that emissions have to come down.

We are investing $9.1 billion in an emissions reduction plan. We have put our money on the table. Oil and gas companies have to come to the plate. They have to put their shoulder to the wheel. They have to work with us to get those emissions down and to realize the ambitious targets we have set for our emissions reduction plan.

Our government understands that Canada is facing an increasing number of extreme events, such as floods, hurricanes and forest fires.

Our climate is changing and it is necessary to take strong action now to make our future greener. Now, more than ever, climate action is an economic necessity. The reality is that this government is taking meaningful actions to fight pollution and promote cleaner air for everyone.

I know the member for Victoria also believes in the importance of fighting climate change and I hope that she supports our efforts.

For example, we established a national minimum price on carbon pollution across Canada in 2019. Not only is it no longer free to pollute, it is more and more expensive to do so. Our approach is working.

We are encouraging industries to become more efficient and use cleaner technologies. In doing so, we are encouraging the development of innovative new approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using energy more efficiently.

That being said, we also know that we need to work with the industry on decarbonization measures.

Our government is also committed to phasing out or rationalizing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that give fossil fuels an unfair advantage over clean air solutions. We have accelerated the previous timeline for doing so from 2025 to this year.

In budget 2022, the government committed to eliminating the flow-through share regime for fossil fuel activities. This will be done by no longer allowing expenditures related to oil, gas and coal exploration and development to be renounced to flow-through share investors for flow-through share agreements entered into after March 31, 2023.

That is less than two months away.

I am also proud of our government's work on carbon capture, utilization and storage, or CCUS. It is an important tool for reducing emissions in high-emitting sectors, especially if other pathways to reduce emissions are limited or even unavailable. It uses advanced technologies to capture carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion, industrial processes or directly from the air.

The captured carbon can then be stored deep underground or used to create new, innovative products.

In last year's budget, we announced a refundable investment tax credit for businesses that incur eligible expenses.

This tool will be available to CCUS projects to the extent that they permanently store captured CO2 through an eligible use. From 2022 through 2030, the investment tax credit rates will be set at 60% for investment in equipment to capture CO2 in direct air capture projects, 50% for investment in equipment to capture CO2 in all other CCUS projects, and 37.5% for investment in equipment for transportation, storage and use.

To encourage industry to act quickly to reduce emissions, these rates will be reduced by 50% starting in 2031.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her comments, but she did not answer the question.

All the strongly worded statements about the oil and gas industry needing to come to the plate will not make big oil and gas do the right thing.

It is hard to take any of these Liberal comments seriously when they have been in power for seven years and have increased fossil fuel subsidies year after year.

Oil and gas companies are making record profits while fuelling the climate crisis. The devastating impacts of the climate emergency are costing billions of dollars and communities are struggling. Fighting the climate crisis should not come at the expense of everyday Canadians who are paying record prices at the pump and struggling to make ends meet, all while oil and gas companies are making record profits. They should be paying what they owe. Will the government make them? Will the government implement a windfall profits tax on oil and gas?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our government is taking meaningful actions to fight pollution and make Canada's future greener.

Our government understands that climate action is now an economic necessity and Canadians can count on us to continue the work. For example, Canada is taking significant steps toward reducing our emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030, and reaching net zero by 2050.

Last fall at COP27 in Egypt, Canadian representatives also fought hard to prevent other countries from backing down on phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels and coal, which remain the largest sources of CO2 emissions. We are also on track to eliminate coal-fired power here in Canada by 2030.

In the months ahead, as we prepare for the 2023 budget, Canadians can count on this government to continue to work hard to build an economy that works for everyone, to create good jobs and to make life more affordable.

Health

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, just before the holidays, I pressed the Prime Minister to follow through on a critical election promise, which was to fund a new $4.5-billion mental health transfer to the provinces and territories with the Canada mental health transfer. At the time I was pushing for it to be in budget 2023.

That echoed the call of 65 organizations across the country that were similarly calling for the acceleration of the implementation of this transfer and for it to be in budget 2023. They included the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres, the Canadian Psychological Association, the Canadian Federation of Students, the Alzheimer Society and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The list goes on and on, so I appreciate the chance to come back to this question because at the time the question was not answered and I have not had clarification since.

I have two points I would like to leave with the parliamentary secretary for her to comment on.

First, mental health is health. It deserves dedicated funding. Mental illnesses and substance use disorders will affect one in three people in their lifetime. We know that the pandemic has only made this worse. Of these folks, one in three cannot get the care that they need. That adds up to almost 4,000 people in my community waiting for mental health and addictions care.

