Debates of Sept. 28th, 2023

Opposition Motion—Carbon Tax

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Speaker, the first part of the member's question is false. The member for Kelowna—Lake Country did not tweet that tweet during the fires; it was an earlier tweet that was retweeted by the Minister of Environment to create a false impression. The members of the NDP should get their facts straight.

On the second part, I will take no lessons from the member down there about the fact that I had forest fires and hurricanes in my riding. There have been hurricanes in my riding for 400 years. The fires in my riding were started by man-made initiatives, so—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Banff—Airdrie.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to this motion on the Liberal-NDP carbon tax. I want to answer five questions in my remarks today.

The first is to talk a bit about the effects of the tax. There is certainly no doubt that the Liberal-NDP carbon tax is having a significant impact on affordability for all Canadians. We only have to look at how it layers on top of layers. When farmers are hit with the carbon tax, what do members think happens? Of course, it raises the cost of food. When those who transport those goods, whether it be our food or other goods, are hit with the carbon tax on the fuel they use for transport, what do members think happens? It increases the price of goods that everyone buys. When producers, stores and businesses are faced with all the cost increases that come along the distribution chain and on the inputs they have, what do members think happens? Of course, it raises the price of everything people buy. At the end of the day, who ends up paying for all of that? It is Canadians who are suffering. Canadians who are struggling to get by right now are faced with additional cost increases because of the Liberal-NDP carbon tax. That is the effect this tax has. Everything that Canadians buy and consume becomes more unaffordable. It makes it more difficult for them to feed their families, heat their homes and fuel up their cars to get to and from work, or their children's soccer practices, and things like that. That is the only effect it has had, quite frankly, because it has had no impact on reducing emissions. Its only impact has been to make life more unaffordable for all Canadians.

What have been the results? The claim here is what we have heard many members of the Liberal-NDP government and the Bloc Québécois say, which is that the whole point is to make people feel some pain. They want to make people feel pain so they will somehow adjust their behaviour, as if there somehow might be a choice in Canada for people to not heat their homes. I do not think there is a choice for most Canadians as to whether they will heat their homes or not. We live in a cold country and in the winter people need to heat their homes, so we are not going to incentivize them by saying that they will freeze in the dark in their homes. Frankly, that is not a choice that people can or should make.

When we talk about this idea that somehow it is going to have some impact and make people feel pain, yes, it certainly has made them feel pain. It has forced people to make those difficult choices of letting their kids go a bit hungrier so they can afford to heat their homes or afford to drive to work. There is no doubt it has made people feel pain, but has it had an impact on the environment? Certainly not. The Liberal government has never met an emissions target, because its only approach has been to try to make Canadians feel pain and to make life more unaffordable for them. That is not the way to approach the situation we face. All that has done is make people feel that pain needlessly. That has been the result.

Not only that, our oil and gas sector has been vilified, which is harmful to our economy. It harms people's paycheques and the opportunities for not only Albertans in my home province, but people all across this country, as well as their livelihoods, which in some cases have been taken away. In other cases they are struggling that much more to try and get by. If we hit them with a carbon tax and a second carbon tax on top of that, it just becomes more difficult for people to live their lives. That is what the result has been.

How has the government gotten away with this? We only need look at the text of our opposition day motion itself to provide that reminder to Canadians. It notes that the so-called clean fuel standard that the Bloc Québécois supports would raise gas prices in Quebec by a whopping 17¢ per litre. The Bloc has openly stated that carbon taxes need to be increased much more radically. This is, of course, absolutely ridiculous at a time when people in that province, like in every other province, are already struggling to make ends meet.

Of course, the NDP and Liberals have supported measures to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ per litre, which will only further burden already struggling Canadians, and they are empowered to do so by members of caucus from all regions of the country. I will give an example of the Atlantic Canada members of Parliament. They claim they are not in favour of carbon taxes, and yet they have supported carbon tax measures 23 times since the current government has been in office. Canadians absolutely deserve much better than that kind of deceptive behaviour. This is a clear indication that they have absolutely no regard for the financial well-being of their own constituents. Instead, they just have a blind adherence to their Prime Minister and their political party. It is those parties' penchant for ignoring the real costs and the true impact on the taxpayer, who is paying the freight. That is what is happening.

