44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 26, 2022 11:00AM
- Sep/26/22 2:41:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thousands of Quebeckers marched last Friday to demand that governments take bolder action in the fight against climate change. The fact remains that if there is one government that is not doing enough, it is this federal government. Oil production continues to rise, and oil subsidies remain in place. Canada is still part of the problem, despite the rhetoric.
When will the minister start acting like we are in a climate emergency? When will he begin to take bold, concrete action to fight global warming?
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- Sep/26/22 2:42:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about Fiona and the devastation in the Atlantic region. In Quebec, the Magdalen Islands, the Gaspé and the Côte-Nord were also hit hard. This is a direct result of global warming, along with the heat waves, forest fires, flooding and melting permafrost. Things are not going well, and if we do nothing then they will only get worse.
Does the minister recognize that without bold ideas, strong action, and a solid strategy to combat climate change, we are headed for disaster?
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- Sep/26/22 2:42:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
I would remind her that we have a plan providing for investments of $109 billion to combat climate change, which is three times more per capita than the United States is spending.
In addition, we fought for the carbon tax all the way to the Supreme Court. We are implementing programs to help phase out oil-based heating, which is three times more expensive and produces a great deal of pollution. We are working to eliminate cars and the use of internal combustion engines in Canada by 2035, as California and Europe are doing. Our government is one of the most ambitious governments when it comes to climate action.
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- Sep/26/22 3:02:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it quite difficult to listen to the member opposite speak about this, as many of his members, including the leader of his party, have risen in the House to talk about the impacts of Fiona.
We know that it is linked to climate change, and we know that we have to do more to fight climate change. We know that, because of climate change, there are more hurricanes on our east and west coasts, which are more and more severe. Therefore, I am having a really hard time to find an answer to this question.
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- Sep/26/22 6:43:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I used to live in the Lower St. Lawrence region. There were times when the high tide coincided with a snow storm. We saw shorelines, garages and houses be swept away by the water. That was a lot less severe than what the Atlantic provinces and eastern Quebec experienced this weekend. Catastrophic events like these now tend to occur more and more frequently because of climate change.
My question to my hon. colleague is this: Does he think Canada is investing enough money to help polluters pollute less? Should we invest more to support innovating businesses that develop green technologies in Quebec and Canada?
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- Sep/26/22 6:44:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously we need to put a price on pollution and make sure the processes, companies and individuals causing climate change around the world pay for that pollution so that we can do the things necessary to combat climate change. That is the mitigation part of climate change.
Tonight I have been talking about the adaptation aspect. We are stuck with the climate change we have right now. Right now, it is close to a 1.5° rise. If we stopped all our carbon emissions today, as I could only hope, we would still in this place where we would be having hurricanes and forest fires over the next centuries. We have to do both.
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- Sep/26/22 6:53:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that members from every party in the House are standing together in support of Atlantic Canadians. We are here together to support everyone in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and P.E.I.
However, if the member expects me to be silent about the fact that the climate crisis is one of the reasons we are seeing these increasingly extreme and increasingly frequent weather events, and if this government is going to continue to ignore the causes of these extreme natural disasters, well then, we are in trouble.
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- Sep/26/22 6:57:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. I am sorry but I will continue in English.
The member brings up a really important point. The current government has proposed handing over billions of dollars to big oil and gas companies for carbon capture, utilization and storage. This is not a climate solution. Reports have shown that this is just a giveaway to big oil and gas. We need to invest those billions of dollars the government seems set on handing over to profitable companies into climate solutions and policies that will make a difference. The science is clear. We have the technology, the answers and the ability to meet our climate targets if we actually take the action.
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- Sep/26/22 7:07:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as someone who has been a Cape Bretoner much of my life and is now a British Columbian, I have seen the climate crisis hit communities I know and love really hard. It is heartbreaking.
I want to extend thanks to all in this House for the solidarity in supporting Atlantic Canadians at this critical time and for continuing to support them, because the people of Lytton, whose town burned down last summer, have still seen nothing. Some of those people are still paying the bank for the mortgage on the house they no longer have. A lot of people need help and they need it because of the climate emergency.
My colleague is speaking on behalf of the government, and I do appreciate the advance work that the Minister of Public Safety tried to do to get provinces to act early. In Atlantic Canada, it worked and people were warned. It did not work in B.C. People were not warned of the heat dome.
Right now on the Environment Canada website is a completely inadequate consultation document that calls on Canadians to help the government put in place adaptation strategies by the year 2030. Will the hon. parliamentary secretary agree with me that we needed those adaptation plans yesterday and not in eight years?
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- Sep/26/22 7:09:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, our focus right now is to provide the necessary help so those who are affected, and there are many unfortunately, can recover, and to restore power and get fresh water back to them so they can get to their workplaces.
In our effort, we have learned, as the member stated, that when we prepare for emergencies like these, our response is better and we can prevent the loss of life and hopefully loss of property as well. That is ongoing work.
We know climate change is having a huge impact. That is why having thoughtful, thorough, evidence-based adaptation strategies is what we need, and that is what we are working toward.
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- Sep/26/22 7:13:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.
As I was saying earlier, we need to continue to invest in adaptation strategies. We know that weather-related events impacted by climate change are becoming more frequent because climate change is real. We need to make sure we are not only fighting pollution by not making pollution free and not only curbing pollution to fight climate change, but investing in building resilient infrastructure, whether shorelines, dams or bridges. That is the important work the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness is focused on, and it will continue to do that work in an effective way so that all Canadians are safe at all times.
