Mr. Speaker, it is nice to be here for this adjournment debate. I would like to thank my colleague and neighbour from Dufferin—Caledon for entertaining the opportunity for it this evening.
I printed off an article for my friend, and I hope he chooses to read it. As I was telling him just a couple of minutes ago, I feel as though the art of thoughtful debate and real conversation in the House has suffered at the hands of the three-word slogan. I like the opportunity to talk about some of our measures to lower carbon emissions in Canada and help the steel industry and lots of other industries usher in a more sustainable future.
Before I go on, I would like to say that not only am I a big fan of Canada's steel industry, but I used to be a steelworker. I worked at Aldershot steel when I was in university. I came from a working-class family and grew up in community housing, so a $20-an-hour job was really exciting for me when I was 19 or 20 years old. Kayaks, incidentally, are made out of carbon fibre and are expensive, so I needed a job and Aldershot steel was close to school. After my classes were done at McMaster University, I would often put in a few hours at the shop, so I know a lot of steelworkers. McMaster is in Steeltown too, which is Hamilton. I will give a shout-out to the Hamilton Ticats.
While the member was speaking, I looked up some of the initiatives the Canadian Steel Producers Association has undertaken. It is very committed to sustainable steel. In fact, ArcelorMittal Dofasco earned responsible steel certification, which recognizes the company's leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, noise emissions and effluents, as well as waste and waste-water stewardship and biodiversity. Canada's steel producers are leading the way. They are moving toward new electric arc reactors, which do not rely on coal to heat up iron ore and metals in order to make steel and steel products.
I looked at the ambitions of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, and I will read a couple of them:
Establish a Canadian steel climate council with key government departments to monitor and report on the progress of the sector’s climate strategy, to share practices, to engage with other stakeholders, and to evolve the plan as new information and insights emerge;
Recycle all carbon pricing revenues from the steel sector back into the industry to support the development of low-emission technologies;
Expand access to abundant low/zero carbon energy supplies for domestic steelmaking operations....
The CSPA recognizes the value in low-carbon steel. It wants to be a world leader in low-carbon steel and does not want to do things the way they were done 150 years ago during the Industrial Revolution, when it seemed natural to burn coal to create heat to produce steel.
It is 2024 and will be 2025 soon. It is important that we get with the times. It is critical that we encourage and support industry as it moves past high carbon-intensity production. Having an industrial carbon price and a consumer carbon price is the reason our emissions are 30% lower than they were under Stephen Harper's government. In fact, the last time they were this low, Kurt Cobain was still alive and I was 12 years old and listening to Nirvana.
It has been a really long time since Canada had a downward trajectory on emissions, and that is something to celebrate, particularly because interest rates are going down, inflation is going down and job numbers are getting even better. Our economy is solid in Canada, and it is solid with industrial and consumer carbon pricing. Canadians, in 2019 and 2021, when I was at their doors, demanded climate action, and that is one of the things our government has delivered on.