Debates of June 21st, 2023

Housing

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The noise level is starting to go up; I understand this is like a year-end for students in a classroom, and everyone is excited, but I am going to ask everyone to just take a deep breath.

We will go to the Leader of the Opposition, and let us keep everything respectful.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Government Priorities

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says there is no room for savings in his sumptuous government spending, but I found some. For example, he gave CMHC $26 million in bonuses for making housing less affordable; he gave $181,000 for the Governor General's travel; $116 million to McKinsey, a company that supports him but actually helped cause the opioid crisis; $54 million for the ArriveCAN app; and $6,000 for one night in a hotel for the Prime Minister.

Does he not think we can pass on that spending and put the money back in Canadians' pockets?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservative leader continues to put forward is a program of cutting programs for Canadians. Whether it is billions of dollars for child care at $10 a day right across the country that he continues to campaign against, or whether it is investments in a climate action incentive that both puts a price on pollution and puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians that he would cancel, that is money in the pockets of families in his riding that he would he cancel.

Whether it is by moving forward on things like a grocery rebate or the doubling of the GST tax credit that has helped out 11 million Canadians and will continue to support seniors and young people, we will—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, here is a real plan to make housing affordable: Balance the budget to bring down inflation and interest rates on Canadians' mortgages; require that cities increase the number of permitted homes by 15% in order to get more infrastructure money and pay the money out once the houses are completed and the keys are in doors; require every federally funded transit station to have high-density housing all around it; and sell off 6,000 underutilized federal buildings to convert them into affordable housing and use the proceeds to reduce the deficit.

How is that for a plan?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, many of the elements in his supposed plan are things that we are already very much working on. The one place we disagree is his proposal to cut programs, to cut supports to low-income Canadians and to cut supports like the housing benefit that he not only voted against but delayed passage of in the House, when we were offering a $500 top-up to low-income Canadians. He has consistently stood against those kinds of supports and investments in Canadians, offering instead cuts and austerity at a time when Canadians need continued support.

On fiscal responsibility, we are still at the top of the class in the G7.

Climate Change

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the environmental motion that the Bloc Québécois got the House to adopt was about the forest fires.

The Prime Minister himself supported the motion, which recognizes that the federal government must do more to combat climate change. I would like to remind him how he voted before we talk about oil and gas. Right now, his government is assessing whether it will approve 16 Suncor projects to drill for oil off the coast of Newfoundland.

Does the Prime Minister agree that doing more to combat climate change also means saying no to these types of oil and gas projects?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is not like we are in the process of approving drilling in places like Anticosti Island. We are here to keep defending the fight against climate change, and we recognize that the world will still need oil and gas for a number of years.

Striking that balance has helped us reduce emissions for the first time in the Canadian government's history. We are on track to meet our Paris and Glasgow targets. We will continue to show leadership and responsibility by fostering green economic growth for—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we moved that motion so that Parliament could rise on a note of consensus and awareness.

We need to do more to ensure that the natural disasters we are experiencing do not become the norm. To do that, though, we need to make some tough decisions. Everyone knows that the main factor speeding up climate change is fossil fuels. However, the federal government is still allowing oil companies to look for new deposits to develop. We need to reduce production, but Ottawa is still thinking about increasing it.

Can the Prime Minister at least say that new oil and gas projects in Canada are a thing of the past?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the main thing is to reduce the emissions that are causing climate change. In that respect, we have demonstrated our ability as a government to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions for which Canada is responsible, and we continue to do so.

We know very well that the world still needs energy. That is why we are investing in hydrogen, nuclear, wind, solar and other projects that will enable us to create the net-zero energy the world will need.

In the meantime, we are still working to reduce our fossil fuel emissions.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, instead of cutting red tape so that Quebec can generate more green hydroelectricity, the Prime Minister, with the support of the Bloc, wants to impose a second carbon tax on Quebeckers, which will jack up the price of gas by 20¢ a litre. It will also make food more expensive, because farmers will have to pay more for the energy they need to produce it.

Instead of going after consumers in Quebec and across Canada, why not eliminate barriers so that Quebec can provide more green electricity?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the leader of the Conservative Party is demonstrating that he does not understand what is happening in Quebec. First of all, there has never been a federally imposed price on pollution in Quebec, because Quebec has its own approach to fighting emissions.