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- Sep/26/22 7:36:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very happy to see some degree of unanimity in our solidarity with the people of the Atlantic coast. It is very important that we all agree to help with the rebuilding as soon as possible.
The leader of the official opposition said that the government must act quickly and that his party would make sure the government takes action to achieve concrete results.
Once that is done, is it also not important to start getting serious about the energy transition to counter climate change, to slow it down and ensure we can adapt to it?
I spoke earlier with the Liberal critic responsible for waterfront development. Adaptation is necessary, but we also have to begin the transition in regions that produce fossil fuels, for example, while showing respect for local populations and investing in the transition.
Is it not time to stop building pipelines and start supporting the transition?
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- Sep/26/22 7:38:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was surprised that the leader of the official opposition is the first speaker tonight who has not mentioned climate change.
As we know, last year in British Columbia, 600 British Columbians died as a result of the heat dome. The atmospheric river last fall cut British Columbia off from the rest of the country. We now see Atlantic Canada experiencing a record amount of destruction as a result of the hurricane. We also know that this, tragically, will be the first of many. In the Caribbean, the hurricanes are increasing in intensity and in loss of life.
My question for the leader of the official opposition is very simple. The Liberal government, as did the Conservative government before it, is spending billions of dollars in massive subsidies to oil and gas CEOs. Would it not be better for the people of Atlantic Canada that the money be invested in climate mitigation, fighting back against climate change and actually eliminate the problem?
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- Sep/26/22 7:53:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my heart goes out to the farmers who are going through such an agonizing time. Let us not forget that these farmers represent 3% of the population, but they feed our entire people. This shows just how much climate change and the consequences of that change will impact our food. That is why it is important to ensure a swift energy transition.
I would like my colleague to share some responsible, viable and sustainable solutions for the energy transition.
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- Sep/26/22 7:54:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is important to understand that the Conservative Party is very much interested in technology, and not taxes. As we reflect upon the ability of the Liberal government to make changes that are impactful for the climate, we know that is just not happening.
We also understand that those of us who live in Atlantic Canada often live in more rural settings, often in single-family dwellings, and of course we often heat our homes with oil. That makes it much more difficult to make those transitions.
We do know about greener energy here from our great friends from the great province of Alberta. It is important to understand that it is the greenest energy that we can produce in the world, and we need to be more reliant upon that. We need to also look at things like carbon capture and storage and understand how we may be able to better use that technology to improve the state of affairs that we have at the current time.
As we look at those things as a comprehensive package, then we can understand that we can help Canadians move from exactly where they are into an important spot that is attainable, and not into fantasyland.
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- Sep/26/22 7:55:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as somebody who was born in Newfoundland and moved out when I was 15, I was horrified to see the homes being washed out to sea in Port aux Basques. It is heartbreaking. I want to send my condolences and my thoughts out to all of our friends to the east.
We know that this is yet another example of climate change, and these impacts are becoming more and more common. I am curious as to whether the member could comment on why the leader did not once bring up climate change in his speech, and instead suggested that a magic wand could miraculously solve the problems that we are seeing as a result of climate change.
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- Sep/26/22 7:55:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I did not hear anybody talk about a magic wand in here, except perhaps the Liberals on how tripling the carbon tax is going to magically fix climate change. I am really unsure how that is going to happen.
That being said, I think that it has been very clear. It has been spoken out loud multiple times in Canada and with a loud voice, that we know that climate change is real on this side of the House, and we have great plans and policies on how we are going to combat climate change to make it real for the average Canadian.
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- Sep/26/22 8:17:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to be able to return the favour and correct my colleague. I was talking about the national adaptation strategy announced by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change last year.
He announced it again at COP26 in Glasgow, which I also attended. This strategy has unfortunately not yet been released. We hope it will be made public before the end of the year. At least that is what it says on Environment Canada's website, which I consulted earlier.
Yes, some smaller investments have perhaps been made, but certainly nothing significant enough to allow us to feel confident about the future and the resilience we will need to show.
This would be the Canadian government's first-ever national adaptation strategy. What I was saying earlier in my speech is that, in 2022, such an adaptation strategy is long overdue, because the regions of Quebec and cities and towns across the country are already dealing with the effects of climate change.
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- Sep/26/22 8:19:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia for her speech. I could not agree with her more: It is impossible to speak about this terrible hurricane without mentioning its cause, that is to say climate change and our dependence on fossil fuels.
The waves that swept houses into the sea were like something out of a sci-fi movie. It is almost unbelievable, but that is today's reality. Climate change is less intense today than it will be tomorrow and in the coming years. Sea surface temperatures south of Nova Scotia have risen continuously because of climate change. It is the warm water that made the hurricanes stronger and more destructive.
I would like to ask the member if she agrees with me that we need to end our dependence on fossil fuels as soon as possible and, at the same time, set up a system to help people adapt. As she said, the government lacks the courage to do that.
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- Sep/26/22 8:22:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague, myself and several members opposite have pointed out that, at this time, hurricanes are being fuelled by the rising temperature of the ocean, which is not normal in the North Atlantic Ocean.
We also see that the frequency and strength of tornadoes is increasing in Canada. There have been tornadoes in Quebec. Some sectors in Gatineau have been devastated by tornadoes. That said, as my colleague mentioned in her speech, we are suffering the consequences of these hurricanes, but there will be other impacts in future months and years, especially on the economy and tourism.
I would like my colleague to elaborate on the impact of climate change on our economy and tourism.
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