Debates of June 20th, 2023

Housing

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Across the country, Canadians are having a hard time paying the rent or even just finding housing they can afford. We pledged not only to build more housing faster, but also to deal with renovictions through legislation.

Official Languages

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the modernized Official Languages Act has just been read the third time and passed in the Senate. I consider this a major step forward towards the substantive equality of both of our official languages. Could the minister tell us how this legislation will enable us to support official language minority communities, promote our two official languages, and better protect French across the country?

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

Mr. Speaker, here is some good news: The Senate has just confirmed that Bill C‑13 has received royal assent. I am extremely proud of the work we accomplished to modernize the Official Languages Act. This legislation will better equip us to slow the decline of French and more effectively protect our official language minority communities. It will also require the adoption of an immigration policy, strengthen the powers of the Commissioner of Official Languages, and provide official language minority communities with new tools to maintain their vitality.

Today is a good day for official languages.

Carbon Pricing

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current government, Canadian farmers are literally paying for the Liberals' carbon tax failures. Canadian farmers will pay $150,000 a year in carbon taxes alone, but the Liberals have not hit a single emissions target.

What is better than making farmers pay for one failed carbon tax? How about two? On July 1, the Liberals are introducing a second carbon tax that will increase the price of feed, fuel and fertilizer, which will also drive up the cost of food at the grocery store.

With more than eight million Canadians already relying on a food bank every single month, my question for the government is this. How many farmers are going to go bankrupt and how many Canadians are going to go hungry paying for another failed carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, my colleague is twisting information. He is talking about a typical 5,000-acre farm. The average farm in Canada is 809 acres. He is presuming that farmers will not make any effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they are always doing precisely that. They are the first to be affected by climate change. They are the first to want more information, to want to adopt good practices and acquire new technologies.

We are there to help them with a $1.5‑billion investment.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that the minister is not denying that Canadian farmers are being punished with two carbon taxes. In fact, they are facing the highest inflation rates in 40 years. Nowhere is that more acute than with the price of food, which is already up 10%.

However, rather than offering support for Canadians, the Liberals are doubling down with a second carbon tax. What will that do? We are seeing forecasts that food prices will go up another 34% over the next two years, adding another $5,000 to the annual food costs of Canadians.

Again, when the government introduces a second carbon tax, how many farmers will go broke and how many Canadians will go hungry?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, if the member from across would really like to talk about the clean fuel regulations, let us talk about that. It is kind of interesting, because Alberta itself has clean fuel regulations. What does that do? It actually incents cleaner fuels, but it also works to support emerging industries, like biofuels, which I think are quite popular in his part of the country as well.

What we are doing is not just regulations. There are incentives and supports to make sure we have an all-encompassing program. It is not only going to reduce emissions, but it is also going to create new industries and new renewable fuels, which are so important for our future.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is official Liberal policy to make energy more expensive.

It takes energy to manufacture fertilizer. It takes energy to ship fertilizer to the farmers. It takes energy to spread fertilizer. It takes energy to harvest crops. It takes energy to ship crops to processors. It takes energy to process crops into food. It takes energy to ship the food to stores.

Why does the Prime Minister not understand that higher energy prices lead to higher food prices, forcing Canadians to go hungry?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a clean technology program. We are talking about half a billion dollars' worth of investment in clean technology. One of the innovations that could be deployed across the country is the use of agricultural manure as a source of energy. There is tremendous potential in this area for our farmers.

We will continue to support them in that regard.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government does not have a plan for making food more affordable. The many carbon taxes and the fertilizer tariff have only increased the price of food from farm to table. In Canada, production costs keep increasing, and farmers have been completely abandoned by this government.

That was evident in the last budget. Less than 1% of the budget was allocated to agriculture. The Liberals are ignoring a real economic driver.

When will the government implement real measures to support farmers and make production more affordable?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think that my colleague should show a little more humility and look at the history of the last Conservative government, which cut hundreds of millions of dollars in risk management programs and hundreds of millions of dollars in research and innovation programs.

Our government is there, and we are investing. We increased funding for the sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership by half a billion dollars. We are investing $1.5 billion in clean technologies, new practices, and research and innovation to help the sector be more resilient.

Forestry Industry

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the forest fires are having a major impact on Quebec's forestry industry. It is too early to assess the losses, but it is already too late to guarantee that our producers will resume operations in time to save jobs. The Bloc Québécois has proposed solutions in partnership with the Association québécoise des entrepreneurs forestiers, which represents Quebec forestry companies.