Second, in budget 2023, we proposed generous tax credits to encourage green energy generation in Quebec and across the country. This is the kind of thing that will make it easier for Quebeckers to have a thriving green economy in a net-zero world.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not only Quebeckers who will have to pay more. On July 1, the Prime Minister plans to hit Atlantic Canadians with a massive new tax hike at the pump. Happy Canada Day, everyone. The Prime Minister wants us to pay more.

Now, the Newfoundland Liberal premier has said that this will do nothing for the environment, but it will make his people go cold in the winter and hungry all year long. Why will the Prime Minister not axe the carbon tax and finally come up with a real environmental plan?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we put a price on pollution, and we are now seeing the emission reductions right across the country. Canada is reaching its targets both for 2030 and towards net zero. That is what we have done by putting a price on pollution.

However, at the same time we are putting a price on pollution right across the country, we are delivering more money back to Canadians in the jurisdictions where the federal backstop is in place. That is more money in the pockets of Atlantic Canadians starting this July as we fight climate change, which is having an impact, whether it is hurricanes or forest fires, that Atlantic Canadians hear of too strongly.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has not hit a single environmental target with his tax, and Canada ranks 58th out of 64 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index. His plan is not working; it is just costing more.

In fact, the premier of Newfoundland said that the Prime Minister's claim that we need to tax to save the environment is “completely illogical, it's a false dichotomy, it's a false dilemma, and it's as insulting to us as it is simplistic.” The unanimous opinion of Atlantic premiers is that this tax will hurt their people without helping the environment. Why will the Prime Minister not axe his plan to raise gas prices by 61¢ a litre?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while energy companies are making record profits right now across the country, Canadians need support, and that is why we are delivering a climate action incentive that delivers more money every three months to Canadians than the price on pollution costs them.

Everyone, except apparently the Conservatives, understands that building in price signals on things we do not want, like pollution, is one of the most efficient ways of reducing emissions and of incentivizing behaviour. That is why our emissions are going down, and we are hitting our targets.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he has not hit a single climate target since he brought this tax in. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, whom he appointed, in every province in Canada this tax will cost families more than they get back in these phony rebates. In fact, it will be over $2,000 for the average family per year. The plan is to raise the tax to 61¢ a litre.

Canadians cannot afford to eat, heat and house themselves. Why does he not axe the tax so we can bring home lower prices?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is desperate to demonstrate why not taking action and not fighting climate change is the best solution for Canadians. Canadians only have to look out the window at wildfires, atmospheric rivers and intense hurricanes such as Fiona to know that we have to continue to step up in the fight against climate change. What we have been able to do is not only return more money with a rebate, including $1,000 a year in the riding of Carleton for the average family of four, but also move forward on drawing in investments like Volkswagen, Rio Tinto, Stellantis and others that continue to invest in growing the economy of Canada—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.

Indigenous Affairs

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, a CBC report card on the government's progress in implementing the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls gave a failing grade. Only two of the 231 calls for justice have been fully implemented to date. This is unacceptable.

The Liberals must implement all the calls for justice now and put in place a red dress alert system to keep indigenous women, girls and diverse-gendered folks safe. Why is the Prime Minister not acting with urgency in the face of an ongoing genocide?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our hearts are with survivors and families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Addressing this ongoing violence requires living up to our goals as a country and all the calls for justice. We are taking a whole-of-government approach, including $125 million to implement the national action plan for MMIWG, the appointment of a special rep to consult on the creation of an indigenous and human rights ombudsperson, and $4 billion to support indigenous housing needs. We are also working to implement a red dress alert.

We agree that there is always more to do, but we are taking this seriously and working in partnership with indigenous peoples right across the country.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have had enough with the platitudes. We need action now. The Prime Minister acknowledged this as an ongoing genocide. The House unanimously recognized the violence against indigenous women, girls and diverse-gendered folks as a Canada-wide emergency. It has been almost four years since the national inquiry. Only two calls to justice have been addressed.

When will the Prime Minister implement the red dress alert and the remaining calls to justice? We are a target. Our lives are on the line. Our lives matter.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand how much more there is to do, but to dismiss $4 billion in housing investments for indigenous people as platitudes is not doing justice to the incredible indigenous leaders who are working across the country to deliver for their citizens, in partnership with the federal government. It dismisses the hard work indigenous leaders are doing to create more housing, more safe spaces, and more shelters, with $100 million to create 22 new indigenous shelters and transitional homes. Those are not platitudes.

We are working seriously, and we look forward to continuing to work with all members in the House on reconciliation.