Debates of March 20th, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report lays out clearly that eight out of 10 Canadian families across the country, where the price on pollution applies, get more money back every year. That is how we put more money in the pockets of Canadians while having one of the strongest plans to fight climate change around the world. That is what the Conservative Party is standing against right now: money in the pockets of Canadian families and a real plan to fight climate change that is working, that is bringing down emissions, that is making us more competitive and that is helping build the future.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to read again the testimony from the March 18 appearance of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. He said, “Once you factor in the rebate but also the economic impacts...the majority of households will see a negative impact as a result of the carbon tax.” The Prime Minister plans to make this problem worse with a carbon tax hike on heat, on homes, on fuel and on food. We will not stand for it.

Once again, which will it be? Will he spike the hike, or will we have a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what will it be? It will be that Canadians get more money with the Canada carbon rebate. Eighty per cent of Canadian households, in areas where the federal carbon tax applies, get more money every year from the Canada carbon rebate than they pay in the price on pollution. On top of that, we are fighting climate change, making our industries more competitive and preparing a better future. There is no plan on the Conservatives' side of the House to either help Canadians with rebate cheques or fight climate change.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, not only did the Parliamentary Budget Officer testify that the majority of households will pay more in carbon taxes than they get back in rebates, but there is also a table showing that, in every single province in which this tax applies, middle-class families pay vastly more than they get back. Canadians know it, because, under the Prime Minister, they have seen their food, their fuel, their homes and their heating go through the roof.

Why do we not just end the debate and let Canadians decide and have a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer clearly spelled out that eight out of 10 Canadian families in areas where the price on pollution applies get more money back every year than they pay in the price on pollution.

That is because we created a plan that not only is one of the strongest plans to fight climate change in the world but also puts more money back in the pockets of middle-class Canadians, as we build a stronger future, better careers, more competitiveness and a safer environment for generations to come.

That is the plan we have. That is not what they are doing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister made a good joke. He told us about how well he gets along with the Premier of Quebec and how well they work together.

The reality is that everyone in the Quebec National Assembly except the Liberals—no surprise there—is calling for Quebec to be given all powers over immigration.

Is blatantly refusing François Legault's critical request without any explanation the Prime Minister of Canada's idea of friendship with Quebec?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows full well that Quebec has more power over immigration than any other province in Canada and that I sat down with Premier Legault last Friday to say, yes, let us work together to meet the objectives of Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec.

We are here to help businesses and to ensure that public services and housing are not overwhelmed. We will work hand in hand, as we have always done. We are here to deliver for Quebeckers and all Canadians, all together.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister is here to deliver for Quebeckers, then that is another epic fail to add to his record.

The Government of Quebec has paid for education, health, income security, child care and all government services. The Liberal government told Quebec to pay for it and said that it would pay Quebec back. The bill has reached $1 billion, but now that Quebec has a huge deficit on its hands, the Liberal government is saying, “Find the $1 billion yourself. I will not be giving it to you because we are such good friends. Now scram”.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if I were the leader of the Bloc Québécois, I would be careful not to imply that there are more Quebeckers on his party's side than ours. We also speak for Quebeckers. We represent Quebec ridings, and we are here to work hand in hand to deliver for Quebeckers, especially when it comes to health care, where we are working to improve services. The federal government is here to spend billions of dollars on the priorities of Quebeckers and Quebec. We are here to work together, and we will continue to do so on both sides of the chamber as Quebeckers.

Indigenous Affairs

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, first nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada are slipping further behind. Kids cannot access health services, and homes are falling apart. What are the Liberals doing? They are threatening to cut billions in services communities rely on. If it were up to the Conservative leader, Indigenous Services would be gutted altogether. The Liberals and Conservatives always seem to find ways to make rich CEOs even richer but never find money for real people.

Will the Prime Minister honour his commitments to indigenous people or leave them out to dry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are unequivocally committed, and have been since 2015, to working in partnership with first nations, Inuit and Métis communities across the country to advance self-determination and reconciliation. We have tripled investments in indigenous housing, mental health, access to clean drinking water and jobs, to contribute to economic reconciliation.

We have also moved forward to compensate first nations children and families who suffered under the discriminatory child welfare system. We have built over 30,000 homes since 2016, and we recently announced that we will move forward in creating an indigenous loans support program.

There is, of course, much more to do, but we will keep doing it.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that answer is little comfort to the residential school survivors and children who rely on those services. Imagine having to live in a mouldy home with young children, knowing that it is not a healthy place for them. That is the heartbreaking situation first nations are facing across the country. The Auditor General herself says that the government has no plan to close the housing gaps that are keeping first nations in inhumane conditions. Shame on them.

