Madam Speaker, climate change is fundamentally changing the way in which Canadians live their lives. From extreme weather events to the price of food, climate change is making life more expensive.
Climate-related impacts are already costing the average Canadian household $720 per year; without government taking action to reduce emissions, this is likely to rise to $2,000 per year by 2050. Our government is taking decisive action to combat the effects of climate change because the cost of inaction is too great. This summer, Canadians watched in horror as parts of Jasper were ravaged by devastating wildfires.
Our government is stepping up to help communities combat the effects of climate change, whether from wildfires, floods, droughts or hurricanes. Canadians want a government that uses every tool to combat the deadly effects of climate change, and carbon pricing is an essential tool in our tool box.
Experts agree that carbon pricing is the most cost-effective way of combatting climate change. The Canadian carbon rebate puts more money back into the vast majority of Canadians' pockets. In fact, on October 15, residents in the riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa and across Canada can look forward to their Canada carbon rebate. In addition, households in rural communities will receive a 20% top-up to their CCR, which reflects the unique circumstances they face.
Conservatives are uninterested in what the government has to say. Their claim that pollution pricing is causing inflation is simply not true. The reality is that carbon pricing is not causing inflation. The Bank of Canada estimates that the carbon price contributes under 0.15% of inflation every year. It is worth asking this: Why have the Conservatives spent this much time undermining carbon pricing when Canadians are better off? With the new revelations that senior Conservative advisers are confirming that they would let industrial polluters off the hook, combined with the reports that the Leader of the Opposition met with dozens of oil and gas CEOs at private fundraisers, their motivations are very clear.
This is not about helping Canadians, and it never was. It was always an effort to serve the leader's ultrarich, big polluter friends, especially those in the oil and gas industry. The Conservative position on carbon pricing is clearly designed to create political cover for them to try to let their leader's friends in big oil and gas and other heavy industries pollute for free while ending the Canada carbon rebate and leaving Canadians on the hook to pay for the cost of that pollution.
Putting a price on pollution is a proven, affordable method of reducing emissions and continues to be an important tool in combatting climate change. Our government is stepping up to protect the environment and ensure that future generations will have a place to live. It is a shame that other parties will not do the same.