44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 22, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/22/22 1:50:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member opposite hails from the same province I do. I find it fascinating that we are talking about electric buses, energy from thin air and the like. When I speak to the rural residents of Cumberland—Colchester, they wonder how they are going to get to the doctor's office, the hospital or the grocery store because, surprise, surprise, they all do it by car. How do they heat their homes? Most of them use home heating fuel, which is also known as diesel. This proposal would change things for Canadians overnight and cost the government nothing in a timely and proportioned response. How is the member opposite going to help with that?
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- Mar/22/22 1:51:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague from Nova Scotia raises important concerns. It is important that we get off this kind of monoculture of fuel we have been on for a long time. The importance is going to have to be in the diversification of transportation options, be that public transit, electric vehicles or the active transportation we have heard many people discuss. It is going to be very important to support rural transit as well as we go through this. The point is that we would like to create conditions in which Canadian families do not have the decision to own multiple vehicles forced upon them when there are alternative options to that.
Likewise, with respect to home heating, there is the solar city program I mentioned and energy retrofits for which we are providing zero-interest loans. The objective here is to diversify our sources of energy so that we never again have to live through a spike like we are right now.
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- Mar/22/22 1:52:11 p.m.
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I would ask hon. members to respect the people who are giving answers so that we can actually hear what the answer is.
Questions and comments.
The hon. member for Shefford.
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- Mar/22/22 1:52:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech, in which he talked about everything his government is doing with the eco-energy retrofit program.
That is great, but meanwhile, his government gave billions of dollars to the oil companies again recently. This did not go unnoticed, and my colleague from Jonquière mentioned it in his speech this morning.
Would it not be better to invest this money in social programs first—
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- Mar/22/22 1:52:49 p.m.
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I am sorry to interrupt the member, but there is a lot of noise in the House and in the lobbies. Could we have a bit of order so we can hear the member's question?
The hon. member for Shefford.
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- Mar/22/22 1:53:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about what his government has done with respect to green or energy-efficient retrofits. That is good. In the meantime, however, the numbers indicate that his government continues to invest heavily in the oil industry and in pipelines.
Would it not be better to invest that money in programs that help the victims of inflation, people with fixed incomes like seniors, including by increasing old age security starting at age 65, instead of 75 like his government is preparing to do?
Would it not be better to invest that money in the energy transition, in research and development, in much greener programs?
If that money were invested in those two things, it would go a long way to helping people deal with the problem of inflation.
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- Mar/22/22 1:53:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government has committed to and in fact ran on the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies and most recently has accelerated the phase-out, which does create capacity in past and upcoming budgets to support the very kinds of programs that the member raised so diligently today.
This will allow us to allocate more money to seniors and those living in need, more money for other methods of low- and zero-emission transit, as well as other means of heating homes and running industries.
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- Mar/22/22 1:54:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, through the discourse today and even through the first question and answer, I cannot help but be reminded of how, whenever the Conservatives talk about energy, they talk about energy as if there were only ever going to be one source of energy and it comes from fossil fuels.
The reality of the situation, as we know, is that different types of energy, renewable energies, energies that are created in a much more sustainable fashion than extracting fossil fuels from the ground, are just gaining more and more popularity. As a matter of fact, in Alberta itself—
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- Mar/22/22 1:55:11 p.m.
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Could we have some order please, so that we could actually hear the questions and then the answers. Thank you.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
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- Mar/22/22 1:55:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was going to say that, in Alberta itself, the renewable energy industry has been employing more people for the last number of years than the fossil fuel industry. It is a signal that we are moving forward, and they are heckling that.
I am wondering if the parliamentary secretary could provide his comments as to where he sees the future as it relates to energy—
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- Mar/22/22 1:55:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order. I would simply encourage you to give the opportunity to the hon. member across the way to retract what was a categorical falsehood that he just referenced within this chamber.
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- Mar/22/22 1:56:03 p.m.
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That is obviously a matter for debate.
I will let the hon. parliamentary secretary give a very short answer.
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- Mar/22/22 1:56:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague for the wonderful question.
Where do I see the future of this? I look no further than my own home province of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces that surround it for the future. The Atlantic loop, which is in discussions now, is going to create an improved electrical grid that would allow us to phase off of coal earlier than we expected and would allow all kinds of renewable inputs, wind, solar and others, as we electrify the lives of Atlantic Canadians.
