44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 20, 2022 10:00AM
- Oct/20/22 10:26:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am rather amazed to see how much my Conservative friends are off the mark when it comes to the economy. They are telling us that lowering the carbon tax will help Canadians live better. However, the opposite is true. The carbon tax is meant to fight climate change. It is not a perfect tool, but it is one of the best tools we have right now, according to the experts.
I would like to inform the leader of the Conservatives of what the UN says about the carbon tax. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the number of climate-related natural disasters has more than doubled in the past decade compared with the 1980s. According to the World Meteorological Organization, between 2000 and 2019, 6,700 disasters cost the lives of more than 1 million people and affected 4.2 million more. In addition, they caused almost $3 trillion in global economic losses. That is why the carbon tax exists.
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- Oct/20/22 10:57:55 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, let me reiterate a couple of things. Carbon pricing is not applying to home heating fuel this winter. We recognize that there are vulnerable households out there, as the member recognized, that need support to be able to make that transition. That is exactly why we put $250 million into provincial programs, to do just that: to support some of the lowest-income, most vulnerable Canadians who would be in his riding and in mine. I believe the number is somewhere around $22 million to Newfoundland and Labrador alone to help support that transition.
This member opposite is providing no solutions. We are actually helping residents to make that transition and help reduce emissions at the same time. It is quite simple.
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- Oct/20/22 11:46:38 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not think we are out of touch with reality in Quebec. The motion is related first and foremost to the carbon tax, which we are not overly familiar with in Quebec because it does not apply there. Perhaps the member was not aware of that.
Since the carbon tax does not apply in Quebec, its effect on inflation is quite minimal compared to what it could be elsewhere. However, there are several other structural mechanisms for combatting inflation that would help the people who really need it. The measures proposed today simply fund people who drive Hummers, for example, a very nice vehicle. There is even an electric version of it now; I encourage the member to buy one.
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- Oct/20/22 12:37:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when I listen to the Conservatives' arguments, I clearly see that their goal is to deal with inflation and help Canadians and Quebeckers fight runaway inflation. At the same time, they do not want their friends, the oil companies, to shoulder the burden.
The carbon tax does not affect the revenues of businesses in the oil and gas sector, and the proceeds of this tax are returned to the public and consumers. This is the kind of measure that helps them, because the tax revenues go back into the public's pockets.
I would like to hear what my colleague from Beauce has to say about that. I do not think the carbon tax is a bad deal, because it puts money back in the pockets of those who need it.
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- Oct/20/22 12:47:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, here is a bit of a challenging question, and I hope the member chooses to answer it. He makes reference to the Atlantic, and I do not know whether he said Nova Scotia or Newfoundland and Labrador, and he said the government would receive hundreds of millions, I think he actually said a billion, in terms of a carbon tax. That is what we are going to be receiving.
Ottawa is not receiving carbon tax dollars coming from Atlantic Canada. It is the provinces that are receiving that money. If he really believes it is Canada that is receiving it, can he provide us an actual number that he believes the Government of Canada is receiving because of a carbon tax in Atlantic Canada?
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- Oct/20/22 12:47:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague across the way knows that his leader and his party support forcing Atlantic Canadian premiers to place a carbon tax on home heating fuel. The carbon tax is a federal government initiative, and my colleague knows who invented the carbon tax. I just cannot wait to hear him say later that Atlantic Canada is going to get so much back. I cannot wait to hear him say later that we get so much back in rebates, like the Prime Minister constantly brags about, when it is completely false. Atlantic Canadians get zero back in rebates on the carbon tax.
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- Oct/20/22 1:02:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I come from Oshawa, which has significant export business. What my colleague may not understand is that carbon taxes affect the expenses for business, which affects our competitiveness. The reality is that the Liberals do not have an environment plan. What they have is a failed tax plan that has done absolutely nothing to decrease emissions.
I wonder if the member would acknowledge this and admit that their plan has not worked with respect to lowering emissions and that she should be supporting our motion today.
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- Oct/20/22 1:06:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am really glad we are on the same page with respect to the urgency of climate change, the costs that come to households, and ensuring that Canadians can make the necessary changes with supports like this one.
However, we need to realize that big corporations need to come along in the process also. That is why we will not back down on the carbon tax. That is why we will not back down on working with industry and technology to ensure that a green economy is the economy for Canadians.
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- Oct/20/22 1:18:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I continue to be amazed by the hypocrisy of the Liberal government. It baffles me why Liberals can claim they will be paying Canadians back more than they are paying in carbon tax. If that were the case, and the government would be giving them back more than it is costing them, why would Canadians change their habits? It simply makes no sense. It is obvious to me that this is not a plan to reduce emissions. This is simply a tax-and-spend plan, a shell game, from the Liberal government.
Could the member opposite please confirm that this plan is only meant to distract from the fact that the Liberal government has failed to meet any emissions targets in the seven years it has been in government, and that it is really just a shell game for a tax plan?
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- Oct/20/22 2:42:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, more than 60% of Canadians are struggling to put food on the table, and food bank use is up by 20%. Housing prices have doubled under the Prime Minister, and now he wants to make it more expensive for struggling Canadians to heat their homes by tripling the carbon tax. Families will struggle to keep the heat on in February in Canada.