I have had the chance to speak with some of these folks myself. Last summer, I was speaking with a mom on her doorstep while she was in tears, describing her teenaged daughter and the mental health challenges she was facing. I spoke with a nurse this past summer who told me about the number of people that she is seeing at Grand River Hospital's emergency department who should have seen a psychiatrist or a mental health professional months before.

That is why dedicated funding for mental health is so important. It would also, of course, take pressure off of other areas in our health care system. It would take pressure off of emergency departments, doctors, social services and the millions of people who are suffering. It is, of course, why the 65 organizations I mentioned earlier are pushing for this promise to be followed through on.

My second point is that election promises matter. The Liberal 2021 campaign platform indicates a comprehensive plan for mental health care across Canada. The plan goes on to say that they would, “Commit to permanent, ongoing funding for mental health services under the Canada Mental Health Transfer”.

Call me a radical, but I believe it is important that political parties and their leaders follow through on the promises they make. I think it is important for our democracy that this is the case and for our Parliament to keep them accountable to it.

I expect the parliamentary secretary will make mention of an important announcement made just yesterday in health care. I have read the announcement multiple times but, as I parse through it, there is no mention of the mental health transfer specifically and nothing about dedicated funds for mental health.

My question for the parliamentary secretary tonight is this: Can she make it clear whether the governing party continues to be committed to the Canada mental health transfer, and whether the $4.5 billion will be included in budget 2023?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague said, there is no health without mental health. That is why access to mental health and substance use supports, including at the community level, is a fundamental piece of work that we want to undertake with the provinces and territories.

I think we all know our health system is facing major challenges, made worse by the pandemic. As we work with the provinces to fix it, we have to make sure that mental health and substance use care is integrated transparently as an integral and equal part of our universal health care system.

I believe the proposal we put forward to the premiers yesterday provides both the resources and the mechanism to get us there.

We are keeping our commitment to transfer billions of dollars to the provinces and territories in the coming years to support mental health, but we are doing so by increasing the Canada health transfer, which includes mental health, and by providing $25 billion over 10 years under long-term integrated bilateral agreements.

At the working meeting with the provincial premiers, the federal government announced that it will increase health funding to the provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over 10 years, including $46.2 billion in new funding.

This funding includes an immediate, unconditional $2 billion Canada health transfer top-up to address immediate pressures on the health care system. A 5% CHT guarantee for the next five years will be provided through annual top-up payments as required. This measure is projected to provide an additional $17.3 billion over 10 years in new support.

The last top-up payment will be rolled into the CHT base at the end of the five years to ensure a permanent funding increase, providing certainty and sustainability to provinces and territories. With this guarantee, the CHT is projected to grow by 33% over the next five years, and 61% over the next 10 years.

We are also providing $25 billion over 10 years to advance shared health priorities through tailored bilateral agreements that will support the needs of people in each province and territory in four areas of shared priority: family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and a modernized health system.

We believe these bilateral agreements are the most effective way to incorporate shared priorities into this funding, to reflect the unique needs of each province and territory, and to support mental health as part of an integrated patient-centred approach. The goal of this collaborative work and these bilateral agreements is to provide Canadians with a multidisciplinary system of care.

This approach integrates mental health into all the shared priorities, from improving access to mental health through primary care, to improving data and sharing information on health between the professionals that are consulted, or the approach to address the labour shortage in the health and mental health care sectors and to provide better mental health support to prevent burnout.

These are results that will improve access to the supports Canadians need when they need it.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there is a really important question for the parliamentary secretary to clarify in response. I would agree with her the announcement made yesterday is an important one for health care, but it is not what was committed in the 2021 election campaign. Specifically, what I would like to understand better is that there was a promise and a commitment for dedicated mental health funds. It was to be called the Canada mental health transfer. Yesterday, as the parliamentary secretary shared, new dollars have been set aside for health care, which is good, but we need dedicated funds for mental health, as the governing party promised and ran an entire election campaign on, which they won. My question remains this. Is the governing party still committed to the mental health transfer, and if so, will it be in budget 2023?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the significant increases to the Canada health transfer will give the provinces and territories essential resources to support health care, including mental health care. The additional $25 billion for tailor-made agreements with provinces and territories will also help expand the delivery of timely, high quality, integrated and accessible mental health and substance use services in Canada. Through the proposed bilateral agreement, we will be working to integrate mental health and substance use care priorities as a full and equal part of our universal health care system.