We are in a position in this country where the Liberal-NDP government constantly demands more and more from Canadians to fund its agenda. It ends up trapping them in a vicious circle where those same policies that fire the very inflation leave them with less and less to pay for them. No government measure illustrates that better than the Liberal-NDP-Bloc carbon tax.

I would like to touch on the outcome of those Liberal-NDP-Bloc policies. I mentioned earlier that the Liberals have never met an emissions target in eight years, so it is clear that their carbon tax, which they claim they have to charge in order to curb emissions, is just simply a monumental Trojan Horse concealing what is simply a monstrous cash grab. Their so-called price on carbon raises the cost of absolutely every good and service as it gets downloaded through manufacturing, production and distribution chains to land on the Canadian consumer. Not only is the carbon tax buried in the price of everything that we buy, Canadians also find it as a direct line item on their utility bills for essentials, such as home heating, and many of the other products that we need.

We have seen that Liberal policies have accomplished the absolute opposite of what government policy should do. The intent should be to help those who are most vulnerable in our society and, at the very least, to cause them no harm. Unfortunately, the Liberal carbon tax has been causing outsized harm to those same vulnerable groups. The tax has led to an increase in the cost of goods and services that most impacts those who are already struggling to make ends meet. We are seeing that first-hand in the struggles of low-income families, seniors on fixed incomes and people living in rural areas when they are faced with higher transportation costs and what that means to an already stretched household budget.

Instead of helping the most vulnerable, the Liberal carbon tax has created those burdens on people who can least afford it. Since Parliament resumed last week, we have heard Conservative members explain the impacts on the cost of food, for example, that inflation, the carbon tax and other government measures are having. I will not get into those details, but we have heard them. They have been elaborated on quite significantly in this House by many members of my party. Liberal members heckle and seem to be tired of hearing about it, but the truth is, because they do not want to hear it repeated, that when we tax the farmer, when we tax the trucker and tax everyone involved in the supply chain, we tax the consumer and make life more unaffordable for Canadians.

At the end of the day, we need to see the carbon tax axed so we can bring down the price on everything for Canadians. There is only one party in this House of Commons that will do that, and it is the Conservative Party.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke a lot about costs. In Alberta, workers are losing their jobs because the oil and gas sector is no longer able to keep them employed. We just lost 1,500 from Suncor just recently.

The fact of the matter is in 2016, the wildfires in northern Alberta cost almost $10 billion. With the wildfires in British Columbia, we have spent $357 million fighting those wildfires this year. When he talks about costs, surely he can recognize that the cost of inaction on climate change is much greater.

In his constituency, in Canmore, the community is working so hard to fight for climate change. It is reducing emissions by 80% by 2050 in that city.

How does he justify the fact that the Conservatives have no plan to deal with the climate crisis to the folks in Canmore?

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, the member raised the concept that jobs are being lost in the oil and gas industry. Why are those jobs being lost? Those jobs are being lost because members of the Liberal-NDP government, including the member who claims to represent Albertans, are vilifying that industry. They are putting up policies that make it impossible for the industry to survive.

What does that mean? That means that instead of using Albertan and Canadian oil and gas, which is the most environmentally friendly in the world, we are seeing oil being used from places like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and others that do not have that same environmental record. That then harms the opportunity for Canadians to make a living and for Canadians to be able to afford to heat their homes and feed their families, and that is the—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary.

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

Madam Speaker, I am trying to make sure I properly understand what the member opposite is saying. A family of four in Alberta will receive a cheque for $386 in the next couple of weeks.

Is the motion today suggesting that he would like to scrap that and not have people in his community receive that payment? Does he not trust the people in his community to make the best economic decisions as to how to use that money?

