Catherine McKenna

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, in this day and age, Conservative politicians do not understand that the environment and the economy go together.

There was a time when Brian Mulroney took serious action on environmental challenges. What did he do? He tackled the biggest challenge I remember when growing up, which was acid rain. How did he do it? He showed leadership, he listened to scientists and he worked with business. What did he do? He put a price on pollution. Canadian companies innovated and we tackled that problem.

We can tackle climate change, but the only way we will do it is by coming together as a country.

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, three and a half years ago, I was with the member opposite. We brought members of all parties to COP21, including the member opposite. We stood with the world to negotiate an ambitious Paris agreement. I was extremely proud that we had members of all parties there.

Then what did we do? We came home and did the hard work. For one year, we negotiated with provinces and territories, indigenous peoples, with all Canadians to develop a climate plan. However, in the face of that, the Conservatives continue to deny that climate change is a serious problem, that we are in a climate emergency, that we need to take action.

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am so happy to hear the member opposite talk about the environment. I did not think he had ever heard the word.

Climate action is indeed necessary. We have a plan. Do the opposition members want to join us in combatting climate change and growing our economy?

We have created 1 million jobs and we have a climate plan. We can do both at the same time. I invite the opposition to join us.

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is like whiplash here in the House of Commons. On the one side we have the Conservatives, who do not want to take climate action and do not seem to understand the economic opportunity, and on the other side we have a party that is attacking us.

Liberals are taking serious climate action. We are phasing out coal. We are ensuring a just transition for workers. We are making investments in energy-efficient and clean solutions. We are making it no longer free to pollute. We are taking all the action we need to.

I would ask all parties in the House, why not join us? Why not be serious on climate change? Why not think about the future that we want for our kids and the good economic—

[Carbon Pricing, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I feel like the party opposite is worried about debt and worried about costs, but it should be worried about the costs that we are passing on to our kids, the cost of climate change.

We have an emergency here, and the party opposite is not telling the truth to Canadians. We are paying. We have gone from $400 million a year to over $2 billion because of the cost of climate change. Why does the opposition not step up? Why does the opposition not step up for climate action? Why does it not step up for the economy of the future and stop misleading Canadians?

[Carbon Pricing, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the price of gas has gone up 1¢ because of the price on pollution, but in the party opposite, all they do is spread misinformation, whether it is Doug Ford or Jason Kenney or the party opposite, who refuse to actually tell their constituents in their flyers that the biggest incentive that they can get through the tax system is a climate action incentive. All Canadians, those in Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, are entitled to more money back. Eighty per cent of families will be better off. It is no longer free to pollute. We are taking action on climate change—

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, that is something that has to be corrected here, because it is a real problem.

We are actually building better rules for approval of major projects. No one gets a pass. The whole point is making sure that we have rules that rebuild the trust of the public in how we review projects, that we work with indigenous peoples and that we make sure good projects go ahead in a timely way, with clear rules. That is what we are doing.

We are also tackling the climate change crisis. We are phasing out coal. We are ensuring a just transition. We are not flip-flopping on projects that are supported by the NDP government in B.C. and are creating good jobs.

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the leader has a plan to leave 10,000 workers behind, because he has flip-flopped on a project that was approved by an NDP government in B.C. that is all in on climate change.

We all need to come together on climate change. That is why we brought in a motion for a climate emergency. I certainly hope everyone in the House will support it and that they will support serious climate action, support creating good jobs and support making life more affordable, because that is exactly what we are doing.

[The Environment, May 15th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that there is a climate emergency, and it is evident across Canada. People, families and homes in the national capital region have been affected by floods. We have a plan.

I would like to know what the NDP's plan is, since it is not very clear.

We have a plan for the economy and the environment. The NDP is flip-flopping. It supported LNG Canada, but now it does not. There are 10,000 jobs on the line.

We have a plan to combat climate change and create jobs. We have created one million jobs, and we are very proud of—

[Carbon Pricing, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I already talked about the fact that under our climate plan, we are putting a price on pollution and giving the money back.

However, let us talk about all the other measures that are helping single mums in the member opposite's riding. The Canada child benefit raised 300,000 children out of poverty. We have lowered taxes on the middle class, asking the 1% to pay a little more. We created a million jobs so single moms could have good jobs. We have lowered taxes on small businesses. from 11% to 9%, and created a million jobs for Canadians.

We are going to continue taking action on climate change. We are going to continue growing the economy. We are doing it in a way that is affordable and gets people ahead.