Wayne Easter

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, there are some regrets on this side too. I was hoping the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent, in his new capacity, would get up and thank this government for the leadership it has provided since COVID first hit in March.

His remarks were full of contradictions. On the one hand, the member and the party opposite are saying we should stop spending and that the government is spending too much. On the other hand, members have said that the government should transfer more money to the provinces, and spend here and spend there.

Does the member not realize that we have already transferred $19 billion to the provinces under the safe restart recovery program? Does he not realize that we have transferred $2 billion to assist the provinces with education? Does the member think that is important? Also, the throne speech outlines so many things for individuals and businesses to get the economy started again and protect individuals and businesses during the second wave.

Could the member get up and just say thanks?

[Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, March 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I have sat here and listened to the attack on other industries in this country, and it is just so wrong. I have heard this time and again from the Bloc Québécois. I am just not going to sit here and listen to it anymore. To attack the oil industry is absolutely wrong. I hope the member knows that with respect to equalization, over the last five years, $52 billion went to the Province of Quebec. Where did it come from? It came from higher wages in Alberta, oil in Newfoundland and Labrador, and fossil fuels in B.C. If those industries are healthy, we are all healthy.

I agree we need to do more for forestry, and we have done a lot for forestry over the years. There is the spruce budworm, the pine beetle and other things that need to be dealt with. We need to do that, but for heaven's sake, let us not try to make gains in one industry by attacking another in this House. We are all Canadians. We all need to be healthy with respect to the economy, and we need to do everything we can for all industries in this country so our economy can grow.

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I have heard that member talk many times against the Trans Mountain pipeline and the $7.8 billion that the government is spending. The government is spending for many reasons. One is jobs, but it is really to create another export market for Canada's natural resource products.

I want to tell the member the economics behind this spending. There is a thing called the Alberta discount. The oil market discounts Canadian oil because we have no alternative but to sell to the United States. That amounts to 15% to 28% of the price per barrel of oil.

The pipeline would be safer and better for the environment, but if we could get rid of that Alberta discount, it would mean $587 billion per year to Canadians. We lose $1.8 billion a day in this country because of the Alberta discount, yet that member constantly talks against a pipeline that would allow us to get proper market prices for our oil. Come on.

[Committees of the House, February 28th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Finance entitled “Canadian Ideas: Leveraging our Strengths”, the pre-budget consultations report prior to the 2020 budget, as ordered by the House.

I first want to thank members of all parties who presented witnesses and who worked strenuously to get this report prepared on time. The report contains some 92 recommendations, and it shows that a minority Parliament can work, with all parties working together.

I also want to thank those who presented submissions prior to the August 2019 deadline and also those who appeared as witnesses in February, presenting their ideas.

I also want to thank the clerk, David Gagnon, and the analysts with the Library of Parliament, who worked long hours and extra hours, Andrew Barton, Brett Capwell, Michaël Lambert-Racine and Sylvain Fleury, for all the work they did.

Finally, I have a point that is beyond the recommendations themselves. I would refer Canadians to appendix A, which includes the many proposals put forward by organizations and individuals across Canada, which is food for thought for future discussions.

[Points of Order, February 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, also on a point of order, I want to remind you that in 2013, the Harper Conservatives completely gutted the farm safety net programs, and for Conservatives—

[Emergency Debate, February 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I listened quite closely to the member for St. Albert—Edmonton. To take the approach in this place of laying all the blame on the Prime Minister is just absolutely plain ridiculous. The CEO of Teck Frontier said clearly that the market was the major part of the reason it pulled out. I want to read from the letter of Teck Frontier's CEO, which stated:

Frontier, however, has surfaced a broader debate over climate change and Canada’s role in addressing it. It is our hope that withdrawing from the process will allow Canadians to shift to a larger and more positive discussion about the path forward.

We have not seen that positive discussion here tonight from the opposition at all.

There are real issues out there, and the member blames the Prime Minister. Let me tell the House something: The Prime Minister's response came long before this discussion by Teck Frontier. It came in the previous budgets we made and passed in this House, where we tried to bring the environment and the economy together. It came for an area that we get a lot of criticism on, with the Prime Minister supporting and purchasing the Trans Mountain pipeline so we can get product to a different market than the United States of America and perhaps get rid of the Alberta discount, which is costing this country $587 billion a year.

The Prime Minister has been responding. He has been trying to move forward—

[Emergency Debate, February 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, there are some points the member for Carleton made that I could actually agree with. Sometimes we do agree at the finance committee. However, what I absolutely do not agree with is his comment that the demonstrators and the leadership of the government, meaning the Prime Minister, along with the government, shut down the Teck mine. That is absolutely not true.

Did the member for Carleton not read the letter from Teck Resources? It said this was the market. The member talked about free enterprise, and that is what free enterprise is all about. If the market is not there, the business plan does not go ahead. It is that simple. Do not try to play politics on this issue, because this is bigger than politics.

I congratulate the leadership at Teck Resources, because they laid out the facts and said something to politicians in the House: Find a way to get together, to work the environment and the economy together, so we can prosper in this country. Let us stop playing politics with this issue that is dividing Canadians.

[Cancellation of Teck Frontier Mine Project, February 25th, 2020]

No. Give her more time.

[Cancellation of Teck Frontier Mine Project, February 25th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the member's remarks, but I am worried that this debate is going to fan the flames of rhetoric on both sides.

As a member of Parliament on this Teck Frontier issue, I supported this and approved the proposal. In terms of supporting it, I also realize that there are already 20 oil sands projects in the mill with approval. This one probably will not come into being unless things really change within the next 10 years. The problem we see on that side, and on this to a certain extent, is the way it is viewed out there in Alberta.

I have a lot of Alberta friends. I spend a lot of time there. A lot of people from the Maritimes worked in the oil industry and still do. In fact 25 flights out of Moncton a week used to go to Alberta and they are not now.

Trying to blame everything on the Prime Minister is not the answer. Does the member really think that the price of oil in the market had nothing to do with this decision? It requires $92 a barrel of oil for it to be successful. Oil is nowhere near there and looks like it is not going to get there.

Let us have some real facts on the table here. The Teck company made the decision themselves and the price of oil is—

[Interparliamentary Delegations, February 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, this is my third day tabling reports. We have been busy at the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.

Pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, three reports of the Canada-United States IPG.

The first concerns the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region 29th annual summit held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, July 21 to 25, 2019.

The second concerns the National Governors Association annual summer meeting, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from July 24 to 26, 2019.

The third concerns the CAN/AM Border Trade Alliance conference, held in Washington, D.C., from October 6 to 8, 2019.