Michael Chong

[Business of Supply, October 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

The government is completely out of touch, and I do not say that lightly. There is a crisis unfolding in rural parts of our country, in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, a real crisis, a crisis the government is ignoring.

Here is the crisis. Ten per cent of Canadians heat their home with heating oil or with propane. That is 3.8 million Canadians. About a million and a half households in our country heat their homes during the cold Canadian winters with heating oil or with propane. That is a third of Canadians living in Atlantic Canada. That is over a million people living in the province of Ontario. They heat their homes with oil or propane, and the vast majority of them heat with oil.

What many people do not realize, and what the government certainly does not realize, is that these Canadians are in dire straits. They are facing a crisis this winter. The one out of 10 Canadians who relies on heating oil or on propane is going to be bankrupted by the cost of heating his or her home this winter, and here is why.

Traditionally, 90% of Canadians heat with heat other than heating oil or propane. They either use natural gas or some form of alternative. However, here is the reality for those 10% of Canadians who use heating oil or propane.

For a house that is heated with natural gas, for every dollar of heat that house uses in natural gas, for that same house located in an area where there is only heating oil or propane, it costs three dollars, three times the amount, to heat with propane and it costs four dollars to heat with heating oil, or four times the amount.

These figures I give to the House are before the global energy crisis that has hit global economies over the last year or so. This winter the figures now facing the 10% of our fellow citizens who heat with propane or heating oil are truly frightening and that is why this is a crisis. I went on the website yesterday of West Nova Fuels of Nova Scotia, and I will quote from its website:

[O]n average a typical house with four people in it should burn about three to four tanks of oil in a year to heat your home and hot water, about 2800 litres of oil.

That is now much it takes to heat a typical home in rural Ontario and rural Atlantic Canada: 2,800 litres.

I went on the website of a company called Crescent Oil in rural southern Ontario that services much of rural southwestern Ontario with heating oil. Its current price for the cost of a litre of that heating oil is $2. Some areas of rural Ontario and rural Canada have even higher per-litre costs for heating oil. Canadians will understand that if they are told that number two heating oil is diesel. That is what furnace oil heating oil is.

If people have driven around in Ontario in the last week or so, they will see that the price of diesel fuel is at record high levels because of shortages of distillates and other heavy crudes, and it is selling for about $2.35 a litre now in Ontario. Therefore, it is no coincidence that heating oil, which is diesel, is selling for $2 a litre. That is $2 a litre for 2,800 litres over a winter. That is $5,600 to heat a typical home in rural Ontario or rural Atlantic Canada. That is before the carbon tax and the HST.

There is a carbon tax of roughly 13¢ a litre on that heating oil. There is HST not just on the base cost of the heating oil, but also on the carbon tax, so that $5,600 it is going to cost to heat one's home this winter in rural Ontario or rural Atlantic Canada actually is closer to $6,739, of which $375 is the carbon tax.

The government's rebates do not cover these costs. A typical four-person family, mom, dad and two kids, living in these rural areas, heating with heating oil and driving to work in a two-income family and putting 25,000 kilometres a year on each vehicle, because there is no public transit in rural areas, which is the very nature of living in a rural area, will consume about 5,000 litres of gasoline in a year.

As well, in Ontario there is an 11¢ a litre carbon tax on that gasoline. That means someone who is paying about $550 a year in carbon taxes for commuting, and add to that the $375 they have paid on their heating oil to keep their home at a minimal temperature of about 19°C or 20°C, is looking at $925 a year in carbon taxes just on commuting and heating. That is not to mention all the carbon taxes that are embedded on shipping, groceries and other costs. The climate rebate of $204.88 a quarter, for a total of $819.52, does not cover the cost.

Out of the government's own admission, and we heard it from the previous member, two out of 10 households in this country do not get more back from the rebate than they pay in carbon taxes. The government is ignoring those households and ignoring the crisis facing these households. It is ignoring the astronomical skyrocketing costs it will take to keep one's house warm in rural Ontario and rural Atlantic Canada this winter.

The argument that this is somehow working as part of a plan to reduce emissions to combat climate change is bunk. Here is the proof. Liberals have not met a single target. They came to office saying that they were going to meet Copenhagen. We blew through that without meeting that target. They said that they are now on track to meet Paris, which is total baloney.

Emissions have been rising under the Liberal government. In 2016, the first full year the government was in office, emissions were 715 megatonnes. In 2019, the last year before the pandemic for which we have data, emissions rose to 738 megatonnes. Now, they dropped in 2020, but shutting down the economy is no way to combat climate change and reduce emissions.