This will ensure transparency and accountability by the provinces and territories in access to mental health and substance abuse services. We will build on the $5 billion over five years that we have been providing for mental health and substance abuse support since 2017, which currently provides $600 million annually to the provinces and territories until 2027.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, Inuit elders have the right to access home care in their home communities. Elders in Nunavut have had to endure many atrocities in their lifetimes, including residential schools, forced religious conversion and the slaughter of their sled dogs. Being forced to leave their families to get care is unacceptable.

Most Canadian seniors who need care can get it close to their homes. With the lack of investments within my territory, Inuit elders are forced to move thousands of kilometres south to access care. There are no facilities in my territory for persons who have advanced dementia. Enough is enough. Real investments must be made into Nunavut's health care.

Many elders fear dying alone in a place that is not their home and without their families. Many facilities, like the ones found in Ottawa, might not have staff who speak Inuktitut. This limits the quality of care that can be offered.

This separation of culture and the family impacts elders' mental and physical health. The lack of infrastructure funding investments in health care and trained health care workers perpetuates reliance on southern health care. Nunavut has the fewest hospital beds per capita of any province or territory, with one for every 1,100 residents compared to a national average of one per 409 from a 2022 report.

The first nations and Inuit home and community care program is coming to the end of its 10-year anniversary. The government needs to examine the program and make real changes to offer better care.

Will the government stop funding elders to be exiled to the south in budget 2023?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Nunavut for raising this very important issue. I would like to acknowledge, first of all, that I am speaking from the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people.

We understand that historic wrongs have harmed Inuit elders. We are working extremely hard to build a new type of relationship with all indigenous peoples across this great nation, one that is built on recognition of rights, respect and partnership.

The Government of Nunavut holds jurisdiction over health care and this includes long-term and continuing care. The federal department, Indigenous Services Canada, works very closely with Nunavut officials to ensure that they have the resources to address the health care needs of Nunavut.

The government supported Nunavut in managing health care costs during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing $238 million in funding. This included funding to help the health care system as a whole and funding to directly support Inuit communities. Transitioning into the postpandemic period, this government is committed to continuing to provide health support to the Government of Nunavut and its people. For the year 2022-23, the federal government has allocated $47 million to health care funding for Nunavut.

The federal government also provides funding that directly helps elder Inuit through a program called first nations and Inuit home and community care. Indigenous Services Canada has a 10-year Nunavut wellness agreement in place with the Government of Nunavut that provides over $87 million to support home and community care services. This includes special enhancements funding that supported the response during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program was co-developed with Inuit and first nations partners. It provides services on reserve and is based in the community. It supports people with complex care requirements, inclusive of palliative and end-of-life care, and their caregivers. This allows them to stay in their homes and their communities for as long as possible. Through the program, first nations and Inuit people of all ages are provided essential health care services. This includes vulnerable seniors and those living with disabilities and acute or chronic illness.

On top of the home and community care program, officials in my department will be working with Nunavut partners to co-develop a distinctions-based indigenous long-term and continuing care framework to ensure that residents can receive services closer to home. This is part of an overall effort to improve health care for indigenous people by providing culturally relevant programs and by working to eliminate racism against indigenous people in the health care system. The goal is to ensure that health care is culturally safe and inclusive across the country.

The federal government also provides support for mental health programming and services in the north. For example, for 2021-22, we allocated $24.6 million toward mental health in Nunavut.

This government is responding to the health care needs of elder Inuit and other indigenous people in the north. We know that there are difficulties, and we want to avoid the need for elders to leave home to receive the care they need. We are working closely with indigenous and territorial partners to improve health care in the communities of Nunavut in order to better meet the needs of each and every community.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, investing in long-term and continuing care must be a priority. Health care is at a crisis point across the country. What seniors experienced during COVID-19 is what Inuit elders have been experiencing for years. Elders have the right to age in their communities and stay connected with their loved ones without fear of being sent away.

In every community that I have visited since I have been elected, I have been told by elders that their biggest fear is to be sent south, to be exiled from their communities. Forcing and exiling elders to southern communities shows that the government does not take reconciliation seriously. Nunavummiut deserve better.

Will the government commit to investing more in health care in the 2023 budget?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this issue is very serious.

No one likes to imagine an older member of their family having to travel a long distance for proper medical care. This government recognizes the problem, and we know of the stress and harm it inflicts on Inuit families and their communities, so we have been working hard to improve health care in Nunavut. We are constantly working with indigenous partners and territorial officials to design culturally relevant health care that will meet the needs of the community.

We have supported the health care needs of Nunavut, and the other territories, during the pandemic and postpandemic, and we will continue to support the territorial governments and the people of Nunavut, so that their health and well-being are a priority.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 8:22 p.m.)