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- Mar/22/22 1:56:39 p.m.
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The hon. member for Thornhill will have about four minutes to begin her speech.
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- Mar/22/22 1:56:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Red Deer—Mountain View.
It is hard to think of a more appropriate debate to expose the consequences of what transpired between the government and the NDP this morning. While today it might seem politically expedient in the moment, Canadians lost out on having a voice in the NDP, who once played a critical role in championing issues like this, issues of affordability. I am actually rather surprised at some of those members, and I will be even more surprised at their silence as time goes on.
With the fallout from the broken trust with their constituents, coupled with a fire sale of their principles in exchange for what amounts to broken promises from the government year after year, it is far more important that Canadians understand the consequences of a bad deal, not only for the two political parties in the House but a bad deal for them.
To simplify this transaction, the NDP members of the House have agreed to never hold the government to account. In turn, the government has agreed to never control spending: higher spending, higher taxes. While I believe this to be a disingenuous attempt by politicians to protect themselves, I am far more concerned with the devastating impact this deal may have: higher spending, higher taxes, higher prices.
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- Mar/22/22 1:58:18 p.m.
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I will have to interrupt the hon. member. The noise in the antechamber is really bothersome. I can barely hear the hon. member's speech. Can people please quiet down? We are trying to have proceedings in the House.
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- Mar/22/22 1:58:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, today we have an opportunity to answer the call of Canadians from coast to coast, one that if we have even spent a moment outside of this place talking to anyone, just about anywhere, we would be hard pressed not to hear. It is the loud and clear call that skyrocketing inflation and the cost-of-living crisis is devastating families across Canada.
The inflation rate is at the highest point in 30 years. That is 5.7%, and it is growing faster than Canadian wages. For the average Canadian, that is equivalent to a pay cut of 5¢ for every loonie earned.
We will hear in the House today the government's greatest hits, featuring a litany of excuses stating that the inflation rate is a result of global supply chains being disrupted by COVID, leading to higher prices. We will hear the one-hit wonders of listing off countries and their corresponding inflation rates. There is also my very favourite, that somehow asking the government to acknowledge a cost-of-living crisis, which members of the House are hearing about from their constituents, is an attack on the Canadian economy and that we should be thankful because everything is absolutely fine.
What we will not hear is that the prices for Canadian products are rising the most and the fastest. That is the inconvenient truth of the matter when we speak to people at the grocery store.
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- Mar/22/22 2:00:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, last Sunday was International Day of La Francophonie. French is the sixth most spoken language in the world. This day was celebrated in francophone countries, but also in the small but important communities of Baie Sainte‑Marie and Par‑en‑Bas.
As a proud Acadian who lives in the francophone region, I know how important this day is to all francophones in my community. For many generations, we have been working very hard to preserve our beautiful French language and promote the culture that sets us apart and showcases Acadia to the world.
I want to thank and congratulate all those who contribute to growing our francophone communities throughout Nova Scotia. Francophonie Month is not over, and many activities are being held as part of Rendez-vous de la Francophonie to celebrate the francophonie, its diversity and its inclusivity across Canada.
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- Mar/22/22 2:01:33 p.m.
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Order. I do not know what is going on today. There is a lot of noise, especially outside the House. I would ask that everyone respect the work of the hon. members.
The hon. member for Malpeque.
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- Mar/22/22 2:01:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to recognize Eliot River Elementary School and its environmental and climate change initiatives. With a student body of 470, Eliot River recently won a national contest put on by Earth Rangers, a conservation organization. Eliot River collected over 3,000 kilograms of used batteries for proper recycling.
Eliot River's environmental spirit also led its students to another challenge of collecting over 300,000 single-use plastic bags through the plastic bag grab challenge. Using contest prize money and returns from a daily recyclable school program, Eliot River reinvested to help finance climate initiatives such as school roof solar panels, EV chargers and garden green spaces.
We could all learn from these elementary-aged students, their teachers and administrators. The staff and teachers, such as Darren Ford, are dedicated to educating children and their families through sustainable initiatives at the school. Our future is important to them, so as policy makers, their futures should be just as important to us.
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