Debates of May 17th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the Conservative leader actually talking about climate, because the reality is that the biggest challenge our planet faces and the biggest challenge our economy faces is building a clean economy.

That is where the jobs are. That is where the jobs will be. We have invested $120 billion in our green industrial plan. It is creating jobs today. It will create jobs in the future. The Conservatives would wreck all of that.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the question was about carbon tax 2. We already know about carbon tax 1. The Prime Minister has put in place a 14¢-per-litre tax that will rise to 41¢ per litre. This raises gas, heat and grocery bills. Now the Liberals are sneaking in a second carbon tax called the “fuel standard”. It has no rebate whatsoever, but will apply in every province and territory across the country.

If the minister is so proud of her second tax, why will she not tell us exactly how much it will cost in higher diesel, gas and household costs per family?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader obviously does not understand that what every industrial economy needs is a plan to build the clean economy of the future. However, I will tell members who does understand that: an electrician named Jeff, whom I met in Mississauga in March. I was there to talk with him about the investments we were going to make in electrifying the Canadian economy. He knows that means, for him, jobs. He told me, “I have the skills to pay the bills.” Thanks to our plan, those skills will be put to work, and the Jeffs across the country will pay their bills.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what the minister wants is for Jeff to pay her bills. With a higher carbon tax, Jeff will have to pay more tax on his vehicle, more tax on his home heating and more tax on the food that the farmers and truckers, who are taxed by this scheme the Liberals are putting forward, bring to him. I have already said that the first carbon tax is 41¢ per litre and $1,500 net per family. Now the Liberals promise a second tax.

Therefore, I will ask the question again. How much will carbon tax 2 add in extra diesel, gas and household costs per family?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I want is for people like Jeff in Mississauga, people who have the skills, to be able to pay their bills today, tomorrow and 10 years from now. Jeff's wife, by the way, is an emergency room nurse, and our investments in health care are helping her pay the bills too. That means investing in a green industrial plan. Our focus is relentlessly on Canadians and jobs, and we have added 900,000 more jobs than we had before the pandemic.

The Environment

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Kanesatake and Oka and people living on the shores of Lac des Deux Montagnes are experiencing a major ecological crisis. Lac des Deux Montagnes, the water table and the soil are probably all contaminated.

These are indigenous lands, but they belong to the federal government. My colleague from Mirabel has been sounding the alarm since he was elected in 2021. Nothing has been done.

What is the government doing?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

This is a very serious and difficult issue. As my colleague said yesterday in response to the same question, she is working closely with indigenous leaders.

We know that we need to work with indigenous leaders to resolve this issue, which is very serious and critical.

Public Safety

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is an ecological crisis as well as a safety crisis.

The government is the only one that is unaware of the crime, the threats and the violence that prevented a legal solution. More than 2,000 indigenous people are living in fear, as are the non-indigenous people in the surrounding area.

After years of turning a blind eye to the situation, when will the government act with the resolve this situation warrants?

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

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with the leader of the Bloc Québécois that this is a serious situation. It is a serious and difficult situation in terms of the environment and safety.

I want to assure the House and all Canadians that my colleague, the minister responsible, and I are working closely with indigenous leaders to resolve the situation.

Housing

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is acting like the skyrocketing cost of rent is not a crisis, when it is one of the biggest challenges faced by Canadians right now. For example, in London, Ontario, we have an increase, for a two-bedroom apartment, of 23%. For a single mom, that means an increase of $394 a month. Over a year, that is almost $5,000.

How does the minister think a single mom will be able to afford that increase of $5,000 a year on her expenses?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a very important issue, and one way that single mother will be able to afford the cost of living more easily is through our investments in early learning and child care. Her fees across Canada have been reduced by 50% this year. So many moms across the country have told me that child care costs are like a second mortgage. We are bringing those costs down. That is real help for real people, and we are glad to be working with provinces and territories to deliver it.

Finance

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that does not address the problem of high rent. We need action clearly on that, and we need it now.

It is also clear that inflation is affecting more than just rent. It is also hitting families by increasing the cost of groceries. In April, grocery prices increased by 9%. That is a huge increase for families.

At the same time, CEOs are earning huge salaries and the big grocery stores are raking in massive profits.

When is this government finally going to fight inflation and tax these companies' excess profits?

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

Mr. Speaker, we agree with the NDP leader that we must help the less well off and do more to make sure that the wealthy pay their fair share. This is exactly what our government is doing.

We invested $2 billion in the one-time grocery rebate that is going to help 11 million Canadians by paying for their groceries, and we introduced a tax on certain luxury goods.

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

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has misled Canadians like Jeff for years. The latest time was when she gave false hope, saying she would show fiscal responsibility and balance the budget by 2028. It took her only 144 days after that statement until she did a massive flip-flop and proved her budget will never be balanced and will run massive deficits forever. It is these massive deficits that gave Canadians the highest inflation and bank interest rate hikes in a century. Even random Liberals like Mark Carney and John Manley agree with us.

When will the finance minister stop misleading Canadians, get off Jeff's back and stop her inflationary spending?

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

Mr. Speaker, Jeff is a real person, and he told me how glad he is that the government is investing in a green industrial policy and how glad his wife, Cheryl, is that we are investing in supporting our health care system.

We are making those essential investments while maintaining the strongest fiscal position in the G7. Our AAA rating has been reiterated, and we have the lowest deficit in the G7. That is compassion and responsibility at the same time.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the minister did not tell Jeff that the solution was to cancel Disney+. Because of her high-tax-and-spend government, Canadians like Jeff cannot even afford Disney+, and are skipping meals. She is going to give Canadians like Jeff higher gas, grocery and home heating bills with her second carbon tax.

Can she tell Jeff how much more it is going to cost him to heat his home and fill his tank?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind our hon. colleagues on the other side of the room that in their platform in 2021, the Conservative Party of Canada campaigned to put in place carbon pricing that would go up to $170 a tonne. That is exactly what our government is doing while investing in Canadians and building the economy of the future.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, before tabling the budget, the finance minister said that “by exercising fiscal restraint” and by not pouring fuel on the inflationary fire, the Liberals would ensure they could responsibly invest in Canadians. However, we need to pay attention to what the government does and not what it says, and what the government did was increase spending by $60 billion, or $4,300 for every family in Canada.

When will the government take its own advice and realize its spending is making life more unaffordable for Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, instead of believing partisan hacks reading their talking points, I think Canadians should listen to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

When the—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to interrupt the hon. Deputy Prime Minister. I am tired of getting too much noise from this side, so I am going to ask her to start from the top. I will also ask for the heckling to not happen.

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

Mr. Speaker, instead of listening to partisan hacks reciting their canned talking points, I think Canadians tend to trust the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

In testimony before the finance committee, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said, “When looking at G7 countries, Canada compares very favourably on net debt-to-GDP.” He also said that, having spoken—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The noise is starting to rise again. I do not want the hon. member for Simcoe North to end up at the end of the list, so I am going to ask everyone to stop. Members know that the process is to take whatever side is causing the problem, and we switch those members with the ones at the end. Then hopefully—

[An hon. member]

Mr. Speaker—