Business of Supply  Speaker, that is a very difficult question to answer in the little time I have because everything about it is founded on the lack of understanding of, first, what my colleague, the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, said, and secondly, I think the member is very confused about the notion of a carbon tax. What we have now witnessed is that only carbon tax that has surfaced in Canada to deal with climate change is the $100 to $200 per tonne charge that his colleague, the Minister of the Environment, blurted out after getting off a plane in Vancouver, as the charge that would be levied on Canadian large industrial emitters that do not comply with its regulated levels under the plan.

The Environment  No, Mr. Speaker. The leader of the Liberal Party said that he was against a carbon tax. The deputy leader of the Liberal Party said that he was in favour of a carbon tax. Then the leader of the Liberal Party said that he was rejecting a carbon tax. Now we learn that a big battle is taking place right within the Liberal Party caucus to bring in a big tax whack called a carbon tax on Canadian families.

Business of Supply  Of course, then there is the deputy Liberal leader who, during the leadership debate, called for a form of carbon tax that would push up the price of gasoline. Just a couple of months ago, the Liberals were praising a $100 billion carbon tax, which again would have increased the price of gasoline.

Business of Supply  We will continue to move ahead, even in the situation where the minister wants us to go with $195 a tonne carbon tax. In Bill C-30, the carbon tax is $30 and 50% will be returned to the companies if they make the effort to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and 50% will go into retrofits for people in homes and businesses across the country.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  No, not at all. I should clarify. I certainly didn't mean to portray a carbon tax as a one-size-fits-all or say that all we need is a carbon tax and we're away to the races. A carbon tax is a powerful tool, but it needs to be part of a suite of programs and policies that Canada puts in place in the short term to begin driving our emissions down.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I also think it's absolutely fundamental to the public acceptance of a carbon tax that it be not a revenue-raising tax but a revenue-neutral tax.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'd actually say that those countries, which are Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, all of which have carbon taxes and have had carbon taxes for a number of years, have not had their economies harmed by the presence of those carbon taxes. And there is considerable support in the economics literature for the proposition that with a carbon tax, if it's imposed in a revenue-neutral way and the revenues generated by the tax are used to reduce other forms of taxes--payroll taxes, income taxes--you get what's called a “double dividend”; you get environmental benefits as well as economic benefits.

Committees of the House  Why is the member and his colleagues abusing the time we have in this Parliament where we could be debating more important issues, like the carbon tax or something like that which is relevant here. The member had the opportunity. He had the floor but refused to do anything and now he is abusing his privileges with the absolute nonsense that he is talking about.

The Environment  Not only will this hammer airlines and manufacturing, the trucking industry, the shipping industry, certainly auto manufacturers, but it will hammer everyone who uses energy. The Liberal carbon tax is well named because everything it touches turns to shift.

Economic Development  This Conservative government also signed a historic agreement with the U.S. to settle the softwood lumber dispute that significantly helped northern Ontario. What are they going to do after they have the carbon tax?

Official Languages  Speaker, our government is proud of its $1.1 billion investment over five years through this new initiative, our road map. I know why this member is upset. The Liberals made their announcement on the famous carbon tax yesterday morning. We announced this program in the afternoon. Therefore, they were unable to tax it. I think those members are going to spend the entire summer finding new ways to tax Canadians in ways that they have never been taxed before.

Manufacturing Industry  To truckers moving manufactured goods, the Liberals say, “Pay $1,700 more per year and we don't care if you go out of business”. Workers know the Liberal carbon tax on everything will take away their hard-earned money and we will oppose the Leader of the Opposition's tax trick every step of the way.

The Environment  Speaker, before the Prime Minister makes ludicrous, angry statements on the environment, maybe he should listen to a pre-eminent Canadian environmentalist and a pre-eminent Canadian economist. David Suzuki has said that to oppose a carbon tax is “just nonsense”. Chief economist Don Drummond said this morning that he carbon shift idea is sensible and average Canadians will be better off. Is the Prime Minister seriously asking Canadians to believe that both David Suzuki and Don Drummond are crazy?

The Environment  Speaker, and they keep it up. Doug Porter, deputy chief economist of BMO Capital Markets, believes that carbon taxes are “about as efficient a way as there is out there” to battle climate change Economists know that when we cut taxes on income and investment, we get more jobs and increase productivity.

The Environment  After his unproductive, pale green visit to Europe, the Prime Minister said that the economic models espoused by countries like Norway, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy and the Netherlands, with their carbon taxes, are just plain crazy. Does the Prime Minister think that these European countries are crazy?