Madam Speaker, first, I will be sharing my time with the super, dynamic, experienced, highly knowledgeable and learned member for Timmins—James Bay.
I am tired of constantly talking about the carbon tax. I have reached my limit. The Conservatives have circled back to this nonsense five times in one year. That is just for one year and I am tired of it.
It is Groundhog Day all over again. They keep at it again and again, with the same old Conservative pro-oil, pro-fossil fuel rhetoric that flies in the face of science, the IPCC, the United Nations and even things that are happening in the Conservatives' own ridings. At some point, this kind of wilful blindness and denialism becomes frightening. It means we are going to keep right on polluting and, because polluting should be free. We are setting a bad example to the world, when average Canadians are already among the world's worst polluters per capita. Based on Canada's per capita greenhouse gas emissions, we are the world's second leading polluter. Fortunately, Canada is not as big as China or the planet would already be screwed.
We have to make a considerable effort to protect our environment, our children, future generations and to create good jobs for the future and sustainable jobs with sustainable energy. The Conservatives are living 50 or 60 years in the past, when we thought there would be no consequences to polluting so much and emitting so much carbon in the atmosphere, but now we know.
We not only know, but it has been proven and we are seeing it. The impact of climate change, climate disturbances and climate chaos can already been seen here at home and around the world. It is happening faster than predicted, more dramatically than predicted. Every three months, scientists tell us that they thought this was coming, but that it is going to be more serious more quickly and everywhere. No one will be spared.
We saw that this summer with forest fires like we have never seen in Quebec and in Canada. Here in Ottawa and Montreal, it smelled like smoke. There was smoke everywhere. Then there were the people in British Columbia and in Abitibi and on the North Shore who were forced to evacuate because they were risking their lives. Their homes could catch fire. That is where we are.
Because of climate change, some places are not getting enough rain, while others are getting far too much. The temperature is rising. There are more, bigger and more dangerous fires and wildfires. Other areas are being affected by flooding. I think it was in 2022 in Pakistan. At one point, a third of the country was under water. Millions of people were displaced to save their lives. We saw it again this summer in many places, such as Greece, Italy and just recently Libya. It rained so heavily in such a short period that a dam broke. Part of the city of Derna was completely devastated. Thousands of people were killed, and that sort of thing is going to start happening more and more often.
If we listen to the Conservatives, we will hit a brick wall and keep pressing on the gas. Their plan is to do nothing. There are small measures that might help a little, like the carbon tax. The carbon tax is not a panacea. I am not saying that it will solve the problem, but they do not even want to do that. They are so out of touch with reality that they are ideologically blocked and unable to look anywhere else. They are wearing blinders.
There are parts of the planet, entire areas, that are going to become uninhabitable. If the average temperature rises to 35°C and the humidity is greater than 90%, the human body cannot cool itself down.
This causes extreme heatstroke leading to death, as the organs cannot survive. This will happen with greater frequency around the equator, whether in North Africa, Asia or Central America. Global warming is also causing accelerated evaporation of the oceans, which will make it more humid. What will people do when it reaches over 35° on a regular basis with extremely high humidity? They are going to move. They are not going to stay where they are. There will be a massive influx of climate refugees. We cannot be angry with them, since, where they live, it will literally become uninhabitable.
I asked a question last year to the Department of Immigration and the department of housing to find out what the federal government's plan is for receiving climate refugees. I was told that programs already exist. In fact, there is no plan, and yet we are already seeing a greater influx of refugees at the border. I recall that Roxham Road made the headlines in a somewhat populist way. People are increasingly going to be moving around on the planet and that will have consequences. I am saying this so that it is clear: The current Liberal government has no plan. I just want to mention that.
People will be on the move not only because they are too hot, but also because they are hungry. In a recent article in The Guardian, Cary Fowler, U.S. President Joe Biden's special envoy for food security, said there is every reason to believe that a global food shortage will take hold by 2050. As we have seen, problems are already happening because of certain conflicts. The war in Ukraine is impacting the wheat supply of many countries. However, the magnitude of the food shortage in question will be far greater and will persist in regions of the world where growing grains, fruit and vegetables becomes difficult. These consequences are very real, and the Conservatives seem determined not to see them. The current federal government, the Liberals, also have a responsibility, but they are clearly not doing enough. They tend to want to have it both ways
Here is a quote:
We need to cut worldwide emissions by half by 2030 if we want to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. That will require far more ambitious efforts to reduce emissions right now while ramping up investments in clean energy.... That is why it is time to do what a majority of Canadians, including in Alberta, believe is necessary, which is to put a hard cap on emissions from the Canadian oil and gas sector. ...any company or jurisdiction with net-zero emissions targets cannot continue to build or invest in new sources of fossil fuels. Companies cannot put off actually reducing their emissions by buying carbon credits. Also, they cannot lobby against climate action behind the scenes while claiming to be climate champions. Any progress made regarding net-zero emissions must be made public and independently verified.
That quote was from Catherine McKenna, former Liberal minister of environment and climate change. She wrote an op-ed in La Presse yesterday to tell us that the time to act is now. Unfortunately, despite the promises by the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, despite the commitments made by his government to put a hard cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector, there is still nothing on the table as of September 2023. We are still waiting for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to introduce a measure that was supposed to have been in place months ago. The oil and gas sector is responsible for 30% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions and its emissions are increasing. It has the worst record of all industrial sectors in the country by far. Without strong action, nothing will change.
Greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, sadly. Looking at the curve between 2005 and 2021, we can see that they are increasing. It is unfortunate that my time is up, because I had a lot left to say.