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would challenge the member to come to Alberta and tell Albertans, to their faces, that somehow they are better off because of the carbon tax. I can tell members that is not how anyone in Alberta or anywhere in this country feels. They feel the effects on their bottom line. They feel the effects on their ability to feed their families, to heat their homes and drive their vehicles to get to work. That is what the Liberal-NDP carbon tax is doing. It is making life more difficult for all Canadians. There is only one party that will axe that tax and bring home lower prices for all Canadians, and that is the Conservative Party of Canada.

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

Madam Speaker, the Conservative Party is taking an impressive intellectual shortcut by connecting the carbon tax to the rising cost of living. Not once in their speeches have we heard them say that we need to make more of an effort to fight climate change. We never hear them say what my colleagues said earlier, that the oil companies made $200 billion in profits in 2022. We never hear them talk about how the government is helping out the oil companies. In fact, it has helped them to the tune of $82 billion in subsidies.

If the government had the courage to halt these subsidies, we could spend all that fine money on helping the people who need it the most. We could help the most vulnerable among us, try to solve the housing crisis, provide grocery money, and fix the homelessness problem. Why not use that money for these things?

However, the shortcut between the carbon tax and the increased cost of living is irresponsible.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Madam Speaker, the carbon tax clearly has had the effect of making life more difficult and less affordable for all Canadians. It certainly has had no impact on the environment. We have seen, under the government, that it has never met any of its emissions targets.

What can we do instead? Rather than taxes, let us look at technology as a way of reducing our emissions. We already have an industry in this country that is one of the most environmentally responsible in the world. It is constantly looking at ways to improve its technology. We can be leaders in this world, both environmentally and economically, by ensuring that we are leaders in all forms of energy. That is the approach we need to see in this country, not taxation.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to take to my feet today on behalf of the constituents in Regina—Lewvan to talk about the opposition motion. I am going to go over the motion at the start of my speech and then talk about what effects the carbon tax has had on constituents in Regina—Lewvan and across this country.

The motion brought forward by the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada says:

That, given that,

(a) the Bloc Québécois supported the so-called “Clean Fuel Standard”, a second national carbon tax, which will raise gas prices in Quebec by 17 cents per litre, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer;

(b) the Bloc Québécois said carbon taxes need to be “increased much more radically than it is now”;

(c) the New Democratic Party and Liberals supported measures to quadruple the carbon tax to 61 cents per litre; and

(d) Atlantic Liberal members of Parliament allege they are not in favour of the carbon taxes but have supported carbon tax measures 23 times since 2015,

the House call on the government to introduce legislation, within seven days of this motion being adopted, to repeal all carbon taxes to bring home lower prices on gas, groceries, and home heating.

Like many members in the House, I went across my riding this summer and talked to people about what was affecting them the most. I would be very surprised if most members did not hear the feedback that the cost of living is really hampering everyone across the country. The cost of mortgages has doubled. Twenty-five per cent of mortgages in Canada have increased rapidly, and those Canadians are struggling to make their mortgage payments.

The cost of groceries is going nowhere but up. Carrots and oranges are up 75%. Potatoes are up 74%. Lettuce is up 94%. That is hitting people's pocketbooks each and every time they go to the grocery store.

With regard to the cost of home heating and the the cost of gas, in Saskatchewan we do not have the luxury of going on a transit system to and from work very often. People drive to work. Moms have to drive their kids to soccer, football and hockey. My colleague from Banff—Airdrie put it very rightly when he said that it is not a luxury to heat our homes in the winter in Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan gets pretty cold in the winter. I am not sure if other members have been there in January, but -40°C is quite a regular occurrence. I say that because I want to tell a bit of a personal story about what happened to my family and a friend of mine and their kids on the way home from hockey one night a couple of years ago.

