Debates of March 20th, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the average net benefit per household in Ontario is $255 a year. That is fighting climate change while putting more money in the pockets of Canadians.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer himself demonstrated that eight out of 10 Canadian families in regions that get the carbon price backstop do better with the price on pollution. It puts more money back in their pockets than it costs them on the fight for climate change.

This is the plan we are delivering for Canadians. That is the plan the member wants to scrap.

Intergovernmental Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not put much stock in polls. Polls should not dictate a government's choices. That said, before he says who is speaking for whom, the Prime Minister ought to know that the Bloc Québécois has been ahead of the Liberals in every poll for longer than I can remember.

If the Prime Minister is doing that poorly in the polls, so poorly that even the Conservatives are outperforming the Liberals in Canada, perhaps it is because he does not respect Quebec, Quebeckers or the National Assembly.

Does he think that treating Quebec with contempt is a good idea because he knows he will never gain any seats in Quebec anyway, or because trashing Quebeckers will at least win him votes in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, people know very well that in democracies, there is only one poll that counts, and that is on election day.

The Liberal Party has won more seats in Quebec than the Bloc Québécois in the last three elections. That is because we are here to deliver meaningful results for Quebeckers and all Canadians with health agreements, help for dental care and seniors, $6 billion for day care in Quebec and other investments that help create economic growth, jobs for the future for Quebeckers and a greener world for all.

These are the investments we are making to represent Quebec, and we will continue to deliver.

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

Mr. Speaker, we sensed a little vulnerability, but it is just that we do not know whether they will be sitting at this end of the House or that end.

If the government really wants to get Quebeckers' attention, it will make adequate health care transfers. It will transfer immigration powers. Judges will be appointed. Things will get done the right way. So far, the government is not getting anything done, and its members are reading from cue cards in the House.

Will the Prime Minister at least go through the motions of doing his job for Quebeckers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let us consider the facts: 1.5 million Canadian seniors have signed up for our dental care plan, which the Conservatives voted against. More than a third of those seniors live in Quebec. That means hundreds of thousands of Quebec seniors will be getting free dental care thanks to federal investments in dental care.

We are here to deliver results for Quebeckers. We will always be here for Quebeckers and for all Canadians.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, now the legislature in Newfoundland and Labrador has acknowledged that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost after eight years. It passed a motion, supported by the Liberal premier and personal friend of the Prime Minister, to oppose the April 1 tax hike.

It must have heard from the Parliamentary Budget Officer that the cost to Newfoundlanders of the carbon tax this year will be $1,874 for the average Newfoundland and Labrador family. What will their rebate be?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the average net benefit per household in Newfoundland and Labrador is $303 a year. That is the money that they pocket with our price on pollution and the Canada carbon rebate cheques that go to households across the province.

The province is open to creating its own price on pollution, its own plan to fight climate change, as long as it is as strong as the federal backstop. The province is welcome to do that if it wants to do it a different way, but in the meantime we are going to both fight climate change and deliver more money to the families in Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts directly from the Parliamentary Budget Officer: The cost to the average Newfoundland family is $1,874, and the rebate is $1,497, for a net loss of $377 and growing. These are the facts. Could the Prime Minister stop denying the facts?

If the Prime Minister really wants to contest and argue that he should be able to raise the tax, why does he not have the courage to call an election and let Canadians decide?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are busy delivering for Canadians a price on pollution that puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 families across the country.

He wants an election on the price on pollution? We had three, and we won them all.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, then he should not be afraid to have one more.

This is a Prime Minister who has doubled housing costs. He sent two million people lining up at food banks and 8,000 joining a Facebook group learning how they can eat a meal out of a dumpster, and now his best solution is to hike the tax on their heat, their home, their fuel and their food.

If he really believes in it, why does he not call a carbon tax election now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard time and time again over these past many months the Leader of the Opposition talk about how Canada is broken. We are focused on supporting Canadians with things like child care, dental care and a plan to fight climate change that puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families right across the country. That is the approach that is delivering for Canadians.

We still have more work to do, and we are going to keep doing it to deliver for Canadians every single day we are in the House.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the finance minister claimed that the carbon tax was revenue-neutral, that the government did not keep a single penny. It turns out it keeps hundreds of billions of pennies. It has collected, so far, $20.7 billion and has only paid back $18.6 billion. In other words, the government has profited by over $2 billion by pillaging the pockets of Canadians.

When will the Canadian people get their $2 billion back? If the Prime Minister is so sure about taking it away, why does he not call an election to defend it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is now complaining about $2 billion that he would never give to Canadian businesses, would never give to Canadians, because he would scrap the Canada carbon rebate. We are actually delivering money across the country to communities, to individuals, to small businesses and to indigenous communities to fight climate change and help them afford their groceries.

