Mike Morrice

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, May 6th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the member for Winnipeg North, the parliamentary secretary, recognizes that we are in a housing crisis.

Back in budget 2022, there was a funding stream called the rapid housing initiative. It allocated $750 million a year over two years so that non-profits could apply to build non-market housing. Obviously, it was not enough. As a result of the crisis we are in, we need to see the government go further and faster.

Non-profits in my community, from the YWCA to the House of Friendship and The Working Centre, are looking to this budget expecting dollars for them to build non-market housing. What do we see in budget 2024? It is down to $195 million a year, from $750 million. The $750 million was not enough, and this year's budget cuts it dramatically.

Why does the parliamentary secretary think this is going to be enough to address the housing crisis we are in?

[Petitions, May 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present a petition on behalf of folks who are quite concerned with methane-fired electricity generation, and they have an interest in moving to low-carbon energy sources.

The petitioners start with the science, as they should. They note that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes that we need to be building no new fossil fuel infrastructure and reach net-zero electricity generation by 2035. They note that, while some people call natural gas a transition fuel, in reality it is a fossil fuel, and it is a methane producer, a very potent natural gas.

This is a significant petition, so I will move quickly through it. In Ontario, petitioners note that methane-fired generation is set to account for 25% of the province's electricity generation by the late 2040s, which is more than triple its current role. They go on to note that this increase in projected methane-fired electricity in Canada, and particularly in Ontario, indicates that the current level of carbon pricing of methane-fired generation does not send a sufficient price signal to incentivize the transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources, and that the current proposed clean electricity regulation process is too slow to address it. In fact, it also contains loopholes, which makes the issue even worse.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to make methane-fired electricity generation subject to the fuel charge components of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, and if methane-fired generation remains in the output-based pricing system component of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, they want it subjected to increased carbon pricing.

[The Environment, May 3rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario government is proceeding with construction on the destructive and unnecessary Highway 413, a $10-billion waste of public money to pave through the Greenbelt. The government could have put a stop to it by requiring a thorough environmental assessment in a restored and repaired Impact Assessment Act. Instead, it has proposed a change in an omnibus budget bill that could still let projects such as Highway 413 off the hook.

Will the government strengthen the proposed IAA and reject Highway 413 to prevent paving over 2,400 acres of farmland and green space?

[Education Initiative for War-Displaced Students, May 2nd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I have so many reasons to be proud of my alma mater, and today, I rise to share with Canadians just one: International Students Overcoming War, or ISOW, at Wilfrid Laurier University.

ISOW was started by Laurier students in 2014, and in the years since, students have contributed to sponsor refugee and at-risk students living in conflict zones, covering both living and tuition costs for recipients. To date, 34 students have been sponsored from eight different countries, including Somalia and Myanmar, with a 100% graduation rate.

My thanks to Dr. Gavin Brockett for his leadership and support of those incredible students.

Let us recognize the powerful impact of initiatives like ISOW and support their work, like a recent proposal that includes supporting women from Gaza, because by helping them, we are helping build a more compassionate future for all.

[The Budget, April 30th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the member for Kelowna—Lake Country made some really important remarks to the minister at the human resources committee yesterday, pointing out the extent to which folks with disabilities are living in legislated poverty. I appreciate that she made those comments.

If there is a Conservative government one day in the future and the Canada disability benefit was in place at a level that would lift folks with disabilities out of poverty, in that situation, is that a benefit that would remain in place over time?

[The Budget, April 30th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, non-profits in my community were looking at this budget in the hope that there might be more money available to build social housing, non-market housing, after all the talk of what would be in the budget. However, what we find is the rapid housing initiative, funded at a meagre amount of less than $250 million a year for the next five years across the whole country, and that is meant to be spread out.

Could the member speak to whether she is concerned about the lack of funding in this budget despite all of the rhetoric about housing? There is a lack of dollars in the budget for non-profits to build the non-market affordable dignified housing that we need across the country.

[Persons with Disabilities, April 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, people with disabilities across the country disproportionately live in poverty. As a result of their advocacy, the government committed to a Canada disability benefit back in 2021.

After years of advocacy, what has been proposed in budget 2024 is nothing that the disability community has called for. No one called for 200 bucks a month. Using the disability tax credit, no one called for that. Waiting until July 2025, no one called for that.

Could the minister share who actually asked for what is in the proposed Canada disability benefit?

[Oil and Gas Industry, April 19th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, in the midst of a climate crisis, the oil and gas industry raked in $38 billion in pure profit in 2022 by gouging Canadians at the pumps, fuelling inflation. Despite claims of fairness in this year's budget, we learned this week that big oil's lobbyists convinced this government to shelve an excess profit tax on these record-breaking profits, which could have generated $4.2 billion to help make life more affordable for regular Canadians.

Can anyone in this government justify to Canadians what is fair about this?

[The Budget, April 18th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I want to start by recognizing that there is no coalition government in the House, that the NDP is in a supply and confidence agreement with the government, meaning its support is what allows the governing party to continue.

I appreciate that the member for Vancouver Kingsway called out the shamefully low amount set aside for the Canada disability benefit and the complete lack of a windfall profit tax on the record-breaking profits of the oil and gas industry in the midst of a climate crisis.

Will the NDP withhold its support for this budget on the condition that the government at least increase the Canada disability benefit above the poverty line and put in place a windfall profit tax on the oil and gas industry?

[The Budget, April 18th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the government gave the oil and gas industry $18.5 billion in corporate handouts last year and $65 billion over the last four years alone. This is an industry whose top five companies made $38 billion in record-breaking profits in 2022, while fuelling the climate crisis.

I understand that the Leader of the Opposition, if I am hearing him right, wants to reduce government spending. He also seems to like yes or no questions, so my question for him, yes or no, is this: If he were in government, would he end this $18.5 billion in corporate handouts to an industry that is already making record-breaking profits?