When will the Prime Minister take first nations housing seriously and provide the communities with the resources they desperately need?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have made historic investments in housing and indigenous communities after decades of wrongful underfunding by previous governments of all stripes. We are working every single day to do more.

We are committed to working in partnership with first nations and their communities. We thank the Auditor General for her work and her report, and we will continue to move forward to do even more in partnership with indigenous people across this country.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, among provincial parties, there has been an outbreak of common sense on the carbon tax. In fact, Nova Scotia Liberals, NDP members and Conservatives passed a unanimous motion in their legislature this week calling on their federal MPs to vote against the Prime Minister's 23% carbon tax hike. It is no wonder: The cost of the carbon tax to the average Nova Scotia family will be $1,605, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer; $1,605.

How much will the rebate be for the average family?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the federal price on pollution is a backstop. It is a system we put in place to both fight climate change everywhere across the country and put more money back in the pockets of Canadian families where it applies.

Every single province had and continues to have the option to replace the federal price on pollution with its own program, as long as it is as rigorous and stringent as the federal price on pollution. As long as they have a plan to fight climate change, as long as it is strong enough, they can do what they want. That is the option the provinces have. They can take that option. We are going to keep putting—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is demonstrably false, because Nova Scotia actually has a climate change plan, which he rejected and overrode with a federal carbon tax that is opposed by New Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives unanimously in the province's legislature.

I noticed he would not answer my question. He has been bragging about these rebates, but then when we talk about the cost, all of a sudden, he forgets the rebates. I am going to give him a second chance.

In the province of Nova Scotia, the cost to the average family will be $1,500. It will be $1,500 per Nova Scotia family. How much is the rebate?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. The reality is, for eight out of 10 families right across the country in backstop provinces, families do better off with the Canada carbon rebate than they do with the extra costs of the price on pollution. This is a plan to fight climate change, but it is also a plan to put more money in the pockets of families from coast to coast to coast.

The Conservative leader does not care about fighting against climate change and he does not care about affordability either, because he would rip up the rebate cheques and he would do less on fighting climate change. We are going to keep delivering for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he still will not answer the question. All the Liberal ministers came in with little cue cards a week ago with all these rebates on them. They were waving them around very proudly, and then we went to the Parliamentary Budget Officer and asked for the full price by province. We quoted that, for example, in Nova Scotia, it is $1,500 in costs to the average family according to the PBO.

Again, that is $1,500 in costs. What is the rebate, the number?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we see the lengths to which the Conservative Party will go to mislead Canadians about a plan that fights climate change and puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer himself admitted and said that we cannot take his words out of context, because he did not calculate the costs of inaction on fighting climate change. He did not calculate the competitive advantages of the innovation, the solutions and the economic growth that come with putting a price on pollution. The Conservative Party is not telling the full story.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer did not include the cost of climate change because the carbon tax does not address the cost of climate change. He made it clear the carbon tax will do nothing to change the cost of climate change, and that is why the tax costs more for every family in every province.

Let us go to Alberta, where two of the NDP leadership candidates have come out against the carbon tax. The Prime Minister's only friend in the province, Naheed Nenshi, has gone totally silent. Albertans will pay $2,900 in carbon tax per family. What will the rebate be for them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, $1,800 a year, for an average family of four, is the Canada carbon rebate. That is helping them. According to an analysis by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it is more than they pay in an extra price on pollution because of the price we put in at the federal level.

The price on pollution puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families and fights climate change while building a stronger, more competitive future.

Conservatives have no plan to fight climate change and no plan to help Canadians with rebate cheques.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister found his cue card and finally talked about the rebate. He said the average family in Alberta will get $1,800 while it is paying $2,943. In other words, next year alone, after this forthcoming hike, the average Alberta family will pay $1,100 more in carbon taxes than he gives back in his phony cheques.

Will the Prime Minister tell us if he understands that $2,900 is bigger than $1,800?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, how about a different stat, a stat the finance ministry analyzed? It turns out that for an average income quintile group with an average household of 2.5 Canadians, the average net benefit per household in Alberta is $723 a year. That is $723 in the pockets of the average Albertan family because we put a price on pollution that puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadian families.

That is what we are doing. That is how we fight climate change.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

The Prime Minister wants you to know, Mr. Speaker, that he has alternative facts. I get mine from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who reports directly to Parliament and is independent. He is using numbers that come from officials who report to him and depend on him for their jobs.

Let us take another province, Ontario, where the Liberal leader has now come out against the Prime Minister's carbon tax. Maybe she knows that the average cost to an Ontario family of the federal carbon tax is $1,674 for this coming year. How much is the rebate in Ontario?