The Conservative leader wants to eliminate the carbon rebate. He wants to eliminate the plan to fight climate change. He has no plan for the future of the economy.

The Environment

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is in first place. We rank number one. The Liberals should be proud—but wait, first place for what? Canada ranks number one for air pollution. For the first time, Canada is the most polluted country in North America. We are worse than the United States. With the climate crisis and forest fires, people are suffocating. They cannot breathe properly. Pollution is making them sick. People are dying, and it is going to get worse.

Is the Minister of Environment and Climate Change proud to represent the most polluted country in North America?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that those remarks make a good sound bite for the NDP, but this is really about forest fires. Last year's forest fires were terrible. The reality is that we need to do even more to fight climate change.

The Conservative Party wants to step back from our fight against climate change. They want to take away the rebate cheques we deliver to Canadians. The NDP, meanwhile, has never had a plan to fight climate change when it comes to election time. We have always been there with a concrete plan, and we will continue to be there to protect Canadians.

Women and Gender Equality

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government continues to fail women, including care workers in women's shelters. The cuts to women's shelters have impacted not only women fleeing violence but also shelter workers, who are facing a burnout crisis, consistently overworked and underpaid.

Seventy-five percent of the care economy is women. This is a gender equality issue. Why do the so-called feminist Liberals not stop wasting millions on private consultants and invest in fair wages for shelter workers to help save lives?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have demonstrated from day one that we are there to work with the provinces to invest in the care economy, whether it is commitments to raise personal support worker wages to $25 an hour, whether it is through our historic child care agreements that are creating wage grids for early childhood educators or whether it is moving forward on strengthening support for indigenous communities and for care workers in and from indigenous communities, we will continue to be there.

We recognize there is more work to do. We are there to do it, hand in hand with the different jurisdictions across the country.

Child Care

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for years, parents in my riding, Vaughan—Woodbridge, have been talking about how hard it is to find child care spots for their children. That is why we introduced our bill on early learning and child care, which the Conservative Party tried to delay.

Can the Prime Minister inform the House of the current status of this important bill?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, child care supports not only parents, but also our economy. I am so happy to see that with the support of the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge and our caucus, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act received royal assent yesterday.

Unfortunately, the Conservative leader ordered his members to obstruct and delay the passage of this bill. Nevertheless, we have kept our promise to Canadians. No matter where they live, they will have access to affordable, inclusive and quality child care.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost to our economy. Real per person GDP has grown more slowly in Canada than in all the rest of the G7. It is dead last. In fact, our per capita GDP is smaller than it was five years ago, which is the worst record since the Great Depression. The Parliamentary Budget Officer calculates that the carbon tax will blow an $18-billion hole in the size of our GDP, $1,000 in economic costs per family.

If he really thinks that is worth the cost, why will we not have a carbon election to—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, at the same time, our population is growing faster than that of other countries around the world, if one is going to be telling the full story.

The reality is that our price on pollution puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families in the backstop provinces. This is a fact recognized by the Parliamentary Budget Officer and recognized by Canadians, who see both a real plan to invest in the jobs and careers of the future, the competitiveness Canada needs, and the fight against climate change to keep us safe, while putting more money in the pockets of Canadian families from coast to coast to coast.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the government gets bigger and the people get poorer. After eight years, he is not worth the cost. He is blowing another $18-billion hole in our GDP with the carbon tax, a hole that will mean lower wages and a lower quality of life for the Canadian people.

The Prime Minister now wants to quadruple the carbon tax, starting with his April Fool's Day hike. When will he realize that after eight years of Canadians' lining up at food banks and living in tents, he is not worth the cost?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the price on pollution returns every dollar it collects to the jurisdictions in which it is collected. That is the fact that built our program, our fight against climate change. The reality is that we are creating jobs and we are creating growth, and we are putting more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families in backstop provinces. This is the plan that fights climate change, builds a stronger economy and supports Canadians right now with rebate cheques that the Leader of the Opposition would cancel.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, based on his own main estimates and public accounts, he has collected over $20 billion in taxes and only returned $18 billion, so it is factually inaccurate to say that he has given every penny back. In fact we know that in every single province where the carbon tax applies, Canadians pay more than they get back. Furthermore, there is only one provincial party that supports the tax; the B.C. NDP is happily implementing this federally mandated tax grab.

Will the Prime Minister today allow British Columbia to cancel the April Fool's Day tax hike?