Debates of March 19th, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think what is clear is that the Liberals have a dysfunctional relationship with the truth. Canadians pay more than they actually get back, and so for the average Albertan family, they pay $2,943. Meanwhile, they get back $2,032, which means that, ultimately, they are a thousand dollars in the hole. That is how much they are having to remit to the government. That is how much the government is pickpocketing from them.

Why is the government doing that to Canadians when they are already struggling to pay their bills, make ends meet and provide for their families?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what is happening on the Conservatives' side of the House. Maybe it is that they have joined the agriculture chair in the witness protection program. When it comes to defending the interests of Albertans and their pensions, where is the MP for Edmonton Mill Woods? Where is the—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order, please.

I am going to ask everybody to allow members to speak, so the Speaker can hear the question or the response and so members who do not speak the other official language can hear the translation.

The hon. minister has the floor.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, where are the Conservative MPs in this House when it comes to defending Albertans and making sure they have a dignified retirement? They are silent on CPP. They are silent on defending Albertans.

They have been muzzled by their leader and they are not standing up for Albertans, despite Danielle Smith's disastrous attempt to pull Canadians out of the CPP. The Conservatives are nowhere. We are here for—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, let us try to keep ourselves to time by respecting those who have the floor.

I am certain everybody would like to hear the question from the member for Tobique—Mactaquac.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you where Albertan MPs are; they are standing up for their constituents and voting non-confidence in the government, which needs to be replaced.

After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, upwards of 50 active military families are using the food bank I just visited in Oromocto, New Brunswick. Those 50 families are serving at the Gagetown base, Canada's largest military base. This is an absolute disgrace and completely unacceptable. Now the Liberals are adding insult to injury by hiking the punitive, ineffective and useless carbon tax.

When will the Liberals finally listen to Canadians, show some respect to our nation's finest and axe the tax?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I really find that quite rich coming from the member opposite, the member for Tobique—Mactaquac, when Conservatives voted against a raise for our hard-working DND employees. They voted against the increase for ACOA last fall when we had the all-night voting marathon.

I would love to ask the member what he was going to say to constituents about the 106 projects that were funded in his riding that he voted against. Trust me; we will be telling them we have the backs of small businesses in rural New Brunswick and rural Atlantic Canada.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be glad to tell them that I was voting non-confidence in the government that needs to be replaced.

The government has caused the inflationary crisis through reckless spending, and now it is hiking the carbon tax by 23% on gas, heat and food on April 1. If Liberals really cared about Canadians, especially those who sacrifice so much in service to our country, they would listen to the well over 70% of Canadians who are demanding they get off their back and axe the tax.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, there is so much shouting today that I can forgive the member opposite for not hearing earlier today the good news for Canadians, which is that thanks to the hard work of Canadians, and it has been a challenging time, inflation in February is back to the Bank of Canada's target range. That followed the numbers for January. This is good news for Canadians who have been through a hard time.

We support Canada and Canadians. All Conservatives want to do is cut, cut, cut.

Housing

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Edmontonians are experiencing a double housing crisis. Rent is increasing at the fastest pace in the country while we are seeing the lowest vacancies rates we have had in a decade. The Conservatives' slogans will not build affordable homes, and the Liberals are not fixing the problem they have created.

The NDP's protecting renters fund would help save affordable homes and give renters the hope they need. Will the Liberals commit to including this fund in the budget so Edmontonians do not go homeless?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy.

I had the opportunity to be in Edmonton recently to meet with the mayor and the provincial minister in Alberta, as well as with my colleague, the member for Edmonton Centre. We are working hard to advance additional funding to support community-based organizations that support Canadians who are living without a roof over their head. We also very recently had the opportunity to share an agreement with $175 million behind it that will build thousands of homes in Edmonton, including more rentals, which will help reduce the cost of rent and continue to support people who are looking to find a place to live.

There is no silver bullet for the housing crisis, but we will pull every lever at our disposal to help solve it by working together with Edmonton and Alberta.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, the European Union states that Netanyahu is using deliberate starvation of children in Gaza as a weapon of war. Human rights groups have spoken out against the targeting of journalists, civilians, hospitals and aid workers, and the UN has called out Canada for complicity in this because we provide military weapons to Israel. Last night, Parliament called for an end to military aid to Netanyahu's government, and yet numerous military supply deals are still in the works.

