44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 18, 2023 10:00AM
- May/18/23 2:50:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative Party of Canada, in the 2021 election, campaigned on bringing carbon pricing to $170 a tonne or putting in place clean fuel regulations, were they trying to fool Canadians? Is that what we are to understand?
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- May/18/23 2:51:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has been dodging questions about her second carbon tax ever since she came back to work. Now, we finally have the answer, thanks to the PBO. This additional 17¢ a litre is even going to be charged on fuel used by our fishermen. For families in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is going to be an extra $850 a year. Combined with her original carbon tax, it is going to be $2,000 per year for those families.
When is the Liberal government going to stop trampling on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and axe this useless carbon tax?
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- May/18/23 2:51:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first, our plan is working. We have reduced carbon pollution by more than 50 million tonnes. Canada has the best emission reduction profile of all G7 countries in 2020 and 2021. What we are doing for the great people of Newfoundland is helping them land investment of more than $300 million in the last month alone in the new Braya biorefinery.
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- May/18/23 2:52:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister in 58th place just said something that is not entirely accurate. He said his plan is working.
His plan is working so well that the United Nations released a document last fall that ranked Canada 58th out of 63 countries in the fight against climate change. Still, he has the nerve to say that everything is fine. What the minister in 58th place is saying does not hold up.
It gets worse. Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed in a report that the second Liberal carbon tax will cost Quebec families an average of $436. Meanwhile, one in five families in Montreal is struggling to eat.
Does the minister from Montreal understand why Canadians are tired of paying too much?
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- May/18/23 2:53:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I could name a long list of independent organizations that have publicly attested that our plan is working and that greenhouse gas emissions have begun to decline.
I could mention Climate Action Network, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Equiterre, Ecojustice and Environmental Defence, all of which have publicly stated that our climate change plan is beginning to work.
I will be the first to admit that we still have a lot of work to do. However, it is working.
The last thing we need is the Conservatives taking us back 20 years in the fight against climate change or when it comes to investments in clean technology.
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- May/18/23 2:53:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister in 58th place seems to have a rather short memory. He quoted Equiterre. Let us remember that he founded Equiterre 30 years ago.
What did Equiterre do on May 6, 2022? It filed a lawsuit against the Minister of the Environment stating, and I quote, “those promises are more talk than action”. It is not me that is saying that. It is Equiterre, the group that the minister himself founded.
Beyond that rhetoric, the reality is troubling for Quebec families. They will be paying $436 more.
How can the member from Quebec support an additional charge for all Quebeckers?
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- May/18/23 2:54:40 p.m.
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I am sorry, but I want to make a brief comment.
I want to remind members of the House that we must refer to other members by their title or their riding name, not by a made-up title. I know that sometimes members can get really creative, but those are the rules.
The hon. Minister of Environment.
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- May/18/23 2:55:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will share some quotes with my colleague.
“We welcome the additional investments that were announced [in this plan], which will double the amounts available in the climate solutions fund”, said Alice-Anne Simard, of Nature Québec.
“The 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan offers greater detail and transparency than any Canadian climate plan to date”, said Caroline Brouillette of Climate Action Network Canada.
Bruno Marchand, the mayor of Quebec City said, “The City of Quebec welcomes this major announcement. The fight against climate change is key to the future of our cities and the well-being of future generations. Municipal governments also have a hand in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
These are all allies of the federal government. Unfortunately, they are not allies of the Conservative Party.
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- May/18/23 2:55:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is an illegal dump in Kanesatake that for years has been contaminating the drinking water source of one million people. Obviously it is a complex problem, but it is a serious and urgent one that needs to be addressed.
It is unacceptable to watch the federal government in the media abdicate its responsibilities and offload them to the Sûreté du Québec. The government has been playing hot potato long enough. We are talking about drinking water for one million people and the federal government cannot continue to let the situation deteriorate.
What meaningful action is the Minister of Environment and Climate Change taking on this urgent matter?
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- May/18/23 2:56:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I have had several conversations with him and with the minister responsible for first nations and Inuit relations in Quebec, as well as my colleague, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and the Minister of Indigenous Services.
