Wayne Easter

[Daryl Guignion, February 19th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, today I pay tribute to Mr. Daryl Guignion who passed away recently.

Daryl, perhaps P.E.I's most dedicated environmentalists, was one of the foremost spokesmen in his own quiet way for watershed conservation in P.E.I. His knowledge of our river systems was second to none.

With 40 years of teaching in the University of P.E.I. biology department, Daryl was famous for his field trips, visits to old-growth hardwoods and sand dune ecosystems, canoe trips to wetlands and snowshoeing in nature. His efforts resulted in the implementation of the Morell River Conservation Zone, the formation of the Island Nature Trust and protection of Greenwich, and numerous Atlantic salmon restoration projects.

Daryl received awards aplenty, but I want to conclude by thanking Rosie, his partner in life and in much of his work. It is said that pillow talk in their household was discussion of brook trout, salmon and smelts.

P.E.I. has lost one of its best. Our condolences.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, February 17th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, two reports from the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.

The first is in relation to the National Governors Association's winter meeting, held in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., from February 7 to 10, 2020.

The second concerns the Great Lakes Day and Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast, held in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., from March 3 to 5, 2020.

[Committees of the House, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Finance, entitled “Investing in Tomorrow: Canadian Priorities for Economic Growth and Recovery”, the pre-budget consultation report prior to the 2021 budget, as ordered by the House.

It was a somewhat difficult trail to get to the conclusion of this report. COVID happened, scheduling changed and Zoom capacity in Parliament made it very difficult to find enough time. I want to thank the many organizations and individuals who submitted briefs, some 793 prior to mid-August, and also thank those who appeared over the summer on COVID-19, and the witnesses who were able to appear in the fall. A special thanks to members of all parties who put a lot of hard work and endurance into completing this task, and a very special thanks to the analysts with the Library of Parliament and the clerks who helped to finish this process.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, two reports of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group.

The first report relates to the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures held in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., from August 5 to 8, 2019.

The second report concerns the annual national conference of the Council of State Governments, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S., from December 4 to 7, 2019.

[Stuart Thiesson, January 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, with great respect, I recognize Mr. Stuart Thiesson of Saskatoon, who passed away this month.

Stuart worked in the farm movement for 41 years with the Saskatchewan Farmers Union and later the National Farmers Union. He was the wordsmith behind so much of the what the NFU stood for, holding the pen that drafted hundreds of presentations to provincial and federal governments. Stuart was gifted in turning ideas into words and turning those words into calls for action.

A founding member of the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame, he served on the Labour Relations Board, Statistics Canada Advisory Committee and was a founding director of the Saskatoon Community Clinic, where he fought for accessible health care for all.

As well, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan and inducted into the Agriculture Hall of Fame. Stuart loved to play the musical keyboards and host friends and family at his cabin on Emma Lake.

Stuart is truly one of Canada's best.

[Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, November 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I really did enjoy the member's remarks. I think there are lots of suggestions coming from them.

This bill is quite different in my experience. I really do think that this bill opens up a lot of opportunity for the committee to do a lot of work and bring forward its suggestions, rather than the minister having an absolute fixed position. I really hope that is the way it goes because the bill basically sets out the targets. I will agree with the member that there do have to be ways of ensuring that targets are met. We have heard some suggestions at the finance committee quite often: home renovation; solar; small modular reactors, and so on.

All I am saying is that I enjoyed the member's remarks. I do hope that the committee gets seized with the issues and provides strong suggestions, rather than the government coming in with a fixed position, and that the government does listen to the suggestions that come from the committee.

[Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, November 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I enjoyed my colleague and friend's remarks. I am glad to see that he will be supporting the bill. He should not worry, because the trees will get planted. There is no question about that. I was informed about it this morning. We are pretty near there.

The member talked a little about Canadian energy, and I agree with him on that point. Those who communicated, who managed to seize the communication agenda, failed to recognize how many gains the energy industry in Canada has made. We are not going to move ahead and find a solution, in my view, if we do not bring the energy industry and the environment industry together in parallel.

The member mentioned the U.S. I think that is another place where we, in this country, make a mistake. We tend to look at what Washington does, and it does not do very much lately. I chair the Canada-U.S. inter-parliamentary group, and it just does not. It is not getting anything done.

At the state level, the U.S. is making progress. They are ahead of us in many sectors, and on greenhouse gas reductions in many states. We have to focus on the end result. That is what this bill does: It sets the stage. We have further meat to put on the bones, there is no question about that.

However, I am pleased the member is supportive. Does the member have any other ideas that we should be using to put meat on the bones?

[Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, November 23rd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I respect the member's remarks because I do not think there was very much exaggeration, except I might question where the best farmers come from. He might have been a little offside there.

The exemptions on diesel and gas are fairly easy to propose, because it is easy to mark the fuels with a dye. I have not checked into B.C. I am pleased to hear what he said about B.C. and will check into that.

How would the member feel about making this exemption in a way that it could not be abused? I think that is one of the key points. I agree with him 100% on the cost. I have spent a lot of time in western Canada, and I know some farmers have bills for drying grain that are over $30,000 just for propane and natural gas. That is a cost burden that I recognize.

How could it be done in a way that the exemption would not be abused within the system?

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

No, Madam Speaker, I do not. I think we are dealing with two separate issues here. One is the whole issue of trade in goods and services, and the other is how we decide to move forward as a country in terms of our technology approach to 5G.

I have made it very clear in my remarks that I believe we should be in concert with our Five Eyes partners as we go forward with the 5G network in this country. That is the only way to protect ourselves in terms of national security and to continue to have the strong allies that we have in our Five Eyes partners.

[Business of Supply, November 17th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I read closely the remarks from Canada's Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Rae, and he made the point very clearly that this could be considered a genocide. I also listened to the Minister of Foreign Affairs as he has spoken out on this issue.

I believe that Canada as a country has certainly talked about human rights around the world time and time again. I have full confidence that, through the course of time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister will make their comments very clear on this issue.