I will go out on a limb here. I believe that in 2022, Canada's emissions will blow through that 738 megatonne level to a record high for the government. Do not take it from me; take it from Bloomberg. I was reading the news this morning and I came across an article Bloomberg just published today entitled “[The Prime Minister] Defends Canada's Minuscule Climate Progress”, with the subheading, “A bevy of climate policies championed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have not yet translated into steep pollution cuts in the country.”

I want to quote from that article—

[Public Safety, October 6th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the government's priorities are descending into farce. It will not allow U.S. officers into Canada to reopen NEXUS offices even though we have an agreement and the United States is an ally. Meanwhile, Iranian officers freely come to this country to intimidate Canadians because it will not list the IRGC, and now we find out that police officers from the People's Republic of China are operating out of three offices illegally opened in Canada, intimidating Canadians.

What is the government doing about these illegal police stations in Toronto?

[Foreign Affairs, October 5th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, on January 8, 2020, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down a civilian airline, flight 752, killing 55 Canadian citizens and 30 residents of this country. My question for the Prime Minister is very simple: Does he believe that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a terrorist organization, yes or no?

[Food Day in Canada Act, October 4th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, food unites us. Food brings us together. It is particularly important during these times of division and strife around the world.

Everyone loves food, including things like poutine, tourtière and Lac‑Saint‑Jean blueberries.

Everyone loves food and we all love Canadian food, like tourtière, poutine, Malpeque oysters or maple syrup with pancakes and peameal bacon. We all love butter tarts, although I am treading on dangerous water because we can get into a debate about whether they should be with raisins or without and who exactly makes the best butter tarts. However, we all love Canadian food, whether it is Alberta barley-fed steak or Ontario corn-fed roast beef shared over a glass of Ontario or British Columbia wine.

I would like to add my support for this bill in the House. I would like to thank the hon. member for Perth—Wellington for sponsoring the bill in the House. It has been passed in the Senate, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the House to support this bill.

Food Day Canada started in 2003. Since then, it has been taking place on the Saturday of the August long weekend. This is the time of year when farmers markets are brimming with the many locally produced agricultural products that are freshly available, patios and restaurants are full of patrons and barbecues are in high season. Food Day Canada is a celebration in praise of Canadian farmers and fishers, chefs and researchers, and home cooks. On this day, everyone is encouraged to celebrate, to shop, to cook and to dine Canadian.

Food Day Canada's website contains numerous Canadian recipes that can be created using local Canadian ingredients, such as Saskatoon oat and seed bread, red lentil crusted albacore tuna with Beluga lentil and cherry tomato vinaigrette, and apple and cider cobbler. Our country has so much to offer when it comes to authentic Canadian cuisine and each Canadian recipe tells a story about who we are.

On Food Day Canada, events take place across the country at various restaurants and locations. Buildings are also lit up red and white in celebration, including at Charlottetown City Hall, the Montreal Tower, Toronto's CN Tower, the Alberta Legislature Building and the Vancouver Convention Centre. It is a true coming together of agriculture, aquaculture and the culinary communities of Canada. It is a day to shine a light on Canadian cuisine. Despite all this, though, Food Day Canada has not yet been designated a commemorative day in Canada and passing the bill in the House today will formally recognize this day and the importance of Canadian cuisine to our culture, our identity and our heritage.

Food Day Canada was founded by the late Anita Stewart. I got to know Anita not only as a constituent in Elora and before that, as the mother of sons I went to high school with at Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, Ontario. I later got to know her as a passionate advocate for Canadian food. It is due to her vision, dedication and perseverance that Food Day Canada has become the national event that it is. Passing this bill honours the legacy of Anita Stewart and her contributions to Canadian cuisine.

Anita Stewart founded Food Day Canada nearly 20 years ago. A member of the Order of Canada, founder of Cuisine Canada and the University of Guelph's food laureate, she was an incredible advocate for Canadian food and farmers. Sadly, Anita was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in October of 2020. She was a food writer, a food journalist and a self-described food activist. She was tireless in championing Canadian food, Canadian farmers and Canadian cuisine and was always looking for a new recipe and connecting that to the farmers who produced the ingredients.

She grew up in rural Wellington County and from those rural roots, she went everywhere across this country. Anita went over the side of icebreakers into work boats in the north Pacific to visit every manned light station on that coast and meet their keepers. She travelled by dogsled and snowmobile to Cree hunt camps in northern Quebec. She went to Hibernia, which she called the most easterly bastion of Canadian cuisine on this continent. She scuba dived for sea cucumbers and urchin in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and bucktail fly-fished for salmon in Discovery Passage.

