Catherine McKenna

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I will continue talking with the provinces and territories, with business leaders, with indigenous leaders, and with labour, including labour groups in Alberta, because we know we need to tackle climate change, and we need to grow our economy.

I am very surprised by the member opposite, who I thought would believe in free market economics and would understand that carbon pricing is a market mechanism that is the best way to reduce carbon pollution and innovate, but perhaps he does not believe in climate change, and that might be the problem.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on carbon. I am very proud of the leadership of the Alberta government that brought in a price on carbon, because it recognizes that it is the best way to reduce pollution and also to foster innovation. That is why we have energy companies that are saying, “Please, put a price on carbon, because we will innovate, we will create good jobs, and we will position ourselves for the future”.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have spent the last eight months criss-crossing the country speaking with labour, speaking with business leaders, speaking with indigenous Canadians, speaking with everyone who would like to actually move forward on climate change. We have had discussions. I met with my territorial counterparts. They are concerned about the impact of carbon pricing, and we are having a good discussion with them.

The bottom line is that right now, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where, through the leadership of the province, because there was inaction by the Conservative government, there is a price on carbon. We are going to move forward in a thoughtful way, working with provinces and territories—

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the party opposite, we understand that the environment and the economy go together.

Since I was elected, I have spent time criss-crossing the country, meeting with all provinces, all territories, meeting with labour leaders, meeting with indigenous leaders, meeting with Canadians, and meeting with business.

Canadians expect us to act on climate change, because we are the first generation to feel the impact, and we are the only generation that can actually change things.

We are going to move forward with our plan, because we understand that it is the right thing to do to tackle climate change and grow our economy.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite might not understand that B.C. has a carbon tax, and it is revenue neutral, so B.C. actually returns the revenues to its citizens.

The energy companies are actually with us. Let me quote from Suncor CEO Steve Williams:

We think climate change is happening. We think a broad-based carbon price is the right answer.

CEO of Dutch Shell, Total, and four other major energy companies:

We firmly believe that carbon pricing will discourage high carbon options.... We now need governments around the world to provide us with this framework....

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that the environment and the economy go together. Right now, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on carbon: B.C. and Alberta have a carbon tax; Ontario and Quebec have a cap and trade system.

We understand that carbon pricing is the most efficient way to reduce emissions and to foster innovation.

I am very proud that 25 Canadian companies have joined on to our carbon pricing leadership coalition calling for a price on carbon, because they know it is the way forward to innovate and to grow our economy.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are ready to take action on climate change. I spent the summer talking with my counterparts all across the country.

However, let us be clear, the Harper targets were fake targets. When one puts out targets and does not have a plan to meet them and emissions go up—and we have been very transparent about how the emissions have gone up—it is hard to meet them.

What Canadians expect is real action, and we are going to deliver real action with the provinces and territories, with indigenous leaders, with business, with youth, with all Canadians, because that is what we are committed to doing.

[The Environment, June 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure to go to Saskatchewan, where I met with my counterpart, the environment minister there. We had a great discussion about how we could reduce emissions and we could tackle climate change working together. I went and visited carbon capture and storage, where they are looking at new technologies. I talked to the agricultural sector about how it could reduce emissions.

It seems that the only party that does not understand the need to reduce emissions is the party opposite.

[The Environment, June 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that the middle class is working hard. We also understand that we need to take action on climate change. We know that the lowest-cost way of reducing emissions and tackling carbon pollution is by putting a price on it.

However, once again, let me go to Preston Manning. “Conservatives profess to believe in markets. So why don’t conservatives major on how to harness markets to the environmental conversation, and make that their signature contribution.”

Mark Cameron, former policy adviser to former prime minister Stephen Harper, said, “As most free-market economists...”—

[The Environment, June 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am quite happy to continue repeating all of the people who support a price on carbon. Maybe we should go to industry. We have Pierre Gratton, who is the president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada. Speaking on behalf of one of Canada's largest industries, he stated that they support carbon pricing and that it represents “the most effective and efficient means of driving emissions reductions and making real progress in the global fight against climate change”.

Maybe it is time for the Conservatives to get with the program and do what everyone else is calling for, which is to take climate change seriously and put a price on emissions.