44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 8, 2022 10:00AM
- Dec/8/22 10:29:41 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would offer that the impact on food prices from the climate crisis and from the price gouging of the big box stores and big grocery retailers far outstrips the impact of carbon pricing.
My question is this. When farmers across this country are facing massive crop failures and the infrastructure needed to ship our food is being ripped out by climate disasters, why do the Conservatives not have a plan to tackle the climate crisis, the most significant crisis facing us as a population? Why do they refuse to come up with a credible plan?
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- Dec/8/22 10:54:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I invite the hon. member to Manitoba to see those beautiful landscapes. I toured that area this spring. It was under water. About a third of southern Manitoba was out of water. There was a late spring, so farmers could not plant their crops in a timely way.
However, in 2021, many of those farmers had to plow their canola fields under because we had the worst drought in 60 years. We had two one-in-300-year floods that cost $1 billion each and destroyed agriculture in many parts of the Assiniboine Valley.
The impacts of climate change are real, and I would ask the hon. member where his climate plan is, because the Conservative Party has no plan.
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- Dec/8/22 10:59:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague and friend from the Green Party and I talk often about the importance of action on climate change. He is indeed a devoted advocate.
Again, I would agree with the spirit of his comments, if not the actual content. We are going to be working hard to get those emissions down, and we are not going to be giving the energy sector a free pass, as has been implied by opposition members.
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- Dec/8/22 11:13:11 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I am not completely familiar with that private member's bill. Nevertheless, I know that the government is always there to support our farmers.
We will support them by fighting against climate change. We are well aware that the climate crisis is something that we have to deal with today, tomorrow and in the coming years.
Farmers know in their gut that climate change is coming. We have to work on that, and that is why we always need to put a price on pollution and implement a number of policies that will help create a greener, more sustainable Canada.
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- Dec/8/22 11:14:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is somewhat ironic that the Conservatives have raised the fact that Canada is number 58 when it comes to climate action and spoke to our ability to tackle the climate challenge and live up to our commitments. It is ironic because the Conservatives do not have a plan to address climate change, but it is also a problem because number 58 is not where we need to be as a country.
Despite having a carbon pricing system in this country, Canada continues to be laggard, to not live up to the commitments we have made and to not perform. We are not on track to meet the targets we have set. What needs to be done to improve Canada's approach to climate and to stop being such a laggard on this critical issue?
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- Dec/8/22 11:28:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I want to reiterate how proud I am to be a Quebecker.
When everyone was drawing back, pulling out of the Western Climate Initiative and reneging on their climate responsibilities. Quebec, as a nation, decided to take responsibility and set up its emissions trading system. Today, it is working so well that the Conservatives are jealous and are attacking it.
In politics, when you are attacked, it is often because you are right.
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- Dec/8/22 11:54:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, honesty in politics is one of the most important things. All political leaders need to be upfront and transparent with Canadians about how they intend to tackle the biggest issues of our time. When they do that, it needs to be based on evidence and they need to show the work, show the math, and how they will actually tackle the problems we face.
We know a lot about the climate crisis. The majority of Canadians support urgent action on the climate crisis. However, I would argue that the government has not done nearly enough in this regard. We need policies that are rigorous enough to drive down emissions and ensure it is done in a way that is affordable for Canadians. At the end of the day, the numbers do not lie, and Canada's numbers are not good.
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- Dec/8/22 11:58:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's dismay that not only are we talking about the same topic for the sixth time now, but we are doing so in the context of the government and an official opposition, neither of which are doing enough to tackle the climate crisis.
We need a more rigorous approach on this most important issue, as I said in my remarks. Frankly, we could use this opportunity today to highlight the ways in which the Liberal approach is not putting us on the path to meeting our targets and providing the kind of safe future that our kids deserve.
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- Dec/8/22 12:05:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the issue of the price on pollution is something that has been around for many years. We have seen provincial governments of different political stripes bring it in. We have seen the national government in support of a price on pollution, along with New Democrats, the Bloc members and the Greens. It would appear as if the Conservative Party is alone in its opposition to a price on pollution.
I wonder if my colleague could provide some of her thoughts on the caribou population and the impact on environmental change in northern Canada, just to get a better sense of awareness for our Conservative friends of the real impact of climate change.
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- Dec/8/22 12:06:54 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, climate change indeed has been impacting my territory for years. I would like to thank Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who published her book, The Right to Be Cold, to raise awareness about just how early on she started raising awareness about the impacts of climate change.
Hunters are telling me that the caribou are at risk with the climate. When it warms up, then rains and then freezes right away, caribou are losing their source of food. It makes it very difficult for them to chip away at the ice to reach their source of food, so it is absolutely having an impact.
