44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 22, 2022 10:00AM
- Nov/22/22 2:39:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he would do well to stop playing politics and show a bit of compassion. We want tangible measures now, not costly solutions that will take months to come in.
Again, I said it yesterday, our leader and every Conservative here is calling for one thing: to cancel the plan to increase the carbon tax. It is clear and simple.
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- Nov/22/22 2:39:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this weekend in Edmonton, Mike and Lory approached me during the All is Bright festival to thank our government for reducing child care fees by half because this helps them to pay their bills at home.
Brad asked me when he would receive the $500 to help with his housing costs. The answer is that the cheque is on the way because we have done our job.
If the Conservatives want to show compassion and help Canadians, they can vote with us today.
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- Nov/22/22 2:40:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment has a lot of explaining to do when it comes to the role Canada played at COP27. He personally did everything in his power to prevent a line about the importance of phasing out all fossil fuels from being included in the final declaration.
The minister has changed a lot since his Greenpeace days, but surely not to the point where he would deny the fact that the only solution to climate change is to reduce our use of oil and gas.
Why did he fight to prevent the countries from recognizing that obvious fact?
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- Nov/22/22 2:40:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that Canada's work was applauded at COP27 by organizations such as Climate Action Network Canada, which said that we were among the first wealthy countries to move forward on the issue of loss and damages. The executive director of the International Energy Agency recognized Canada as a world leader in the fight against methane pollution.
If I had to choose between the Bloc Québécois, which just wants to pick fights, and Climate Action Network Canada and the International Energy Agency, then I would choose the latter two.
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- Nov/22/22 2:41:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's performance at COP27 was disappointing on three fronts.
First, the Prime Minister did not even attend. Second, Canada invited the oil companies to sit at the head table. Third, the Minister of Environment prevented countries from talking about the importance of phasing out oil and gas.
What grade would our climate champion have given a Canadian government that behaved in this way, back in the old days?
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- Nov/22/22 2:41:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Bloc Québécois should send my hon. colleague next time, since she could have heard me tell journalists from all over the world that we supported Great Britain's proposal to draft a text that effectively eliminates the use of non-sequestered fossil fuels by 2050. That is already Canada's plan, and we have already made that commitment and communicated it to our partners at COP27.
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- Nov/22/22 2:42:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada got a failing grade at COP27. Next up is the biodiversity conference, COP15. What happened in Newfoundland while the minister was in Egypt? Five oil companies got the green light for oil exploration in a marine protected area. Canada does not even allow fishing in that area in order to protect biodiversity, but it is allowing companies to drill into the seabed to find more oil.
What credibility does it have to talk about biodiversity at COP15? Is this conference already doomed to fail too?
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- Nov/22/22 2:43:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague should know that the organization that authorized exploratory drilling operates independently of the federal government. It seems to me that the Bloc Québécois should have a good understanding of the word “independence”. It was that agency, not the federal government, that proposed this exploratory drilling.
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- Nov/22/22 2:43:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Chris in Grand Falls-Windsor just this morning. He explained how the $5,000 that was announced yesterday would only be a drop in the bucket to help convert his elderly parents from burning oil to heating their home with a heat pump. His parents struggled last winter, and now their oil bill has nearly doubled. That is without the carbon tax. In the new year, the carbon tax will add another 20% to their home heating bill.
Will the Liberal government stop forcing the carbon tax down the throats of Canadians?
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- Nov/22/22 2:44:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these are challenging times for Canadians and we want to help. The price of home heating oil has certainly increased over the past year and we want to make sure that people are not forced to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table.
That is why, yesterday, the Nova Scotia regional minister announced a program that would give up to $5,000 to low and middle-income families to help with the cost of replacing their furnace with new and more efficient heat pumps. Transitioning away from heating oil will save families thousands of dollars on their annual heating bills, reduce pollution and create new jobs across the country.
Today, in Nova Scotia, the carbon price rebate was announced, which will more than compensate for any increase in home heating oil and fuel for cars.
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- Nov/22/22 2:45:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member should have better sense. He knows that program is garbage. The carbon tax cult opposite continues to gloat about the need to tax Atlantic Canadians, but the evidence is in. The carbon tax is not working. We rank 58 out of 64 countries in fighting climate change. Canada's emissions are higher now than ever. The carbon tax just fuels inflation.
When will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax down the throats of Canadians?
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- Nov/22/22 2:45:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, affordability is extremely important. We have taken significant steps to address affordability issues, including the investment of $250 million for heat pumps yesterday.
It is also the case that no matter how much the Conservatives try to mislead the House, eight out of 10 Canadian families actually get more money back than they pay with respect to the price on pollution. Certainly in Newfoundland and Labrador, it will mean money in the pockets of folks there.
As I said before, and it bears stating again, every member of that side of the House campaigned on putting in place a price on pollution in the last election. What do they say to their constituents? My goodness.
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- Nov/22/22 2:46:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotia surpassed the Liberal federal government's 2030 emission targets already and will reach net zero by 2050 without a carbon tax, but those Liberals today are imposing one. That carbon tax is going to add $360 to a tank of home heating oil when 40% of Atlantic Canadians are living in energy poverty. The Liberals seem more focused on ineffective taxes than they are on actual results.
When will the Liberal government stop forcing Canadians to have the failed carbon tax?
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- Nov/22/22 2:47:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, maybe the member opposite should listen to the Leader of the Opposition, who recognized earlier that this would not take effect before July of next year. I do not know about him, but in July, I do not intend to heat my home very much.
The Conservatives would like Canadians to continue to be dependant—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/22/22 2:47:24 p.m.
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Order, please. The hon. minister, from the beginning, so we can all hear the answer.
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- Nov/22/22 2:47:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Opposition said earlier during this question period, this will not take effect before July of next year. In the meantime, we are helping tens of thousands of Canadians get rid of their home heating oil, which is more expensive, more polluting and less efficient.
The Conservatives would like to condemn those Canadians to continue being dependant on systems that will cost them more and more over time as opposed to systems that will save them thousands of dollars every year. That is the unfortunate truth.
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- Nov/22/22 2:48:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those Liberals are proud that, in 2023, they are going to add $360 to a tank of home heating oil. In the 2015 election, the Prime Minister said that provinces that did the hard work of reducing carbon emissions would not have the carbon tax imposed, yet Nova Scotia has already surpassed the 2030 carbon reduction targets of the Liberal government.
I will ask again. When will the Liberals live up to their campaign promise and stop forcing their failed carbon tax on Nova Scotians?
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- Nov/22/22 2:48:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, what we are proud of is that we do have a plan to fight the climate.
With respect to the comments that have been made on the other side, it is absolutely unbelievable that those members are still denying that climate change is real. We can look at Atlantic Canada, and my colleague will ask this question. In his province of Nova Scotia, we have seen the devastation first-hand. We realize that we have to tackle this and we have to tackle it immediately.
Again, I ask my colleague this. Why are the Conservatives against focusing on really fighting climate? It is an emergency that we have to deal with right now.
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- Nov/22/22 2:49:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment is back from COP27, empty-handed. He spent his time defending the interests of big oil companies.
Today, he had a chance to make carbon pricing fairer and ensure that big polluters really pay what they owe. Again, he failed Canadians.
Why is it so hard for that minister to stand up to big polluters?
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- Nov/22/22 2:49:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would quote the words of the Canadian climate action network, which said that, on the issue of loss and damage, which was one of the victories of the COP27 conference, Canada was the “first mover among rich countries to make this thing happen.” We fought for this. We fought for stronger language in the text on eliminating the use of coal all around the world, including in Canada. We fought for stronger text on the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.
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