There needs to be compensation for the loss of equipment, including the cost of deductibles. We need to have programs like the ones we used during the pandemic to cover fixed costs and provide a wage subsidy to keep workers employed. Will the government work with us to bring in these solutions?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the wildfires have had an impact right across the country, and are having an impact on residents but also on businesses in every part of the country. Through working with our provincial partners, the disaster financial assistance arrangements will be there to support those businesses and communities for eligible expenses. We also know that we have to invest in future resiliency in our provinces as well.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, the forestry producers are worried, as are the workers. The seasonal workers in the forestry sectors are all at a standstill with no prospect of returning to work. They are worried because all the hours they are losing today will not count toward the EI threshold at the end of the season. The government is being flexible in the short term, and we applaud that. Will the government extend the qualifying period to 104 weeks to prevent these missing hours from putting our workers in a precarious position in the fall?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague just said, we will all be there for all the provinces, including Quebec. We are of course working with workers' associations and with employers to ensure that the workers get the support they need during these difficult times. We are working with Service Canada to ensure that the workers have access to EI, and we will continue to do so.

Carbon Pricing

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, as summer starts, the Liberals are going to rain on everyone's Canada Day parade.

On July 1, Canadians will be be forced to pay a second carbon tax. Combined with the first carbon tax, gas prices will go up eventually to 61¢ per litre. It does not stop there. They are going to raise both of the carbon taxes so that every Saskatchewan household has to pay another $3,000 per year.

After eight years of the Liberal government, Canadians cannot afford another tax increase by the government. Will the Liberals listen to Canadians and cancel both of their failed carbon taxes before July 1?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, again, if the member opposite wants to talk about clean fuel regulations, let us do that. I thought the party opposite was really interested in technological solutions to climate change.

Let us talk about how clean fuel regulations help to drive clean technologies. That means better biofuels, developing through hydrogen, all of which support our economy of the future.

It is very important that we take this step. It is not just one thing in isolation. It is the fact that we have a clean fuel fund that helps to support people. We have an all-encompassing framework that covers all sectors of our economy so that we can plan for a strong economy in the future.

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Nova Scotia forestry industry employs thousands. This is a traditional way of life and a major employer for rural communities. Atlantic Canadians have been affected by the carbon tax more than any other region in the country, and now the Liberals are implementing a second carbon tax.

Farmers and fishers are exempt from the carbon tax but not foresters, and they demand equal treatment. Atlantic Canadian premiers have spoken out against the 61¢-a-litre carbon tax.

Why is the Liberal government hell-bent on punishing Atlantic Canadians and the foresters with a $33-billion industry?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is certainly important that parties around the House actually have a plan to address climate change, but we must do so in a manner that is affordable.

The price on pollution is done in a manner where eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back than they actually pay. It is an effective manner for addressing climate change.

One of the political parties in the House, in the platform that it ran on in 2021, says, “We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use pricing mechanisms.” That was the Conservative Party of Canada.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for the eight years this government has been in power, it has been touting that it is working to reduce greenhouse gases. Now, its solution is to introduce a second carbon tax. It is also saying that it will not affect Quebeckers. That is not the truth.

This second Liberal carbon tax will cost Quebeckers more than $430. This government must stop taxing Canadians and take concrete action to achieve environmental results. Will the Prime Minister cancel this second carbon tax, which takes effect on July 1?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to say that when we took stock of our greenhouse gas emissions, we saw that they were starting to decrease, which means that the work we are doing is reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, if we want to talk about clean fuel, that is something that is going to help the economy as well, so we are doing two things at once. There are regulations, but there is also financial support for people who produce clean fuels. This is very important for our economy of the future.

Air Transportation

[John Aldag, Liberal, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the last two years have put our transportation sector through a lot, from the COVID-19 pandemic to extreme weather to the Russian war on Ukraine.

As we head into another busy summer travel season, could the Minister of Transport provide us with an update on what our government is doing to support Canadians and build a strong federal transportation sector?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend is correct. The aviation sector around the world has experienced significant disruptions over the last couple of years, and Canadian workers and travellers have felt it here at home.

We promised Canadians to take action on lessons learned. So far, we have strengthened passenger protection rights. We are working to modernize CATSA, and today I had the honour of tabling Bill C-52, which would enhance service standards for airports and airlines, and enhance transparency.

This is great news for Canadians. I look forward to working with my colleagues on advancing this important legislation.

Carbon Pricing

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for eight years, the carbon tax has had an impact across the country, even in Quebec, despite what the minister and the Prime Minister are saying.

As if that were not enough, the government will be imposing a second carbon tax as of July 1. Quebec families will be paying an average of $436 a year for this new measure they really do not need.

Since we know that families are already stretched to the limit and struggling to get by, will this Prime Minister show some common sense and cancel this new tax?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I am so disappointed when I hear my Conservative colleagues from Quebec still talking about cancelling the carbon tax or pollution pricing, as they say. If there is one thing Quebeckers understand, especially those currently affected by the forest fires, it is the costs that climate change will generate across the province and the country. If there is one thing the Conservatives campaigned on in 2021, it is pollution pricing. So they are going back on their word as well.

On this side of the House, we are going to continue to fight climate change.