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- Dec/8/22 12:07:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the situation in Nunavut and in northern Quebec and Canada is very worrisome. I would say that those are the areas of Canada that are being hit hardest by climate change.
Members spoke about caribou. I remember when I was in the near-northern town of Fermont that people could hunt caribou there. That is no longer the case. Caribou do not even venture that far south anymore.
What other major effects is climate change having on my colleague's constituents and even on the infrastructure in her riding, including housing?
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- Dec/8/22 12:08:44 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, there are other factors as well that are contributing to climate change and the impacts on calving grounds of caribou. Too much of the mining industry is looking to interrupt calving grounds. There are specific projects that are having impacts that we need to hold accountable to the mining industry, which continues to push for mining to continue in our territories, especially on calving grounds, which we need to protect so dearly. Even though the mining sector stakeholders say that they will do mitigation, they do not do enough.
We saw the impact of Inuit uniting when they called for their rejection of Baffinland's phase 2 project, which would have had a deeper impact on the caribou population. We thank the Minister of Northern Affairs for listening to Inuit and rejected the expansion of that project.
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- Dec/8/22 1:54:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what is unfortunate is that, because of the government's inaction on climate change, the Conservatives have come here today with a populist motion saying that the carbon tax does not do anything to fight climate change since Canada is ranked 58 out of 63 and is among the worst countries when it comes to climate change performance. It is a good thing there is a carbon tax. Without it, I think we would likely be ranked 122 out of 63.
At a time when Quebeckers and Canadians are struggling to put food on the table, big oil companies, banks and major food corporations are making record profits. Meanwhile, the government is allowing oil projects to increase their production when every international body is calling for a reduction in oil production around the world. To me, it seems absolutely insane to think that Canada is bragging about being good at fighting climate change when it is ranked 58 out of 63.
My question is as follows. When is the government going to start taking money out of the pockets of big oil, big banks and major food corporations and give it to citizens who are working hard to live a decent life?
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- Dec/8/22 2:15:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, December 8, is World Climate Day, a reminder of the very real threat of global warming and the need to take action to limit its effects on the planet.
What are we seeing today? An increase in carbon, extreme temperatures and methane; shrinking boreal, equatorial and tropical forests; forest fires; acidification and lower oxygen levels in the oceans; melting glaciers and Arctic ice; drought; extreme flooding; declining biodiversity; food insecurity; climate refugees by the millions, and so on.
The government is giving billions of dollars to help adapt to climate change. Money is good, but reducing our greenhouse gases is better.
I sometimes feel that here in Canada, just getting the government to understand the urgency to act would be a win.
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- Dec/8/22 2:39:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the hon. member, we are committed to concerted climate action, and that is why we have the most ambitious climate plan in Canada's history: $100 billion have been invested since 2015; we have a $9.1-billion emissions reduction plan, and we are working to cap emissions from the oil and gas sector. We are going to be eliminating fossil fuel subsidies. We are introducing a clean electricity standard. We are going to reach our climate goals while building a clean economy.
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- Dec/8/22 4:46:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is absolutely right. In 2006, it was Ontario and Quebec that made the cap-and-trade deal with California. Then as soon as Doug Ford came along, he ripped it up and said that he was out of this deal.
What do we see five, six years later? We see Quebec and California having progressed so much further in environmental protections, in electrifying their grid and in encouraging electric vehicles. They seem to be light years ahead now.
Ontario got stuck behind because Doug Ford thought, just like these Conservatives do, in my opinion, that they can play to fears and they can play to people's emotions when they start talking about issues like this. We should not be surprised about this since Conservatives voted 54% at the last convention that climate change does not exist. I guess we should not be surprised that they take policy decisions like this.
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- Dec/8/22 5:14:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, every day that I sit in this seat, I think of the people who put me here, and I think most people in this House do the same thing.
I would like to understand how to apply the motion today to provinces that have themselves brought in their own climate action plans and pricing on pollution. How does this motion serve those provinces? The Government of Canada did not apply the pricing all across Canada.
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- Dec/8/22 7:47:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since 2018, the federal government has invested over $2 billion, with an additional $1.3 billion in 2021, to further support actions, including nature-based solutions in indigenous communities. There is also a strong business case for proactive investments. According to the Climate Change Institute, one dollar in proactive adaptation measures can return anywhere from $13 to $15 in direct and indirect benefits.
Climate change has significant impacts on Canadians' health and on the economy. The earlier Canada takes action to address climate change, the more effectively the country can reduce its risk and protect the health and safety of Canadians.
I agree with the hon. member's solutions, and I agree with the government's solutions as well.
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