44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/7/23 3:02:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the situation in Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix is very serious.
In my riding, 142 SMEs have announced that they will go bankrupt if the federal government does not extend the repayment deadline for CEBA loans by one year without the loss of the forgivable portion of the loan. The situation is the same in the entire national capital region. Our SMEs need more time. While the Liberals are asleep at the wheel and the Conservatives are defending oil companies, our small and medium-sized businesses are on the verge of bankruptcy.
When will the government finally give them the one-year extension they so desperately need?
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- Nov/7/23 3:03:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform my hon. colleague that nearly 900,000 small businesses benefited from the CEBA.
That is why we recently announced a one-year extension on the term loan repayment deadline, more flexibility on refinancing and more time to access loan forgiveness. We also increased the Canada child benefit and implemented $10-a-day child care, thus enabling more women than ever to enter the workforce.
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- Nov/7/23 3:04:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a wave of bankruptcies is coming for our SMEs if the federal government does not defer repayment of the Canada emergency business account without the loss of any subsidies.
According to the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals, more companies filed for insolvency in the last quarter than in the previous 10 years. In Beauport—Limoilou alone, 154 businesses have said they are at risk of bankruptcy.
How can the Liberals sacrifice everything they have, when all these companies are asking for is a one-year deferral, not 18 days?
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- Nov/7/23 3:05:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are proud to have created that program, which paid out $49 billion to Canadian small businesses during one of the worst economic challenges they have ever faced.
I thank the Bloc Québécois for supporting these crucial programs, especially when the Leader of the Opposition called our pandemic support measures “big, fat government programs”. What matters today is to point out that SMEs now have until December 31, 2026, to pay.
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- Nov/7/23 3:05:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Liberals voted down our common-sense Conservative motion to axe the carbon tax on all forms of home heating for all Canadians. The NDP leader said his NDP MPs would be supporting our Conservative motion to keep the heat on. However, not all British Columbia NDP MPs voted to take the carbon tax off. After eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
Will the Prime Minister quit forcing on British Columbians his carbon tax rates which he plans to quadruple on home heating?
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- Nov/7/23 3:06:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have been saying, we have a plan to ensure long-term affordability for particularly vulnerable Canadians. The cost of heating oil is two to four times that of natural gas, depending on which province one lives in. It has accelerated over 75% in 2022. It is a plan that actually addresses that in a way that will give savings to people over the long term. It will do it in a manner that fights climate change.
I had the opportunity to speak with Premier Eby about it last week, and I believe that the people in British Columbia will have access to exactly the same proposal as people will have everywhere else.
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- Nov/7/23 3:07:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister paused the pain of his carbon tax on 3% of Canadian families in the areas where his polls were the lowest. The Liberal rural affairs minister said that if people in other regions wanted to see a pause as well, then they needed to vote Liberal. However, the people in Calgary Skyview did vote for a Liberal member of Parliament, who yesterday could have voted to keep the heat on and take the tax off, but instead voted no to the people of Calgary Skyview.
Why is the government so hell-bent on quadrupling its carbon tax that the member for Calgary Skyview left his constituents out in the cold?
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- Nov/7/23 3:08:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said, we are moving forward on a program that will ensure long-term affordability for people who utilize heating oil and that they do so in a manner that is consistent with addressing climate change. I have reached out to my counterpart in the Government of Alberta, and we will be having conversations about how Alberta can participate in this project moving forward.
However, I would say once again that it is time, and Canadians expect it, for the Conservative Party to at least tell folks that it believes in climate change and it has a plan for addressing the climate crisis in a manner that is consistent with long-term economic prosperity and affordability.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/7/23 3:08:37 p.m.
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Order. I was not able to hear who said a certain comment, but every member who is recognized to speak has the right to do so until the time expires and the Speaker lets that person know.
The hon. member for Lethbridge.
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- Nov/7/23 3:09:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what I heard from the member opposite is that the government is committed to picking winners and losers, and the winners are the 3% who use oil to heat their homes. They will not have to pay a carbon tax for the next three years, but the rest of Canada will.
When the minister for rural affairs was asked about this, she said that people need to vote more Liberals in and then they will give them their attention, referring to those in other parts of the country, of course. Those who live in the constituency of Edmonton Centre did elect a Liberal member of Parliament, and yet they were not shown that favouritism. They were not given the benefit of having the carbon tax removed.