It is a complex problem to which we cannot apply simple or simplistic solutions. Everyone has a role to play. The band council has a role to play. The Government of Quebec, through the Sûreté du Québec, has a role to play. The federal government certainly also has a role to play. We are in talks with the band council and the Government of Quebec to find a lasting solution to this problem.
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- May/18/23 2:57:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government needs to stop playing hot potato and show some leadership.
In an interview with Radio-Canada, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations made these regrettable comments, and I quote: We must let go of this idea that every time there are two or three indigenous people involved in an issue, it is a federal problem.
The community of Kanesatake is asking for help, and that is an unacceptable response. Oka is asking for help, the entire region is asking for help. The federal government can clean up this mess. Yes, it is very much the federal government's problem.
When will Ottawa bring the communities together in order to come up with a quick, concrete solution?
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- May/18/23 2:57:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only party playing hot potato with this issue is the Bloc Québécois.
I myself acknowledged yesterday in an interview with La Presse that the federal government has a role to play and that it will do just that. Just yesterday, the Minister of Indigenous Services spoke with the community's chief. We are committed to finding a solution.
While the Bloc plays hot potato, we on this side of the House will be working to find a solution.
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- May/18/23 2:58:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has now spent $3.5 million on vending machines for its failed unsafe supply experiment. These vending machines are dispensing hydromorphone, which is more potent than heroin. There are three of these machines in Vancouver and one in Victoria. The sad reality is that opioid deaths have continued to increase. In the last two years, they have gone up 17%.
When will the Minister of Addictions stop this failed experiment and give way to compassionate treatment for those suffering from addictions?
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- May/18/23 2:58:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yet again the failed Conservative policies surface. Without harm reduction, people do not live long enough to get to treatment. Polarizing the difference between treatment and harm reduction is really unhelpful. We need all aspects of internationally accepted drug policy: prevention and education, harm reduction, treatment, and enforcement. Diversion is illegal.
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- May/18/23 2:59:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the decriminalization of hard drugs by the Liberals and NDP, we have seen a record number of opioid deaths in the province of British Columbia. Not only that, the government has failed to uphold its part in the agreement as it relates to the protection of children. Why has the government not done more to protect kids from exposure to crack pipes and needles at schools and parks across British Columbia, despite its still being illegal?
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- May/18/23 2:59:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think every member of the House understands that the increase in opioid deaths is because of the extraordinarily toxic drug supply that came in after the reduction of deaths in 2019 in British Columbia, so this is hugely important. The exemption we have approved in British Columbia specifically states that playgrounds and areas attached to schools and day cares are not exempt and must be enforced.
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- May/18/23 3:00:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives know that a healthy recovery is the answer to the captivity of addiction. There are 34,000 Canadians who have died from opioids from 2016 to 2022 alone.
Today, we are told Ottawa plans to join a B.C. class action accusing its favourite $100-million consultant McKinsey, which turbocharged the opioid sales, of reckless opioid marketing. This is a copycat of what Conservatives called for on March 14.
Why did it take the Liberal government two years after the U.S. settlement to sue McKinsey and big pharma?
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- May/18/23 3:01:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the opposition is behind the times. Since 2018, we have been working with British Columbia on the litigation against big pharma and those who enabled it, and we were part of the Purdue settlement in June 2022. At our request, B.C. also amended its legislation to reinforce the federal government's participation in these class actions. Canada has also addressed big pharma's predatory practices by further restricting the marketing of opioids and increasing the maximum financial penalties.
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- May/18/23 3:01:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the Conservative Party's pollution pricing flip-flop. In 2007, the Harper government proposed a $15 carbon tax. In 2008, that same government promised to introduce a cap-and-trade system. In 2011, the Conservatives ditched that idea along with every other climate measure. During the 2021 election campaign, they once again supported carbon pricing.
Can the Minister of Environment and Climate Change tell the House about the ambitious climate measures our government is proposing to—
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- May/18/23 3:02:37 p.m.
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The hon. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
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