Laurel Collins

[Committees of the House, December 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the member mentioned that he believes, and I think most Canadians believe, the Conservatives would scrap investments in climate solutions. We also know they would cut essential bodies that keep us on track and would muzzle scientists. In 2012, the Harper government cut funding to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy. It meant we had no way to track the impacts of forest fires and climate devastation.

Can the member speak to how scary it is to think about another government that would crack down on scientists, that would muzzle the essential voices we need when we are facing a climate emergency, especially given nine years of Liberal inaction?

[Committees of the House, December 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I, too, enjoy sitting on the environment committee with the hon. member. She is going to be dearly missed in the House.

She raised the point of the environment minister lecturing her about jurisdiction. It was in the context of Bay du Nord. The government has approved not only the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is going to cost taxpayers $35 billion, threaten our west coast and increase emissions around the globe, but also Bay du Nord.

Can the member speak about the hypocrisy, the contradictions, in an environment minister, and a government, that claims to be a climate leader but then approves these kinds of projects and buys a pipeline?

[Committees of the House, December 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I would hope that all members can agree that the environment commissioner's report on the net-zero accelerator fund is deeply concerning. As members of Parliament, as we look at the documents that we have been provided, it is hard to get a sense of what is going on because of the redactions and the missing pages. However, we do have the environment commissioner's report, which really outlines, clearly, that something is amiss when a government hands out billions of dollars and does not link that to emissions reductions.

The member is correct in presenting this, but what he needs to answer is that Canadians right now are looking at this and wondering how the Conservatives cannot even agree if climate change is real. In the past, when Harper was in power, they handed out billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies in the form of fossil fuel subsidies.

Would the member commit to stopping the handouts to profitable oil and gas companies and pushing the government to do the same?

[Committees of the House, December 3rd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the member did not completely answer my colleague's question, which was about whether the Conservatives are going to hand over public money to private companies for an unproven technology that is being used in other areas to produce more oil and to raise emissions. Carbon capture and storage, as the IPCC has said, is one of the most expensive and least proven at scale technologies to meet our net-zero goals.

The government has given over $5.8 billion to profitable oil and gas companies, when the private sector could be doing the investing. Will the member commit to pushing for private investment into carbon capture and storage, if private investors so choose, but to no longer putting public money into unproven technology?

[The Economy, November 28th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, they are not supporting all Canadians. The Liberals are letting Canadians down. Almost everyone is cutting back. Life is expensive, and that is especially true for students, seniors and people with disabilities. What is the Liberals' plan? It is to exclude them from the $250 rebate.

Even the Liberals' own MPs think it is absurd, and the Conservatives want to give tax breaks to billionaires like Galen Weston, but will not give a tax break to everyday Canadians. When the Conservatives show us who they are, we should believe them.

Will the Liberals fix their botched rebate, yes or no?

[Government Business No. 43—Proceedings on Bill C‑78, November 28th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, Canadians need a break right now. Giving them a break over the holidays is supportable, but the NDP, just a few weeks ago, proposed taking the GST off essentials permanently.

This is a small break for Canadians, and while NDP members want any break they can get, why not take the GST off essentials permanently?

[Privilege, November 28th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In House of Commons Procedure and Practice, chapter 3 says that when a member repeatedly gives false information it can be ruled as unparliamentary.

[Gender-Based Violence, November 27th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, every six days, another woman is killed by intimate partner violence. Today is one of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, a call to action to challenge the systems, laws, and attitudes that lead to violence against women, girls and gender-diverse individuals.

In Canada, gender-based violence is an epidemic, one that disproportionately impacts indigenous women, racialized women, migrant women and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. On December 6, I will join the city of Victoria's vigil to honour the 14 women killed in the École Polytechnique massacre, who were victims of misogynistic violence.

However, it is not enough to commemorate and it is not enough to pledge. We need concrete action. The government has failed to deliver sustainable funding for shelters, failed to provide affordable housing and failed to implement the calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Enough is enough. Everyone deserves to live free from violence.

[Taxation, November 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, everyday Canadians are scraping by, while CEOs get richer. The Liberals are letting Canadians down. They put an expiry date on their GST cut. On the rebate, the Liberals' message to seniors, students and people with disabilities is that they do not get a break. It is shameful.

As for the Conservatives, they only want tax breaks for billionaires, not parents who are just trying to keep up with their bills and grocery costs.

Why will the government not make billionaires pay their fair share so that seniors and people on disability get a break?

[Petitions, November 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers have been exposed to lead while in the workplace. I rise today to present a petition pointing out that exposure to lead needs close monitoring and that standard practices in Canada involve collecting blood samples instead of bone samples.

The petitioners note that blood samples have been proven to be less effective and much more costly than testing one's exposure in a bone sample. They also note that bone measurements are collected through non-invasive scans and can show the long-term cumulative effects of lead exposure. Lead exposure can have extremely detrimental impacts on one's health and can even be fatal.

Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the government to test individuals for lead exposure with bone data instead of blood data to create a more effective and cost-efficient standard of practice.