Debates of Sept. 29th, 2023

Indigenous Affairs

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. I just want to remind members to ensure that we have respect here in the House. I know that hon. members would like to hear the answers.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

Madam Speaker, when it comes to indigenous issues, the shameful record of the Leader of the Opposition on voting is almost as shameful as his words when he said that instead of compensation for abuses suffered at Indian residential schools, aboriginals need to learn the value of hard work. In contrast, our government has a record of historic firsts. We passed UNDRIP into law. We had the first-ever indigenous languages commissioner, the first-ever indigenous Governor General and the first-ever indigenous Supreme Court justice. I will stand on our record of historic firsts every day, including the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Again, there are some interruptions going on while members are speaking. I would just ask members to please hold off on any questions they may have, or thoughts.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. If individuals want to have conversations they should take them out. If this continues, someone is going to end up losing a question.

The hon. member for Calgary Heritage.

Carbon Pricing

[Shuv Majumdar, Conservative, Calgary Heritage, AB]

Madam Speaker, after eight long years of an incompetent NDP-Liberal government, there has been diplomatic disaster after diplomatic disaster; one in five Canadians is skipping meals; crime, chaos, drugs and disorder rage across our streets; and a carbon tax is making gas, groceries and home heating more expensive, a tax that does nothing to achieve climate targets, a tax inflating everything and devastating everyone.

When will the Prime Minister finally axe the tax?

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

Madam Speaker, last week, during the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit in New York, I was at an event with West Kelowna's fire chief, Jason Brolund. Chief Brolund vividly described the trauma of fighting this summer's massive wildfires, of sending his team into danger, of fighting to protect homes and lives. It was a miracle that no one died in Kelowna. He called it a once-in-a-lifetime fire, but then told us it was the second once-in-a-lifetime fire he has faced in 20 years. That is the impact of climate change.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Madam Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Alberta farmers and families are paying more tax than ever. When we tax Stamp Seeds, which grows food; Reimer Trucking, which ships food; Drost Farms, which processes food; and Sunterra Market, which sells food, we are taxing everyone who buys food. The Prime Minister is just not worth it.

Alberta farmers need to keep feeding the world. Will the Prime Minister axe his carbon tax?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, we have seen the impact of climate change devastating provinces right across this country and impacting most significantly our farmers. In winter, we saw record cold temperatures, leading to damaged homes, businesses and crop results.

Canadian farmers are on the front line of climate change, and that is exactly why we are investing nearly half a billion dollars in programs like the agricultural technology program and the climate solutions program. We will continue to do everything that is necessary to help our farmers deal with the increasing effects of climate change.

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

Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is scrambling to convince Quebeckers that the carbon tax will have no impact on Quebec. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything that is transported from one province to another and ends up in our shops costs more because of this tax. Everything, including voting for the Bloc, costs more. After eight years of this government, many Quebeckers are being squeezed.

Will the Prime Minister finally call off this costly Bloc-Liberal tax?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, I find the attacks against the Bloc Québécois to be very mean, but I would like to say that if the Conservatives are the least bit interested in the economy in Quebec, they would acknowledge yesterday's historic announcement that will lead to the creation of 3,000 jobs. We are making a green shift, a shift to the future. We are going to produce the greenest batteries in the world. This represents 3,000 direct jobs, thousands of indirect jobs and Quebec and Canadian batteries in cars around the world.

They do not even acknowledge it. The Conservatives do not care at all about Quebec.

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

Madam Speaker, the Bloc Québécois said it wanted to drastically increase the carbon tax. The Liberals got their wish. A second carbon tax now applies in Quebec. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it will cost 17¢ more per litre. This Bloc-Liberal alliance is always looking for ways to take more money from Quebeckers' pockets. It is just ridiculous.

Will the Prime Minister put an end to these inflationary taxes?

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

Madam Speaker, in 2023, it is incomprehensible, and I would even say immoral, that a political party aspiring to form the government has nothing to say on the issue of climate change, when tens of thousands of people were displaced by forest fires this summer. The smoke was detected as far away as New York and, even further, on the coasts of Europe.

Meanwhile, the official position of the Conservative Party of Canada is that climate change does not exist, even though it is costing Canadians tens of billions of dollars. That is outrageous.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, Radio-Canada has made deeply disturbing revelations about close ties between major GMO companies and the federal government. In fact, the ties are so close that the two are literally playing on the same team, known as the Tiger Team. It includes lobbyists for giants like Bayer, but also federal public servants who allegedly drafted the GMO reform together. Worse than having the fox guard the henhouse, the fox is in charge of the henhouse.