My question is simple. Why is the government so hell-bent that the people of Edmonton Centre still have to pay the carbon tax on their home heating?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/7/23 3:09:47 p.m.
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I would like to remind members that I am quite aware of the time members have to pose and respond to questions. I politely decline their reminders as to how to do that.
The hon. Minister of Health.
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- Nov/7/23 3:10:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the members opposite know that more than eight out of 10 Canadians get more back than they pay. Why we are hell-bent on this is that our planet demands it.
Fifteen thousand is the number of Canadians who died prematurely as a result of air pollution in the country. That cost is $114 billion, and it will escalate if we refuse to take action on this. Not only do we have a moral and fiscal imperative, but we also have an obligation to ensure the party opposite does not return to attacking climate policies across the world and move back to an aggressive state where we cease making progress on climate action.
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- Nov/7/23 3:11:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, more than 400,000 homes in Quebec still heat with oil. Quebeckers are ready for a green transition, but the reality is that not everyone can afford to replace their heating system. That is why greener homes programs and heat pump subsidies are so important.
Can the Minister of Environment tell us how these grants and programs are being used?
Have there been any discussions with Quebec about enhancing these programs?
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- Nov/7/23 3:11:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.
As we know, oil is the dirtiest and most expensive form of heating. Moreover, it has seen the biggest price jump over the past year. Obviously, that is because of everything that is happening on the world markets.
Our heat pump program aims to save every family that installs a heat pump $2,500, on average, across the country. We are working with the provinces so we can roll out this program as quickly as possible to eliminate oil heating across the country.
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- Nov/7/23 3:12:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Manitoba's new NDP premier has joined the course calling on the Liberals to pause the carbon tax.
After eight long years, everyone knows that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost and that his Liberal MPs in Winnipeg are failing Manitobans. Yesterday, the member for Winnipeg North could have voted to take the tax off and keep the heat on for Manitobans; instead, he voted to leave his constituents out in the cold. Now the Liberals want to quadruple the carbon tax.
Why does the member for Winnipeg North always follow orders from the Prime Minister at the expense of his own constituents?
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- Nov/7/23 3:13:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times, this is a policy that is about addressing affordability for folks who are suffering from the fact that heating oil is a much more expensive way to heat their homes. We will use it in a manner that will enable us to continue the fight against climate change and help folks in the long term with affordability concerns.
I would tell the member that we have had discussions with the Government of Manitoba. I look forward to being able to move forward on a joint basis with the Government of Manitoba. I am pleased to see the government in Manitoba actually recognizing the existence of climate change, something the opposition does not do.
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- Nov/7/23 3:13:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years we now have the socialists, the separatists and the Prime Minister, who is just not worth the cost. They are all part of this costly carbon tax coalition that is leaving Canadians out in the cold.
The rural affairs minister recently told Manitobans that, if they wanted the tax break, they had to elect more Liberals. The folks in Saint Boniface—Saint Vital elected a Liberal, but they are still paying the carbon tax. Yesterday, the member for Saint Boniface—Saint Vital had a chance to vote to keep the tax off and the heat on for his constituents. Why did he choose to leave the people of Saint Boniface—Saint Vital in the cold?
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- Nov/7/23 3:14:23 p.m.
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I would like to remind all members, in terms of their preparation of questions, that the questions should be directed toward the government, parliamentary secretaries or committee chairs and related to the business of the government or the House. A question posed to a member is not normally recognized.
The minister is standing up on this issue. If he wishes to answer the question, he certainly can.
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
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- Nov/7/23 3:15:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am a Liberal and proud socialist, but this reminds me of when Prime Minister Harper talked about the fight against climate change as a socialist plot. That is what the Conservative Party thinks.
Here it is. We have it again. Conservatives do not believe that climate change is an issue. They do not believe we should do anything about it. They oppose the electrification of transportation. They oppose deals such as Volkswagen, Stellantis and Northvolt. They oppose offshore wind development in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. They have no plan to fight climate change. They have no plan for the economy. They have no plan for the future of Canada.
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- Nov/7/23 3:16:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP said that his caucus would be voting against the divisive decision by the Prime Minister to pause the pain of the carbon tax for just 3% of Canadians, while doing nothing for the rest. However, in yesterday's vote, the member for Hamilton Centre did not even bother to vote. If the NDP member for Hamilton Centre will not do his job, Conservatives will.
Will the Prime Minister quit forcing Ontarians to pay a quadrupled carbon tax on their home heating?
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