They were coming home from the rink and a blizzard just came in. They were halfway home and the people from the rink all stopped in the middle of the road to make sure they could see. They could not, so they were stuck. Actually, eventually, my wife and kids and my friend ended up hitting the ditch. The temperature that day when they got to hockey practice was -10°C. By eight o'clock at night, when they were in the ditch, it was -30°C.

This is one thing I always think about when we talk about the use of electric vehicles, which sometimes and in some places are useful. That night, my wife, my three kids, my friend and his kids spent nine hours in a vehicle in -40°C. If that was an electric vehicle, they would all be dead right now. There are places where electric vehicles can be used, but this is a situation where it would have been catastrophic. There were 10 to 12 cars lined up in a row when this snowstorm hit.

Yes, we have to do better and use technology to make sure that we can lower our emissions, but sometimes there is a necessity to maintain what we have right now. That is one thing I want to put on the record. Sometimes when we tax people there is no choice but to still use fossil fuels in this country and still use clean, sustainably made and produced fossil fuels from our country.

My colleague also had another great point. Whenever we do not use oil and gas from Canada, we ship it in from nations across the world that do not have anywhere near the environmental standards that we have in this country. Actually, in essence, the less fossil fuel we use from Canada from our oil and gas sector, which we do not promote because we think it is a dirty word, the more the world's emissions go up. If we want to talk about the environment, we will talk about the environment all day on this side, because we believe that technology, not taxes, will fix this problem and lower emissions in our country.

I look forward to splitting my time with a member of the Liberal Party sooner rather than later.

To get back to the point, the crux of this motion is to make life more affordable for all Canadians. I think the NDP and Bloc doth protest too much. I have heard a lot of passion coming from the Bloc and the NDP about this motion, because it hits a little too close to home for them. They realize that they are on the wrong side of this issue.

The Conservatives have been talking about affordability for years and the fact that there is a financial crisis coming. Costs are rising on everything, and that is affecting pocketbooks and making people in this country try to stretch their paycheque further and further each month. I asked the member for Milton about food bank usage in his city and he could not answer because he is too busy talking from prepared PMO notes.

I will talk about the food bank usage in my city of Regina. In 2017-18, food banks gave out about 48,573 hampers, and we need to do better than that. The unfortunate fact is that in 2022-23, they had to give out 75,246 hampers. That is a 64.5% increase in the amount of food they had to give out at the food bank in Regina. The even sadder part is that 40% of the food bank usage was by people under 18. I will say that again: 40% of the food bank usage in my city is by people under 18.

We keep hearing from the NDP-Liberal government that it has never been so good in this country. However, after eight years this country is broken. Nine out of 10 young people in this country do not think they will be able to afford a home, ever. We used to pay off a mortgage in 25 years. Now in this country, people need 25 years to save up to afford the down payment on a home. That is not the Canada I want my three children to grow up in.

There are measures that we can take immediately. I heard from the parliamentary secretary that people get more back from the carbon tax. That is not true. People go to the grocery store. If the government taxes the farmer who grows the food, taxes the trucker who trucks the food and taxes the grocery store owner who has to keep the lights on and sell the food, that all trickles down to the consumer. The grocery rebate does not cut it. It is not making up the difference.

The Prime Minister himself stood up and said thank goodness the government increased the child tax benefit because it helps to pay the mortgages that have increased. That is not the point of that benefit. It is supposed to help raise kids and help put kids in sports, not help pay mortgages, which have continually increased because of out-of-control spending by the current Liberal government and its NDP junior partner. It is out-of-control spending. When the government put $60 billion more debt onto the backs of Canadians in this country with its last budget, that caused inflation to rise. When inflation rises, that causes the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates.

Do not take my word for it. Tiff Macklem, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, said that every time there is an announcement that the carbon tax is going up, inflation goes up across the country. That is exactly what the Governor of the Bank of Canada said to the people of Canada.

