Debates of Oct. 2nd, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition started out by expressing his disapproval of our new capital gains tax because, once again, the Conservatives are there to defend tax cuts for the rich and service cuts for everyone else.

Once again, the Leader of the Opposition talked about his opposition to our bringing in an increase on capital gains. We know that asking the wealthy to do a little more so we can deliver more homes for young Canadians to build a future is what we need to do, but the Conservatives continue to be there with cuts on taxes for the wealthiest and cuts on services for everyone else.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is hiking taxes on home builders, on doctors, on job creators and on farmers. He is also raising taxes on hospitals and schools. The New Brunswick premier is taking the Prime Minister to court because of the unconstitutional quadrupling carbon tax and the costs it will impose on snowplows, ambulances and the heating of hospitals and schools, meaning the loss of countless police officers, nurses, doctors and teachers.

Instead of defeating the carbon tax in court, why can we not have a carbon tax election so that Canadians can axe the tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for the past number of years, multiple Conservative premiers have gone after the price on pollution in courts and have lost at the Supreme Court. Canadians have decided that a price on pollution is the right thing. We have won multiple elections on that because Canadians know that the only way to build a strong economy is to fight climate change at the same time. The Leader of the Opposition does not get that, does not accept that and does not understand that abandoning the fight against climate change would hurt Canadians, would hurt our institutions and would hurt people and economic growth right across the country.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister concealed, from both the courts and Canadians, his plan to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. Now Premier Scott Moe of Saskatchewan says this will hit schools with $204 million in carbon taxes and hospitals with $175 million in carbon taxes, meaning we will lose doctors, teachers and other necessary workers serving Canadians.

Instead of forcing premiers to fight to axe the tax in court, why can we not have a carbon tax election so Canadians can axe the tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is proposing that we abandon the fight against climate change. He wants to take away the Canada carbon rebate, which puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians, the middle class and people working hard to join it, even as we fight climate change, reduce emissions in this country and create growth and opportunities in cleaner jobs and cleaner careers.

These are the issues that Canadians are preoccupied with. How are they going to have jobs in the future when the leader wants to take away the fight against climate change?

Seniors

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, an extremely shocking and inappropriate remark was made in the House yesterday.

The Minister of Labour and Seniors basically said that either the associations representing all Quebec retirees are naive, or they are conspiring with the Bloc Québécois, the nasty separatists, the sovereignists and the Conservatives to overthrow the government. Not even Jean Chrétien would have said such a thing.

Does the Prime Minister condone that remark? Will he call his minister to order?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always been there for seniors.

We are here to invest and we are here to support them, but unlike the Bloc Québécois, we are not here to play partisan games. The Bloc is making threats and trying to pick fights. We are here to work constructively with anyone in the House to provide services to seniors, invest in those who need it and build a better future for everyone within a united Canada.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at various times and in various places, the House of Commons has voted in favour of a bill that increases the purchasing power of pensioners aged 65 to 74. The Minister of Labour and, God help us, Seniors says it is a plot that the separatists hatched with the Conservatives to take down the Liberals.

Can members stop talking nonsense in the House? Will the Prime Minister call his blundering minister to order?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the House that when our government chose to bring the retirement age back down to 65, after Mr. Harper raised it to 67, the Bloc Québécois voted against seniors. When we chose to increase the GIS by $1,000 for the most vulnerable seniors, the Bloc Québécois voted against seniors. When we chose to invest in dental care, which has now helped over 800,000 Canadians, including many seniors in Quebec, the Bloc Québécois voted against seniors.

Housing

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats believe in lower rents, not higher. When the Conservatives were in power, they let big, greedy corporations buy up affordable homes and convert them into luxury cash cows. They allowed that to happen over 800,000 times. I will ban it. The Prime Minister has allowed it to happen over 370,000 times. Every single time that happens, it means a family gets evicted. It means rents go up. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past number of years, we have worked hand in hand with municipalities, provinces and non-profit organizations not only to build more affordable homes, but to ensure that apartments or homes that were built as affordable get to stay affordable long into the future. We have done that with funds put forward to purchase, by non-profit organizations, deeper affordable homes, and we will move forward on converting public lands into affordable homes that will be kept affordable for decades and even a century to come.

