44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 21, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague certainly talked about her concerns around the price on pollution, but what I have asked members of His Majesty's loyal opposition is why they ran on a platform to price carbon.
Just over a year ago, the member ran on a Conservative platform that would have established a price on pollution for a plan that would have rewarded those who were emitting more. She did run on it. I find it a little facetious for her, a year later, to stand in the House and say what a terrible idea it is.
Can the member explain to her constituents, and indeed to all Canadians, why there has been such a change over the last year in her position?
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Madam Speaker, if we look in Hansard, I have always been against a carbon tax. This carbon tax has done nothing for the environment. The Liberals and the NDP have not met the targets they have set over and over. I have seen bills from my farmers of $10,000 and $20,000 to dry their grain. I have seen the GST being collected on the carbon tax.
A great question for the government is this. Why is it collecting GST on the carbon tax? This tax on a tax is hurting Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, I am talking about the ability of my constituents, who live in small, remote, rural communities, to get to a bigger centre to get their prescriptions, to get their kids in sports, to get groceries or to even get the mail. The carbon tax is hurting the people I represent. I would prefer that the government take its hands out of the pockets of these families, let them spend the money they need to on their families and not have the middleman tell them where it goes.
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- Nov/21/22 2:34:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 60% of Canadians pay more in carbon tax than they get back, and the Liberals plan to triple it. Home heating costs have already skyrocketed in Canada and will double this winter. Half of Atlantic Canadians use heating oil to heat their homes, and it is up 56% overall since last year. It is up 77% in Newfoundland and Labrador and 68% in Nova Scotia. Tripling the carbon tax will cost them $900 more a year just in tax to heat their homes.
Why will the Liberals not cancel their carbon tax on home heating?
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- Nov/21/22 2:37:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, COP27 just ended.
Something very important happened on Novebmer 15. The Canadian Minister of Environment issued a challenge to the rest of the world, calling on all countries to impose a carbon tax, as his government is doing to all Canadians.
Could the Minister of Environment tell us, a week later, how many countries have accepted this invitation to impose the carbon tax?
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- Nov/21/22 2:38:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I am pleased to congratulate the minister on his French, but he could have answered my question, because the answer is the same in either English or French: Not one country has taken up Canada's invitation to impose a carbon tax. Why?
The reason is very simple. The Liberals have governed Canada for seven years, and the carbon tax has existed for seven years. Far worse, Liberal Canada ranks 58 out of 63 countries in the fight against climate change.
Will the Liberal government understand that tripling the carbon tax is not good for all Canadians?
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- Nov/21/22 2:39:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, many countries around the world have a carbon tax. Sweden and many European countries have a carbon tax.
It is part of a comprehensive climate plan to fight climate change in a way that will accelerate Canada's energy transition and prosperity. It is something we work on every day and that perhaps my colleague could consider.
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- Nov/21/22 2:46:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what that minister just said was a pile of baloney. He should take a meteorology course.
Back home today, winter is setting in. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are cutting their Disney+ subscriptions left, right and centre, but what they are finding with their DIsney+ savings is that it does not even give them one gallon of oil per month.
Will the left-wing government do the right thing and cancel its plan to put a carbon tax on Atlantic Canadians' fuel this winter?
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Mr. Speaker, by demonstrating and trying to model respectful behaviour in this place, my hon. colleague, in his intervention, did add value to the discussion on the fall economic statement.
One area in particular that I would like to hear the member's comments on is the carbon tax. It is something we often hear slogans for, such as the “triple, triple, triple tax”.
I know how important it is to see a cost on pollution in Canada and across the world. We are facing truly catastrophic weather events across the world, and we know they are driven by climate change. We know they are driven by pollution.
The Conservative Party in the last election ran on a cost for carbon, and now we are seeing a flip-flop on that. As a matter of respect, the New Democrats, knowing this consideration and knowing that we wanted to make life more affordable for Canadians, attempted to offer an olive branch to the Conservatives. We attempted to work with the Conservatives to get GST off home heating. That is 5% off home heating, which the New Democrats have fought for for a long time.
I know the Conservatives, deep down, want to ensure there is affordability for Canadians, but why do they continue to vote against measures that are so important to getting Canadians results, such as getting the GST off home heating?
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to recognize that the Conservatives want the carbon tax to be cut, obviously, and giving GST rebates is a great gesture. However, it does not go far enough. There are a lot of things the government can do to cut costs that will make a huge difference. One of them is to get rid of the carbon tax, period. It is important to recognize that we need to be pushing for technologies that are built in Canada, making a difference on climate change initiatives across the world and gaining respect across the globe for our technologies to ensure environmental friendliness in industry. That will have a huge impact globally. That is where I think we should be pushing some of our—
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Mr. Speaker, I really believe people should pay their fair share, but Conservatives are also advocates of reducing taxes to make a competitive business environment and to help hard-working Canadians who are struggling. Right now, that is why we are asking to cut the carbon tax. It is inflationary, and it is increasing the cost of groceries, gas and home heating, which are not luxuries. Why is the member who asked the question propping up the government to put those taxes up on Canadians?
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- Nov/21/22 6:55:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will pause just to say that, with regard to this word “inefficient”, I hope that the parliamentary secretary might move away from it. It is completely undefined. It lacks credibility when we are talking about these subsidies because it really does not mean anything at all. In fact, all of these subsidies are not helping us make progress at a time when we need to act urgently and immediately.
In terms of carbon capture and storage, I think the best analogy I can give the parliamentary secretary is that there are measures being taken, some of which he has mentioned, and those measures are kind of like after the snow has fallen and we start shovelling one bit at a time and we are making a little bit of progress here and there. The $8.6 billion to carbon capture is like when the snowplow then comes by and undoes all of our work.
As for that $8.6 billion, not one environmental group in the country has called for those funds. Do we know who has? The oil and gas lobbyists who were at COP27, unfortunately. Those are the ones calling for carbon capture.
When will the parliamentary secretary understand that we have to move away from exactly that?
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