Martin Shields

[Privilege, October 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague explained a little about this, but he understands documents and the importance of understanding where money goes and how critical following the money is. Innovation is important, as he pointed out, as is looking for successful innovations.

Following the documents and money is a critical piece to this issue. Would my colleague like to comment on that?

[Privilege, October 22nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague worked in an industry where transparency and trust was important when dealing with other people's money. I think she would probably relate to the idea of why trust is very important when we are dealing with other people's money.

[Privilege, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see you in the chair this afternoon. I appreciate what you do.

Some of us are a little bit longer in the tooth. The hon. member is my colleague both by profession and as an MP, and he might remember the Gomery commission, as I do. I think we spent considerable time talking about the lost $40 million, until finally the media paid attention and there was the Gomery commission. However, the present issue is many more times significant than that. It involves many more dollars, and it is about not only this one instance, but many.

My colleague knows the history. He is an ethical gentleman and believes in honesty. How would he respond to the question of the significance of the amount of money that we are talking about with the current issue?

[Carbon Pricing, October 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up for this Liberal carbon tax grab.

New data confirms that Alberta families will be worse off by nearly $2,000 after the carbon tax is quadrupled. That is money coming out of Alberta and into government pockets to pay off Liberal insiders.

Will the Prime Minister apologize for the public smearing of the independent budget officer for telling the truth, and finally call the carbon tax election?

[Carbon Pricing, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that, but sorry, propane is not something we use in irrigation. I am not sure where the member is getting that information. Irrigation does not use propane. He needs to come out and see the electricity and natural gas it uses. It is not propane.

I thank the member for the rest of what he said. Adapting is what we need to do, but here is the real problem, which is taxing other levels of government. My neighbouring MP and I looked at the school systems and their buses, and at the municipalities. We looked at the health systems. There are tens of millions of dollars leaving our two ridings for carbon tax. That would be more doctors, more nurses, more teachers, and more people having programs and schools for their kids.

Taxing other levels of government is a huge problem. We have been able to figure out that tens of millions of dollars have left our ridings in carbon tax. That is problematic, and we need a carbon tax election.

[Carbon Pricing, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to continuing the debate with my colleague across the aisle about carbon tax.

One of the things that will probably occur tonight is we will probably both draw from a particular document that was released by the Parliamentary Budget Officer today. I heard the member refer to it earlier today. We will probably both refer to it as we verify our side of the debate. It says:

In 2030-31, taking into consideration both fiscal and economic impacts, PBO estimates that the average household in each of the backstop provinces will see a net cost, paying more in the federal fuel charge and related Goods and Services Tax, as well as receiving lower incomes (due to the fuel charge), compared to the Canada Carbon Rebate they receive and lower net taxes they pay (due to lower incomes).

That would suggest to me that there are people in this country who will get less back than they receive in rebates.

Here is another one from the report:

...the economic impact of the federal fuel charge is combined with the fiscal impact, the net cost increases for the average household across all income quintiles, reflecting the overall negative economic impact of the fuel charge.

In 2030-31, taking into consideration both fiscal and economic impacts, we estimate that the average household in each of the backstop provinces will see a net cost, paying more in the federal fuel charge and GST, as well as receiving lower incomes.

Another one says:

However, as PBO has noted, Canada’s own emissions are not large enough to materially impact climate change and therefore their reduction would not materially affect the Canadian economy.

There was a chart on the average cost for an Albertan showing they would pay $697, so almost $700 more, in tax than they receive. That is data from the report.

There are a couple more out there. There was the Agriculture Carbon Alliance. It sampled 50 farms and showed a total $330,000, in just one month, paid in carbon tax. Now if we have 190,000 farms in Canada, that gets to be a big number.

What makes it different in my riding is irrigation. As I said before, when I met with one farmer with an irrigated farm, he paid approximately $100,000 in carbon tax a year. I saw the bills he had, and went through them with him.

I have hundreds of irrigated farms in my riding. If we multiply that number, we get the amount that is paid in carbon tax from irrigation farms. There is no rebate on what they use to power this. There are no exemptions. The amount that irrigation farm farmers in my area, who produce high-quality crops, pay is huge. What they ask me is, “Why does EV production get a $50-billion subsidy, when we have to pay a huge carbon tax?”

The farmers in my area see the carbon tax as a huge cost to them, much higher than average farmers, who are paying a lot. They see the subsidy to EV batteries at $50 billion, rather than them paying the carbon tax. It is really tough for them to take.

[Carbon Pricing, September 20th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, after nine years of this NDP-Liberal government, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. The NDP leader's publicity stunt got some airtime, but when it comes to voting against the government, which he said was finished, he caves. Carbon tax already costs the trucking industry $2 billion. Now, with this quadrupling, it will be expensive for our trucking industry to survive.

Will they listen to Canadians and call a carbon tax election now so that common-sense Conservatives can axe the tax now?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, June 17th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I would like to say to my hon. colleague that another example might be that we have seen that young professionals, as I have read in news stories, are leaving the country in significant numbers because they cannot deal with this taxing regime any longer. Would the member like to comment on another example of the outcome of the government's policy?

[Carbon Pricing, June 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the fix is in. Last week Conservatives forced the reveal of the secret report that the Prime Minister and his carbon tax-obsessed environment minister covered up, which confirmed that the carbon tax costs families almost $2,000 per year, and every year $30 billion is lost in economic productivity. Liberals are so desperate to hide the truth that they publicly smeared and gagged the independent budget officer.

When will the minister of economic and environment vandalism resign, or better yet, get fired?

[First Nations Clean Water Act, June 5th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, it seems as though everybody wants to sue the government in power all the time. However, I want there to be legislation that is as good as it can be so that it limits the possibility of such a challenge happening.