SoVote

Hon. Diane Lebouthillier (Minister of National Revenue, Lib.)

Dec/5/22 2:37:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague opposite that his party is not even capable of acknowledging that climate change exists. The impacts of climate change are real. One only has to talk to people in the Gaspé or the Magdalen Islands. Three years ago, we were hit by hurricane Dorian, and this fall we were hit by hurricane Fiona. We will not be distracted by the drama they are creating. We must take action to protect our planet. We owe it to future generations. I can say one thing: We certainly will take no lessons from climate deniers.

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Context: House Hansard - 141 - Dec/5/22

Hon. Diane Lebouthillier (Minister of National Revenue, Lib.)

Dec/5/22 2:38:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even if we tripled the number of Conservative politicians who take the climate crisis seriously, the number would still be zero. There is no need to worry, because on this side of the House, we care about the planet, we care about our children, and we care about future generations. We are acting for the good of Canadians and for the good of our planet. We are not going to do what the Conservatives do, which is constantly complain and never deliver.

84 words

Context: House Hansard - 141 - Dec/5/22

Mr. Terry Duguid

Dec/5/22 3:02:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said before, emissions are going down. We are on track to make our targets, but the Conservative record is abysmal. The first thing the Conservatives did when they came to power was to cancel the national child care program, but the second thing they did was blow up the Kyoto climate accord. Now they are blaming us for their lack of action. For their troubles, they won the Fossil of the Day award, the Fossil of the Year award and the Colossal Fossil award.

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Context: House Hansard - 141 - Dec/5/22

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Dec/5/22 5:13:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I recognize the climate crisis. In no way would I want to give an impression that I would not support a price on pollution. I was just trying to help the member— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

40 words

Context: House Hansard - 141 - Dec/5/22

Mr. Terry Beech (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Dec/5/22 6:54:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start by thanking my friend opposite for raising these questions. I used to represent the people of her riding as a municipal city councillor some 23 years ago in Nanaimo. In fact, I sat on the advisory committee to the environment there. The member and I have had some good discussions around various environmental issues, including climate change. I am glad we have a further opportunity to share some time in the chamber today. The federal government has committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. At the same time, we are increasing investments in clean technology and clean energy production. I cannot cover the entirety of our plan to fight climate change and grow the economy in four minutes, but I would encourage anyone who is interested to read my reports on climate change and the environment and growing the economy, both of which are available at terrybeechmp.ca. It is also important to note that we are not just committed to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, but we have actually accelerated our previous timeline for doing so from 2025 to 2023, which is a matter of weeks away. In fact, we have already taken action to phase out nine tax measures supporting the fossil fuel sector to date. In budget 2022, as another example, the government committed to eliminating the flow-through share regime for fossil fuel activities. This means tax benefits available to companies and their investors will no longer be available after March 31, 2023, which is less than four months from now. At COP27 last month in Egypt, Canadian representatives also fought to prevent other countries from backing down on phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels and coal, which are still the single largest contributor to CO2 emissions globally. We are also on track to eliminate coal-fired energy in Canada within the next seven years. The reality is that our government has taken concrete action to fight pollution and to produce cleaner air for everyone. This is also why we introduced a price on carbon pollution across Canada in 2019. My friend opposite would be familiar with this approach, as B.C. has had a price on pollution since 2008. In fact, the carbon price has not only helped lower emissions per capita, but B.C. has enjoyed one of the fastest-growing economies in the country since it was implemented. An important part of this economic growth story is that a majority of Canada's clean-tech sector is actually located in British Columbia and accounts for billions of dollars in revenue each and every single year and tens of thousands of good, sustainable, high-paying jobs. It is a good analogy for how successful Canada can be as more of the world demands clean and sustainable sources of energy and solutions for fighting climate change. There really is no doubt that our approach is working. Industries are already being encouraged to become more emissions-efficient and to use cleaner technologies. This in turn encourages the development of new and innovative approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using energy more efficiently. This in turn creates new business development opportunities. The fact is that we cannot have a credible plan to grow our economy without also having a credible plan to protect the environment and to fight climate change. That said, we also know that we need to work with industry to find economically viable solutions and technologies. Carbon capture, utilization and storage, CCUS for short, is an important tool for reducing emissions in high-emitting sectors, especially if other pathways to reducing emissions are limited or unavailable. I would note that many respected global organizations support CCUS development, including the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Paris-based International Energy Agency. It will help not just the oil and gas sector to reduce emissions, but emission-intensive sectors like steel production, cement and other emission-intensive industries as well.

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