Will the Prime Minister show some compassion for those struggling to heat their homes and cancel his plan to triple the carbon tax?
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- Oct/20/22 2:43:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these are the falsehoods and failures of a tax plan disguised as an environmental plan. In four provinces, Canadians pay more in carbon taxes than they get back, and in the rest of the provinces, they do not get anything at all. Worse, the government has not hit a single environmental target. Emissions have gone up. If it were serious about making life more affordable, instead of freezing seniors, it would scrap the taxes.
When will it scrap the carbon tax?
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- Oct/20/22 2:45:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to enlighten my colleague on the other side about the difference between federal carbon pricing and the Quebec government's cap and trade system.
The Quebec government has no planned increases because the Quebec system works on a cap and trade basis, and the cap is the part that goes down. It is not related to the price. I would be pleased to explain the difference between the two to my colleague.
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- Oct/20/22 3:06:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last night I spoke to Bonnie from a remote part of my riding, who lives with her retired husband. They paid $900 last year to heat their home with oil. That was double the year before. They just learned that their bill this year is going to be $2,400. On a combined income of $25,000 a year, that means they are going to have to eat crickets in order to eat and heat.
When will the government stop hurting Canadians and cancel its plan to triple the carbon tax?
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- Oct/20/22 3:33:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I certainly support the government's policy that a carbon tax is absolutely essential to managing the climate crisis. We have to take bold action. We will continue to address the need to bring emissions down to a level that is in line with our targets of 2030 and 2050. It is important to remember that as the rate of pollution tax increases, so does the rebate.
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- Oct/20/22 3:47:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, before many of us ever got involved in politics, I would say that we looked to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills as a beacon of hope in the Conservative Party with respect to fighting climate change. We saw him as the only leadership contestant in a race who was willing to talk about and acknowledge climate change. He, at the time, I believe, was a proponent of carbon pricing, a strong proponent of strong action to fight climate change.
Lately, the Conservatives have been telling us to cut the tax, cut the tax, cut the tax, not acknowledging that supreme courts across the country have said that it is not a tax, that it is a rebate program and it is actually helping many families who have made many adjustments to their usage of fossil fuels.
Many of my constituents also use heating oil and many of my constituents also use propane. The methodology of the member opposite is not going to help fight climate change and, frankly, it is not going to help our constituents in rural Halton either.
Does the hon. member still believe in fighting climate change with carbon pricing?
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- Oct/20/22 3:48:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what I proposed in 2016 was, in fact, a revenue negative carbon tax. I even said at the time that I did not support this government's carbon tax quite simply because it is revenue positive. Not all of the money is returned to taxpayers. The government has used it for a plethora of programs that are not working. In fact, the government admits it itself. It says that 20% of households do not receive more back in these rebates than they pay in carbon taxes.
What I proposed is nothing of the sort of what the government is proposing. Its plan is not working and the proof is in the pudding, as reputable news organizations like Bloomberg are pointing out.
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- Oct/20/22 3:49:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
I disagree with her. The carbon tax already applies to petroleum products for households and consumers in Ontario and other parts of our country.
The carbon tax is already in place and the figures I quoted were not for the increase that is slated to come in on April 1 of next year. They are for the carbon tax that is already in place and has been in place for a number of years that was increased on April 1 of this year.
These are the costs households are facing this coming winter. We are calling on the government to provide relief to these households, as many other major economy governments have done and cut the taxes on these fuels so that households will not face either freezing in the dark this winter or potential bankruptcy.
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- Oct/20/22 4:30:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened to the member across the way. It was a bit of a vitriolic on my colleagues here and our stance on climate and the environment, which I think is much more progressive than what I have seen on that side of the House, because we are actually trying to come to solutions. However, solutions are one thing and talking about pretending to be serious is something else. I am going to catch him on this because he has failed every step he has made as far as reducing emissions goes. When we talk about being serious, I would like him to think seriously. I would like to go back to where the whole concept of carbon pricing started. It was advanced by a gentleman named William Nordhaus who won a Nobel Prize for it. A carbon tax was effectively one way of doing it.
Let us take a look at how the current government talks about the carbon tax it has. It has to throw regulations on it, including the clean fuel standard, the clean electricity standard and numerous others. It is atrocious. If it is thinking about a market mechanism, this is not a market mechanism. It is a tax. Can the member address that?
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- Oct/20/22 4:34:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what I believe is an important piece to this, which was mentioned by the Conservative bench and I want to give it credit for that, is the fact that the current Liberal government has increased the production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases with its plan. However, what we are also seeing on the other end is that its budgets are continuing to pad the pockets of rich big oil and making sure they can continue to increase production. These two are connected.
When will the current government come clean and actually do the work?
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- Oct/20/22 4:46:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, perhaps the member can take that up with the Parliamentary Budget Officer. This carbon tax has not hit a single environmental target. It has not reduced emissions. It started at $30, and then it went to $40. It is now $50, going to $170. At what point are they going to stop this madness?
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