These are the kinds of things that we are going to continue to do and focus on in this House.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader's chief adviser is also the chief lobbyist for corporate landlords, but what is the Prime Minister's excuse? For decades, Liberals and Conservatives have failed to ensure that indigenous communities have safe and affordable places to call home. Now over 300,000 indigenous people live in unsuitable housing.

For the Prime Minister, it is delay, delay, delay. When will he realize that he is failing indigenous people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have tripled investments in indigenous communities since 2015, including $32 billion in investments expected in 2024-25 alone. We are moving forward on investing in and with indigenous communities to build more homes, to create more economic opportunities and to create the kinds of partnerships that I got to see just a couple of days ago in Inuvik, where the Inuvialuit are moving forward on ambitious plans for the future.

This is reconciliation in action, not just pretty words, but actions that are delivering for Canadians. There is a lot more to do, but we are going to keep delivering for indigenous people.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost of food. The “food professor” estimates that between 2022 and 2025, the cost of food will be up 34%. That is a time that coincides exactly with the NDP-Liberal coalition. Coincidentally, the NDP leader's chief spokesman and brother has a company that lobbies for Metro, but the “food professor” blames the increase on the carbon taxes placed on farmers and truckers, who bring us our food.

Before Canadians go hungry, why will the Prime Minister not allow a carbon tax election so Canadians can axe the tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, farmers across this country are feeling the impacts of the extreme weather events that come from climate change. Whether it is with droughts, wildfires or floods, we are seeing the costs of climate change every single day.

We put forward a price on pollution that not only brings down emissions and creates more solutions and economic growth, but also puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians right across the country. It is the Parliamentary Budget Officer who said that.

We are going to continue to fight climate change while the leader opposite wants to abandon the fight against climate change.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister loves to blame the rest of the world for the rampant food price inflation here at home, but the “food professor” proves that narrative false. He has calculated that food prices have risen 36% faster in Canada than in the United States of America. What does Canada have that the Americans do not have? It is two words: carbon tax.

Instead of forcing Canadians to line up at food banks, why will the Prime Minister not let them line up to vote in a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I did not dare say anything after the last question because I could not believe my ears, but here we have the Leader of the Opposition quoting some sort of expert, which is a brand new thing for this House of Commons. To rely on facts and data is an excellent thing to hear.

Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition will listen to the hundreds of economists and scientists who have pointed out that putting a price on pollution, particularly one that puts more money back into the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join it, is the best way to both fight climate change and grow the economy. However, the leader opposite just wants to play politics—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would ask all members, including the member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, to only take the floor when they are recognized by the Speaker.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I have more expert information for the Prime Minister from the “food professor”, Sylvain Charlebois, who finds that 13% of Americans live in food insecurity while in Canada it is 23%. In other words, Canadians are twice as likely to live in food insecurity, as food price inflation is one-third higher under the Prime Minister's carbon tax regime.

Instead of blaming others or forcing Canadians to go hungry, why not have a carbon tax election so that Canadians can axe the tax and afford their food?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition is playing politics, we are focused on delivering solutions. We are delivering a national school food program that is going to help 400,000 kids have fuller bellies at schools across the country and save Canadian families $800 a year on grocery bills.

If the Leader of the Opposition actually cared about food security in this country, we might imagine he would have voted for that. Instead, not only did he vote against it, but he pretends it does not exist. He pretends it has not happened. He is gaslighting Canadians on the things we are doing to fight affordability challenges. Instead, he is just offering political games.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is a food program without food. It has not served a single ham sandwich or a single bowl of Kraft Dinner. Not even a piece of broccoli has been forced upon an unwilling kid. It is meant to feed bureaucracy, not feed kids. Meanwhile, there is a 42% increase in the food bank use in Mississauga, and two million Canadians are lined up at food banks. One quarter of children are going hungry after nine years of the Prime Minister's carbon taxes.

Why can we not have a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition actually cared about vulnerable Canadians, he would be offering solutions, not just more politics. He stood against the price on pollution—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order, colleagues.

I'm going to ask the right hon. Prime Minister to start from the top.