She was an amazing storyteller about Canadian food, producing over a dozen Canadian cookbooks. One of her early works was co-written with Jo Marie Powers, titled The Farmers' Market Cookbook. It featured recipes collected from vendors at farmers' markets. Each recipe identified the market and the vendor where the recipe came from.

In her book, The Lighthouse Cookbook, Anita presented recipes from the keepers of British Columbia's lighthouses, including traditional clam chowder and mussels in wild mushrooms. Some other works by Anita include Country Inn Cookbook, The St. Lawrence Market Cookbook, and Northern Bounty: A Celebration of Canadian Cuisine.

It was through her cookbooks that my wife, Carrie, and I further got to know Anita. When we were first planning our wedding, 20 years ago this month, we came across a cookbook, titled Great Canadian Cuisine: The contemporary flavours of Canadian Pacific Hotels by Anita Stewart, on Carrie's grandmother's coffee table. One thing led to another. We met up with Anita, and her son, using that cookbook, prepared the most amazing wedding meal for all of the guests.

Through her written works, Anita did more than share recipes, she brought to life the story of Canadian food and the people behind it. She was the first, as many have mentioned, University of Guelph food laureate, believed to be the first at any university in Canada. As food laureate, she continued to champion Canadian cuisine, providing advocacy and leadership across academic and administrative departments.

She had a profound impact on the University of Guelph and on Wellington County. The Anita Stewart Memorial Food Laboratory at the university continues to “actively promote the growth and study of our Canadian food systems and cultures.” In deep recognition of her contributions to Canadian cuisine and culture, she was invested into the Order of Canada in 2012, one of our country's highest honours.

Just as Anita was passionate about Canadian cuisine, so too are her sons. She passed along that passion to her sons, Jeff, Mark, Brad and Paul. All four have had a great impact on Canadian cuisine and co-founded Food Day Canada with her. They also continue serve on Food Day Canada's board of directors. Jeff, who is Red Seal certified as a chef and sommelier, previously stated the following about his mom:

My mother was a real force in Canada, but also a real force in our family.... The amazing thing is the legacy she left behind and all the amazing connections of people who are supporting what she started.

Following her all too early passing, Niagara Falls was lit up in red and white to honour her and her life's work. There is no doubt that Canada is better for her contributions to Canadian cuisine.

This bill in front of us honours the legacy Anita Stewart left behind. It would also ensure that Canadian cuisine from coast to coast is honoured and celebrated each and every year. I encourage all of my colleagues here in the House to support this bill.

[Iran, October 4th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the Iranian regime is a brutal regime. It killed Montrealer Zahra Kazemi, executed Navid Afkari, imprisoned Nasrin Sotoudeh and supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

That is why, in June of 2018, this House adopted a motion calling on the government to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada. The government, including the Prime Minister, voted for that motion, but once it disappeared from the media, the government did nothing.

Subsequently, in January of 2020, flight 752 was shot down as it took off from Tehran airport, killing over 50 Canadians brutally. Subsequent investigations found that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible for the downing of flight 752 and still the Government of Canada did nothing. Now, Mahsa Amini has been brutally tortured and murdered by this regime.

When will the government take action and list the IRGC as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada?

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend from Windsor West, in southwestern Ontario, for his question. We have worked on a number of things in this House together over the years.

My colleague is exactly right. It is not just the contributions we have had in building civil society and democratic capacity in Ukraine. It is also contributions we have made in building the capacity of the Ukrainian military over the last decade, which obviously have come to bear fruit in its campaign to oust Russia from Ukraine.

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Bloc Québécois for her question. In my opinion, diplomacy does not work with Russia. The only approach that works with Vladimir Putin is military action. That is clear. We used a lot of diplomacy before the war in Ukraine, but that did not work. Now, we are in a situation where military intervention is the only way to convince the Russians to end the war in Ukraine.

At this point, unfortunately, kinetic action as opposed to diplomacy is the only way forward to contain Vladimir Putin and his nuclear threats. Because he has been unclear in his nuclear threats, it is not possible for us to respond in any way, because he has not laid down the red lines for exactly what would constitute the trigger for using a tactical nuclear weapon.

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, with respect, I disagree with the government's decision on the gas turbines. To be frank, both the Republic of Germany and Canada were duped by the Russians in being convinced to waive the sanctions to send the gas turbines back to Gazprom. The fact is that since the decision has been taken, Russia has proven the point. NATO has concluded that Russia was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline through the Baltic Sea into Germany. Russia clearly has no interest in resurrecting this pipeline if it was willing to essentially blow up parts of it, which are leaking dangerous amounts of methane and gas into the atmosphere and the Baltic Sea.