Is the government going to hire truly independent experts to reexamine all of the changes introduced by the Tiger Team?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, we have had extensive consultations with people from the organic, conventional and seed sectors to find new food-production solutions to feed the world's growing population. It is common practice for the government to actively engage with implicated stakeholders when discussing regulatory matters.

The tiger team process was intended as a time-limited mechanism through which multiple stakeholders in the grain supply chain would have an opportunity to provide their views on the very complex topic of plant breeding and innovation. We will continue doing all that we can to support Canada's farmers and farm families.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is outrageous to let the people making money from a product decide what rules apply to their product. It is even worse when food or public health are involved. How can we let a company like Bayer write the rules on GMOs and gene editing?

The public needs reassurance. A breach of trust has occurred. Nothing less than a rigorous regulatory review by truly independent experts can fix the total lapse in judgment shown by the government. When is it going to launch such a review?

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

Madam Speaker, that is why the former minister of agriculture and agri-food, the former minister of health and I worked together to start implementing the reforms the hon. member is talking about. In fact, that work led to the federal government's announcement that pesticides would no longer be used on any federal lands. It is also what led to a review of the way pesticides are approved in Canada. We are allowing more independent scientists to review each of these pesticides. We are in the process of carrying out the review that our hon. colleague has asked us to do.

Carbon Pricing

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Madam Speaker, Atlantic Canadians are struggling to pay for their groceries, gas and home heating. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Liberal MPs support measures to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. Atlantic Liberal MPs have continued to support carbon taxes since 2015.

Will the Atlantic Liberal MPs vote on the Conservative motion next week to axe the tax so that Atlantic Canadians can afford gas, groceries and home heating?

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Madam Speaker, that is an important question. Let us talk about what is important for Atlantic Canadians. Earlier this week, I stood here and listened to Conservative MPs from Atlantic Canada who are voting against the Atlantic accord, which would give Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador an opportunity to find prosperity and meet our green goals. I am hoping the Conservatives vote for the Atlantic accord and those changes to help Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada.

[Jake Stewart, Conservative, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Madam Speaker, they have already ruined one tidal project, and I invite the member opposite to tell the people of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, choosing between fuelling their cars and purchasing groceries, how the carbon tax is not punishing them every single day.

Atlantic Liberal MPs allege they are not in favour of carbon taxes while back home but have supported them 23 times since 2015. Again, they claim they are now against the carbon tax. Will they put their money where their mouth is and vote next week to axe the tax?

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that his party campaigned on putting in place a price on pollution in Canada in the 2021 election.

I would like to pick up on what my colleague was saying. Why is the Conservative Party opposing the development of clean energy in Canada, like the moratorium that Premier Smith has put in place in Alberta, which is putting at risk $30 billion of investment in renewable energy in the clean technology sector? Thousands of jobs are at risk. Will the Leader of the Opposition stand in this House and explain to us whether he supports clean energy?

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Madam Speaker, according to Food Banks Canada, nearly seven million Canadians are struggling to put food on the table. That is because farmers pay the carbon tax on the food they grow, truckers pay the carbon tax on the food they transport, grocers pay the carbon tax on the food they refrigerate and all of those carbon taxes get passed on to the consumer. Will the Liberal-NDP government cancel its plan to increase its inflationary carbon tax?

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

Madam Speaker, Fire Chief Brolund of West Kelowna said another thing that stuck with me. He said Kelowna spent more than $20 million battling the summer's wildfires and that insurance losses would triple that amount. Chief Brolund asked, “What could we have accomplished if we used that same amount of money proactively?” He said money spent fighting fires was spent on the wrong end of the problem, and he said that at an event in support of carbon pricing, a proven policy designed to reduce emissions that are driving climate change, as well as more intense wildfires and flooding all across our nation and all across the world.

Indigenous Affairs

[Brenda Shanahan, Liberal, Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC]

Madam Speaker, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation reminds us, as citizens of this country, to look deep into our hearts and minds as we consider the impact that colonialism has had on indigenous people. It is a day for us, as Canadians, to once again reflect on the tragic history of residential schools and remember the children who never came home.

Can the minister tell us about some of the ways we are commemorating this day?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Madam Speaker, listening to and amplifying indigenous voices is one way to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to attend the premier of Bones of Crows. This series, which was created by Marie Clements and features indigenous actors, tells the terrible history of residential schools in Canada. It also highlights the valuable contributions that the Cree and members of various first nations made to our common history.

Thanks to this partnership between the APTN and CBC/Radio-Canada, the voices of first nations will be heard so that, together, we can honour the truth and create healing spaces.