We are also talking about what we can do, and everyone asks what our plan is. Our plan is to control spending, which would decrease inflation and decrease interest rates, incentivize municipalities to build houses so housing becomes more affordable once again, and give building bonuses to the municipalities that are far exceeding the targets they have. That is what we are talking about doing. There is hope for this country, and we are going to turn hurt into hope in the coming years. We will roll out plans that involve technology, not taxes, for the environment.

What is interesting is that the New Democrats, the Bloc members and the Liberals have all talked about how much they care about the environment. The funny thing is that the NDP-Liberal coalition has never met an emissions target that it has set. It has caused all this pain for our country, including an affordability crisis, a housing crisis and doubling the price of rent, and it has done nothing to hit an emissions target for the environment. The Liberals committed to planting two billion trees. The member for Lakeland has actually planted more trees than has the entire government.

When it comes to putting Canadians first, we will always put Canadians first and listen to our constituents. I am happy to support this motion.

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

Madam Speaker, it is very interesting to hear the member opposite, but I feel it is very important that we correct some of the things he put forward, because they are patently untrue.

Let us start with oil imports. Today, the rate of oil imports coming into our country is lower than it has been in decades. In fact, it is lower than it was at the time of the Conservative government of which the Leader of the Opposition was a member. There were actually higher oil imports at that time. I wanted to correct that.

I will also correct another piece. When we are talking about inflation and the connection to carbon pricing, the Bank of Canada said that the impact of the carbon price on inflation is 0.15%. That is less than half of a per cent, so the numbers the member opposite is stating are just incorrect.

That is my comment. I do not really have a question. I just wanted to add that comment.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, I know Liberals are generally very loose with their facts, but I did not say a number when it came to inflation. I said the Bank of Canada governor, Tiff Macklem, said that every time there is an announcement that the carbon tax is going up, inflation goes up. If the member wants to stand on a record of adding $60 billion in more debt onto Canadians and say that it does not affect inflation, she can explain that to her constituents.

One other thing I would say is that she is part of a government whose Prime Minister stood up on national TV and said the government will take on debt so Canadians do not have to. Who does he think pays the debt of the Government of Canada? It is taxpayers across the country. I will take no lessons on fiscal or monetary policy from her.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, today, the Conservatives are serving up another load of hogwash to make us think they care about the most vulnerable among us. I just got back from a tour of Quebec; the housing crisis is visible everywhere. There are tent cities all over the place, single mothers sleeping in their cars and pregnant women giving birth outside.

In 2022, the oil industry made $200 billion in profit. The Liberal government sent $50 billion to the oil industry in 2022. I have not heard my Conservative colleagues protesting that.

How many homes does my colleague think we could build with the $50 billion we sent to the oil industry in 2022?

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, I will always be a supporter of our oil and gas industry. It is the cleanest and most sustainable oil and gas that can be found anywhere in the world. We do it the most environmentally friendly and better.

Sometimes I think the Bloc does not realize that we are not in government. We will put through policies that get more houses built. I agree that we have a housing crisis in this country. We have people paying double for rent, and we have people paying double for their mortgages, and that was all set up by the NDP-Liberal reckless coalition.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am still trying to get an answer about the four Conservatives, the members for Northumberland—Peterborough South, Lakeland, Cumberland—Colchester and Battlefords—Lloydminster, who flew over to England for a single meeting. They were fed chateaubriand, porterhouse steaks, oysters and smoked salmon at a cost of $4,690. Who paid for that? They say that Dan McTeague, the well-known climate crisis denier, paid for that, but that is simply not credible.

Then they started into the booze: $818 Canadian for one bottle of wine. That was not good enough. That just wet their lips. It was $265 Canadian for the second bottle of wine. The third bottle of wine, when they were really tipsy and talking climate denial, was $719. Then they finished it off with an $1,800 bottle of wine. That was $3,593 just on the booze alone.

Will the member be honest and tell us who paid for that trip and why they were over in the U.K.? This is an enormous amount of money. Who was trying to influence the Conservatives on climate denial?

