Debates of May 17th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am talking.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Does the hon. member for Banff—Airdrie want to say something to me? No? Now keep it quiet or else you will suffer the consequences.

I will ask the hon. Deputy Prime Minister to please continue.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to share with the House that, further on in his testimony before the finance committee, the Parliamentary Budget Officer described a conversation he had had with an individual from the credit rating agency Moody's, who had said that Canada's deficit should make us “quite happy because by European standards that's very low.”

Canada's economy is strong, and our fiscal position is strong. No one should believe the Conservatives when they say otherwise.

The Economy

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it takes a hack to know a hack.

Last fall, the finance minister said that new spending needed to be matched with government savings. She said that the government needed to exercise restraint to not pour fuel on the fire. She also said that the debt-to-GDP ratio was the red line. That seems all pretty clear to me, except the government did not take the finance minister's advice.

Only one thing can be true. Either the finance minister is being overruled by the Prime Minister or another leadership contestant, or Canadians cannot take the promises she makes seriously. Which one is it?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to rise because I think it is important to add some context here.

We know the party opposite was in power for 10 years, and during that period of time, it was the worst growth record we had seen since R.B. Bennett. Do members know what is different—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am sorry, I am having a hard time hearing the answer because of the shouting. I am going to ask everyone, including the opposition leader, to keep it down. Maybe to lead by example would be a very good thing.

I will ask the hon. government House leader to please proceed, but not from the top.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell members what is different: 2.7 million people who were in poverty when the Conservatives were in power are not in poverty today. There are two million more jobs since that party was in power.

Yes, these times are difficult across the world right now, but we are leading, and we will continue to do so.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think it is a real shame that the government House leader will not let the Minister of Finance answer a very simple question. My colleague from Simcoe North asked a very simple question yesterday. It is very simple. Anyone who is carrying debt knows what the interest on that debt is, and how much it is costing them. Unfortunately, the Minister of Finance, the Deputy Prime Minister, did not have the answer.

I am offering the Deputy Prime Minister a chance to redeem herself. How much interest on the debt will Canadians have to pay every year?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives seem to believe that Canadians are devoid of intelligence. Canadians know that we have a strong economy.

I would like to quote another expert, the former parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page. He said that the 2023 budget has a credible fiscal strategy and that the government's fiscal anchor, the declining ratio, will be maintained.

We are not the ones saying—

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Deputy Prime Minister refuses to answer a very simple question. Every Canadian with a mortgage has to know how much interest they are paying on their debt.

Let us now consider how realistic her budget is, because it included $60 billion in new spending. That is a recipe for creating and fuelling inflation. However, just a few months ago, she said that we must not pour fuel on the fire of inflation.

Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with what she said last November, or, once again, does she not know the answer?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am obviously interested in my colleagues' financial arguments.

I find it astounding that they are blaming inflation on Canada's low- and middle-income taxpayers. The Canadian government is helping them, but blaming them for today's inflation is rather cruel.

I would ask my colleague to tell us what he would say to the 400 children in his riding who received the dental benefit in recent months. Does he believe we should take it away from them?

Democratic Institutions

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety has issued a new directive to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS, a directive that was so important that it had to be made public. It says, and I quote: “CSIS will seek, wherever possible...to ensure that parliamentarians are informed of threats...directed at them”.

What does that mean? Should the directive not be telling CSIS that it always has to inform parliamentarians of any threat?

What does “wherever possible” mean? Whose discretion is it up to? Are we talking about CSIS, the minister, or maybe my brother-in-law Luc? Who?

Quite frankly, this directive is causing more confusion and concern than it is providing reassurance. Will the minister explain it clearly?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's question because it is important that all MPs are aware of any threats that are made against any of us because a threat against one is a threat against us all.

We know that the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills was subjected to threats, and he was not aware of them. That is why the minister did give a directive to CSIS to ensure that all parliamentarians of the House are informed of any threats whatsoever.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have been calling for an independent commission of public inquiry for months. From threats against MPs to funding for the Trudeau Foundation, everything we are hearing justifies a serious inquiry. The government is telling us that it is taking action. How?