Will the minister respect Parliament and tell us whether deals like the guns from Colt in Kitchener and armed vehicles from Roshel in Brampton will be sent to Israel, yes or no?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by saying that yesterday, for me, was a day I was very proud to be a parliamentarian. In the House, four out of five parties came together to find a workable solution, to find a Canadian position that Canadians could be comfortable with. We will continue to advocate for a ceasefire. We will continue to not sell arms, as we have promised, and we will continue to make sure that we bring hostages back to where they belong: in their homes.

I invite the Conservatives to be as engaged in this as we are.

Child Care

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, we all recognize the crucial importance of successful, high-quality child care for families in the Northwest Territories. With the increase in the cost of living, accessible day care is vital. Families in my riding and across the north have been eager to see this plan built out.

My question for the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development is what is being done for the Northwest Territories and for northerners more broadly?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, it was wonderful to be in the Northwest Territories with my colleague. I met with Jude from the Yellowknife Day Care Association, Jennifer at Aurora College and many others who were able to share with me first-hand the impact of our Canada-wide system on making life more affordable.

As of April 1, families in the Northwest Territories will see their child care fees reduced to an average of $10 a day, saving them up to $9,000 each year per child. These are meaningful savings each and every month for the moms and dads in the Northwest Territories to put towards the essentials their families need.

Carbon Pricing

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the manager of a Montreal food bank gave the following explanation after police had to intervene when food bank clients began shoving one another in line because there was not enough food. She said, “They are starving, so they are acting out.” This is Canada after eight years of this Prime Minister. Food banks are overwhelmed and in dire straits because food is too expensive. The Liberal solution is to increase the carbon tax on April 1, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, which will drive up the price of food even further. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.

When will the Prime Minister put an end to hunger and cancel the 23% tax hike planned for April 1?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, “the survival of our planet is at stake. I cannot ignore this urgent climate challenge and continue to look my two sons in the eyes.” Those are the words of Premier Legault. He is proud that Quebec has its own carbon pricing system. Quebeckers are proud of that. The Conservatives want to eliminate it. We will not let them do that.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more and more Quebec families and workers may no longer be able to make ends meet because food is too expensive. Why is food too expensive? Quebec imports food from the rest of Canada. The farmers who grow that food are paying the carbon tax. Food processors are paying the carbon tax. The truckers hauling that food are paying the carbon tax. Guess who ends up paying the bill? Quebec families do. The carbon tax the “Liberal Bloc” wants to drastically increase is also costing Quebeckers dearly.

When will they put an end to this madness?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives are playing with semantics, we have just learned that the UN has just declared that 2024 could be the hottest year in history. What we are hearing from the Conservatives is do nothing. The planet is sounding the alarm. That is why, on this side of the House, we will continue to invest in fighting climate change. We will continue to invest in Canadian families. We will continue to invest in Canadians despite the fact that the Conservatives want to ignore climate change in this country.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, more and more Canadians are using food banks. People are so hungry that tensions are rising in lineups, so much so that the police have to intervene to restore order while food is being distributed. Nevertheless, the Liberal government, supported by the Bloc Québécois, is going to increase the carbon tax again on April 1, and that is no April Fool's joke.

It is very costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. Apart from increasing the suffering of Quebeckers, what is the point of voting for the Bloc Québécois?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think there are a lot of people watching at home who just cannot get over the fact that the disinformation coming from the Conservative side is now limitless. The member who just asked a question voted in favour of carbon pricing in Quebec. She voted to fight climate change. She was part of a government that was a North American leader in the fight against climate change, and now, under pressure from her climate-change-denying leader, she is turning her back on all her principles. That is unacceptable.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would invite the member to read the speech that our leader gave when he was in Quebec City for the Conservative convention.

Inflation has already reached devastating levels, resulting in the highest cost of living in 40 years—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. I would ask members to come to order so that the Chair can hear the question.

I would ask the hon. member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis to restart her question.