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, once again the member is showing just how out of touch he is with his constituents. He wants to talk about something that does not affect his constituents. His constituents want to know where he is when it comes to affordability. His constituents want to know where he is when it comes to supporting them in this House.

I cannot wait to share that clip. When he is on his feet, the only thing he can do is rage-farm, try to make people feel bad and make personal attacks instead of supporting his constituents. It is actually quite embarrassing for him, and I hope he has a great time retiring in California, where he should be happier.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to take part in this debate today.

Our government is relentlessly focused on building an economy with stable prices, steady growth and abundant, good middle-class jobs. The last three years have been difficult, which has increased the financial pressure on Canadians. First the country was slammed by the COVID pandemic, then came the COVID recession, supply chain bottlenecks, labour shortages, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, wildfires and hurricanes.

Fortunately, the Canadian economy has remained resilient, and in many ways, we are performing much better than our international peers. There are nearly one million more Canadians in the job market today than before the pandemic, and the OECD predicts next year Canada will experience the strongest economic growth among all G7 countries.

Since 2015, our government has been making significant investments to support Canadians and make life more affordable through actions that are making a real impact and putting more money in the pockets of Canadians. For example, the government is supporting about 3.5 million families annually through the tax-free Canada child benefit, with families receiving up to $7,400 per child under the age of six, which is an increase of $440 from last year. In fact, the latest payment was issued to Canadian families just last week.

Over the past seven years, the Canada child benefit has helped lift 435,000 children out of poverty and provides real, meaningful support to middle-class families every single month.

Our government has also increased old age security benefits for seniors aged 75 and older by 10% as of July 2022, which is providing more than $800 in additional support to full pensioners. This is in addition to strengthening the Canada pension plan, which will eventually raise the maximum retirement benefit by up to 50%. Increases to the guaranteed income supplement for the lowest income single seniors has raised benefits for nearly 900,000 low-income seniors. Our government has also enhanced and expanded the Canada workers benefit to better support millions of low- and modest-income Canadian workers.

In 2021, the latest year we have data for from Statistics Canada, there were close to 2.3 million fewer Canadians living in poverty compared to 2015. In other words, in 2021, 7.4% of Canadians lived in poverty, which is down from 14.5% in 2015. Our government remains committed to reaching its goal of a 50% reduction in poverty by 2030 based on 2015 levels.

Through measures and programs like the ones I have just highlighted, we have strengthened the social safety net millions of Canadians count on, all the while ensuring Canada maintains the lowest deficit and net debt-to-GDP ratio of G7 countries.

In the past year, we have supported Canadians through global inflation by introducing a suite of targeted measures to help the Canadians who needed it most to help them pay their bills. This included a one-time inflation relief payment last fall to 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians, which was worth up to $467 for a couple with two children and up to $234 for a single Canadian without children. It also included direct tax-free payments of up to $1,300 per child over two years to eligible families to cover dental expenses for their children under the age of 12 while we continue to work on implementing the new Canadian dental care plan.

Since 2015, it has been obvious that our priority is to build a strong middle class so that everyone can succeed, and it will continue to be like this. That is why, at the beginning of this fall session, our government tabled an important bill, the affordable housing and grocery act, which would eliminate the GST on new apartment construction projects, in addition to helping to stabilize grocery prices for Canadians. These are foundational investments that continue to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians.

Even the pillar of our climate action plan, a price on carbon, is providing more money for most Canadians than it costs them. Climate change is a threat to Canadians and the entire world, and carbon pricing is an essential tool to address it. We know that Canada, like the rest of the world, needs to transition our economy as quickly as possible to clean sources of energy, so we can eliminate carbon pollution, which is changing the climate.

In 2008, in my own home province of British Columbia, the government implemented North America’s first broad-based carbon tax, which applies to the purchase and use of fossil fuels and covers approximately 70% of provincial greenhouse gas emissions. The Conservatives may think it was a joint NDP and government bill, but it was the free enterprise premier at that time, Mr. Gordon Campbell, who was the one who brought in this leadership when it came to the carbon tax.