With these new directives, CSIS will seek, whenever possible, to ensure, in a timely manner, that parliamentarians are perhaps informed of any threats, if necessary. Wow. I feel so reassured.

Does the minister honestly believe that these directives are going to solve the problem of foreign interference?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that these directives are part of our government's ongoing efforts to counter foreign interference. We have said so publicly. The Prime Minister said so last week, and the Minister of Public Safety said it again this week. Threats or interference involving members or parliamentarians are completely unacceptable.

We have taken the necessary measures to ensure that the professional intelligence agencies take the matter in hand, work with members and resolve the situation appropriately.

Carbon Pricing

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives warned that the costly coalition’s carbon tax would make everything more expensive, and today, Canadians cannot afford the basics. They have to choose between heating, eating and housing. Glen from Athabasca says that his heating bill was double what it was last year, and a quarter of it was carbon tax.

The Liberal's April carbon tax hike has already added 14¢ a litre to gas and spiked inflation. After eight years, the truth is that the Liberals are out of touch and Canadians are out of money. Why will the costly coalition not axe the costly carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are in mid-May and already we are seeing record forest fires in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. I have talked to people in Calgary who say that they cannot breathe because of the forest fires in northern Alberta.

Our plan to fight climate change is working. We have reduced carbon pollution by 50 million tonnes. What is the answer of the Conservative Party? It is to make pollution free again, making climate change and forest fires worse. That is not how we will do it on this side of the House.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, of course the carbon tax has not reduced emissions, and 80% of Canadians pay more than they will ever get back. However, the Liberals did admit that their carbon tax is meant to make driving more expensive. They plan to triple those costs. What are they going to do? They are going to kick Canadians while they are down and add a second carbon tax. Together, those taxes will cost struggling Canadians 60¢ a litre more at the pumps.

Do the costly coalition partisan hacks even know or care how much more gas, groceries and home heating are going to cost struggling Canadians under their carbon tax? Do they really think Canadians can afford thousands more?

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

Mr. Speaker, allow me to read from the Conservative platform in the last election.

On page 79, in the section called “Low Carbon Fuel Standard”, it states, “We’ll finalize and improve the Clean Fuel Regulations to reduce carbon emissions from every litre of gasoline (and other liquid fuels) we burn, turning them into a true Low Carbon Fuel Standard.”

The difference between the Conservative Party and us is that they are all talk and we are all about action.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP carbon tax coalition is making life unaffordable for Canadians. What the Liberals do not understand is that there are very real and painful consequences when they hike the carbon tax. When they triple the carbon tax, the price of fuel per litre goes up 41¢, the cost of food goes up 34%, and the average a Canadian farm family pays in carbon taxes is $150,000 a year.

If that sounds bad, we have not seen anything yet. The Prime Minister is going to add a second carbon tax on Canadians, this time with no rebate. How much is this new carbon tax scam going to cost Canadians?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the member for Foothills surely knows, Albertans are getting back more than $1,000. That goes directly into the pockets of Alberta families.

I was in Edmonton and Calgary recently and met a great, young woman whose name is Kayla. She teaches people how to weld. She told me that we need a plan, an economic plan, for the green economy. She understands that is where her job is going to be and where the jobs of the apprentices she is training are going to be. Albertans get that. It is only the Conservatives who do not.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition is forcing Canadians to make a choice between food on the table or a roof over their head. The carbon tax punishes families, farmers and small businesses who are all struggling to make ends meet, and for what?

The Liberals have not met a single emissions target they have set. Instead of admitting their carbon tax scam is a failure, they are doubling down with a second carbon tax, this time with no rebates. How much are gas and groceries going to cost Canadian families when they implement their new carbon tax scam?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, our farmers are the first to be affected by climate change. They are heavily involved in the fight against climate change and in reducing emissions.

Our programs for helping them apply best practices and learn new technologies, and for investing in research and inovation, are oversubscribed. We are being flooded with applications. This demonstrates the level of interest.

We will continue working hard to reduce our emissions and fight climate change.