It was the wrong decision taken by both the German and Canadian governments. I think in hindsight, as it was at the time, that is clear, since Russia itself, as NATO has concluded, has sabotaged the very pipeline that these turbines were purportedly going to keep open.

[Committees of the House, October 3rd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the referenda Russia conducted in Ukraine were a sham. The referenda held in the four eastern oblasts of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia were a sham. First, they were only conducted in parts of those four eastern oblasts because Russian miliary forces only control parts of those four eastern oblasts.

Second, these referenda were held under force and duress. Voters were coerced to vote. Armed Russian soldiers went door to door to collect the ballots. In many cases, ballots were filled out by Russian soldiers themselves instead of by the households that received them, and there was only vote given per household. In other words, many individuals in households where there were more than one adult were denied the right to vote. Clearly, the results of these four referenda are a sham.

A real referendum, however, was held in these four eastern regions of Ukraine in 1991, and in that legitimate referendum of that year, these regions overwhelmingly voted to be independent of Russia and to be part of an independent Ukraine. Eighty-three per cent of people in Kherson in 1991 voted for independence, along with 83% of people in Donetsk, 90% of people in Luhansk and 90% of people in Zaporizhzhia.

After these sham referenda were conducted by Russia in parts of these four regions, it illegally annexed these four regions exactly as it did with Crimea some eight years ago, in 2014. These illegal annexations and sham referenda have descended into farce. Today, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Russia does not know where Russia's international border is with Ukraine in eastern Ukraine only days after Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of these four eastern oblasts.

Let us think about that. It has annexed territory, on its own terms, that has no clearly defined boundary. This is even more of a farce because the Ukrainian army is actively liberating the very territory that Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed. The liberation of towns like Lyman the day after Putin annexed it shows how ridiculous these illegal referenda and annexations are. In fact, word is coming over social media and through news reports that parts of the Russian front in eastern Ukraine are in total collapse.

These sham referenda and illegal annexations are actually indicative of something else. They are indicative of Vladimir Putin's complete and utter desperation. It is a sign of desperation that four referenda were held in the chaos of a collapsing front in eastern Ukraine. The front is collapsing as Russian soldiers flee back toward Russia. It is a sign of desperation that, in the middle of the chaos of the Russian army collapsing in eastern Ukraine, Putin proclaimed the annexation of these four eastern Ukrainian oblasts. It is a sign of desperation that Vladimir Putin has initiated a mass mobilization.

It is clear that none of these things is going to help Vladimir Putin in eastern Ukraine, as the Ukrainian army, with the support of the west, is valiantly fighting the unjust and illegal war of Russia in Ukraine. It is clear that all Vladimir Putin has left is the threat of a nuclear war. Russia's nuclear doctrine has long reserved the right to use tactical nuclear weapons defensively, but this is a war of offence, not defence, no matter how Vladimir Putin tries to spin it.

However, the Kremlin's inability to articulate and communicate a red line means that Ukraine will press on to retake the territory wrongfully taken from it in eastern Ukraine, the very regions that Russia has claimed to annex. It means that Russia's threats to go nuclear are unclear. It also means that we are, as the west, unable to respond to these nuclear threats.

Because these threats are vague and unclear, it is not possible for western powers, in particular the great western power of the United States and others, to respond to them other than by capitulation to Vladimir Putin, a capitulation that would set a very dangerous precedent for the future. It would allow every future rogue leader or rogue state to use the threat of a nuclear strike to get their way and to undermine all the order and stability that have been built up over the last eight decades. This would essentially lead to a state of anarchy and a state where the world would be extremely unstable for decades to come.

That is precisely why I encourage members to support the report by voting for the motion to concur it in. These referenda were a sham, these annexations were illegal, the mass mobilization is a sign of desperation and the nuclear threat that Vladimir Putin is directing to the world is not something that is possible for us to respond to.

We need to take a stand as a House on the very serious and existential matter in front of us and indicate clearly that these referenda and these annexations were illegal, that they cannot be allowed to be recognized anywhere in the world, that the referenda, the annexations and the mass mobilization are a sign of desperation, and, finally, that the threat of going nuclear by President Putin is not a threat the west can do something with because it is vague and unclear as to where the red lines are.

For all those reasons, I think this matter is serious enough for the House to be seized with and serious enough that it should go to a vote. The House should make its declaration of support of this report from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

[Taxation, September 27th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the government is completely out of touch. Emissions have risen each and every year that the government has been in power, except for the year of the pandemic, when it shut everything down. A third of Atlantic Canadians heat with oil, as do over a million Ontarians and 10% of Canadian households.

When will the government do what other G7 governments have done and provide relief on fuel taxes, cutting the tax on the oil and propane heat that people are so desperate to use this winter?