In 2016, when we announced the pan-Canadian approach to pricing carbon pollution, some provinces, including British Columbia, were already leading the charge on pollution pricing and were seen as global leaders. The pan-Canadian approach was designed to leave provinces and territories the flexibility to continue to lead with their own pollution pricing systems, while setting minimum national standards that ensured carbon pollution pricing would be in place across the country.

Canada’s carbon pollution pricing policy is designed to be affordable for Canadians while growing a clean economy. All of the direct proceeds from the federal carbon pricing system are returned to the jurisdictions where they were collected. If we do not act, we will face a world of ever-increasing costs and instability due to natural disasters, such as forest fires, flooding and crop failures. This summer’s wildfires and natural disasters throughout Canada was a reminder that we must take serious action, as fast as possible.

In conclusion, our relentless focus as a government is on investing in Canadians, restoring middle-class prosperity and building a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. The members opposite are calling for action and, frankly, we are doing just that.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member for Surrey—Newton calls it global inflation, but even random Liberals such as John Manley and Bill Morneau have said that the Liberal government is causing inflation. It is homegrown. It is reckless spending. It is not prioritizing their spending the way they should.

We have adjacent ridings. In fact, the member lives in my riding, and I am often in his riding because we are neighbours. In our ridings, they cannot afford groceries. Our constituents cannot afford to fill their gas tanks. We have gas prices in the Lower Mainland at over $2 a litre. The very middle class that he is speaking about are the ones who are falling further and further behind.

I am wondering how much more pain the member for Surrey—Newton wants to inflict on his constituents and mine for a failed carbon tax that does not reduce emissions, does not fight fires and has not stopped hurting Canadians.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Speaker, I see a pattern from the hon. member for South Surrey—White Rock when it comes to misleading Canadians. I will mention two instances.

The minister was in Surrey to plant trees and bring in a program to plant trees. I recall the hon. member tweeting that we did not meet the targets. In fact, the truth was that I was able to come up with the numbers that clearly show that we are ahead of those targets.

When it comes to the middle-class families, the biggest number for child care is going into Surrey—Newton. I am very proud of the policy and of the people of Surrey—Newton, who have given me a chance time after time, and the only reason is that their voice is here, and I am not misleading the people.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Madam Speaker, one of the curious aspects of the motion is that it would require the Liberal Party to create legislation within seven days, which would come at a time when we have a national day of significance for first nations' recognition and what we need to reconcile.

I find it rather curious, in the sense, and I ask why they would not create their own legislation. How does the member feel about that? If the motion passes in its current context, the Conservatives, and I have checked, do not actually have legislation tabled for this, so they would have to draft it up within a few days. How does the member feel about the motion that would have his party create legislation?

I find it rather curious that the Conservatives say they do not trust the Liberals, but at the same time they are wanting them to create—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

I have to give the hon. member for Surrey—Newton time to answer.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Windsor West for bringing up this issue.

I am very proud of the Liberal government. The legislation that we brought forward has always been well thought out and has helped middle-class families in Canada, whether it was to do with the Canada child benefit, the environment or safety.

All the legislation that we brought forward was very well thought out and planned. I can assure the hon. member that any legislation moving forward will be in the best interest of every Canadian.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, we have another day's debate on carbon pricing, which is a necessary but completely insufficient response to the climate crisis. This is one of things that lacks context in these debates, which is that is as if carbon pricing were an adequate response to the climate crisis. It is not.

Canada's emissions have continued to rise as the government of the day, while talking a good game, has increased subsidies to the fossil fuel sector and increased production of fossil fuels from Canada, all at the very time we must be slashing them deeply. I wonder if the hon. member has any comment on the sorry record of his government.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Speaker, I will go back to my home province of British Columbia where the government implemented carbon pricing in 2008. Now, it covers approximately 70% of the provincial greenhouse gas emissions. It helps, but there is more to be done, and our government is committed to doing that.