44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/7/23 1:04:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed my colleague's speech.
We know the carbon tax disproportionately affects rural Canadians. I was shocked this week to see that my riding of York—Simcoe is now classified as Toronto. The Liberals came up with this meagre top-up for people, which is about as handy as a front pocket on a pair of underwear, but now the people of York—Simcoe will not be getting it.
All my farmers, small businesses and rural families will not get the top-up because we are now classified just like Toronto, which has subways, transit and Uber. We do not have any of that stuff in York—Simcoe, so I would ask if my colleague thinks that is fair.
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- Nov/7/23 2:05:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while remaining focused on the fight against climate change and recognizing the unequal impact this fight can have on rural communities, our government has decided to double the pollution price rebate for rural communities from 10% to 20%.
Furthermore, we have instituted a temporary, three-year pause to the federal price on pollution on deliveries of heating oil for the provinces and territories that receive the climate action incentive payment.
Eligible Canadians will be able to access federal and provincial programs within the next three years to switch to heat pumps. This means that my constituents in Madawaska—Restigouche, for example, will benefit from added financial support to meet their energy needs and compensate for their limited access to public transit.
This policy is a huge step forward for rural communities as we aim to ensure that carbon pricing is fair and balanced across the country.
Now that is a real common-sense government initiative.
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- Nov/7/23 4:28:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to try to find common ground. I think the leader of the NDP and I would both agree that the carbon tax disproportionately affects rural Canadians more than urban Canadians.
My riding of York—Simcoe is now classified as urban. I think the leader of the NDP knows my riding as the soup and salad bowl of Canada, the ice fishing capital of Canada and the home of the Chippewas of Georgina Island. According to the Liberals, we are now classified as part of the city of Toronto, being 70 miles outside of Toronto. We have no streetcars. We have no subways. We have no Uber. As unbelievable as this is, we have no hospital. We have to drive 40 minutes to get to a hospital.
How does the leader of the NDP think it is fair that we do not get the rural top-up or the doubling of the rural top-up, as meagre as it is? It is helpful to some, but we do not get it.
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- Nov/7/23 5:23:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I always enjoy listening to the member for Winnipeg North.
From a York—Simcoe perspective, since 2018, we are still waiting for the $40-million commitment for the Lake Simcoe cleanup fund. We still do not have it. We are still waiting on the freshwater action plan. Municipalities are calling me about that money. We are still waiting for our trees to be planted. In York—Simcoe, and I am proud of this, we have planted more than 5,000 trees at Canada Day barbecues right across the riding.
We know that rural Canadians are disproportionately affected by the carbon tax. The people of York—Simcoe were shocked to learn that we are now considered as part of Toronto. We are the soup and salad bowl of Canada, the ice fishing capital of Canada. I know I have invited the member to come ice fishing, and he has not taken me up on that. We have all that, and all the rural farms in Pefferlaw, but we are not going to get the rural top-up, the meagre rural top-up.
Could the member comment on how he thinks that is fair for the residents of York—Simcoe?
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- Nov/7/23 5:45:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the carbon tax, we know, disproportionately affects rural Canadians. I think we can all agree with that. I think even the member for Milton would agree with that. The government has come up with a meagre top-up. My riding of York—Simcoe includes all the farms and small communities like Pefferlaw, which is very north of Toronto, and we are not included now in that rural top-up.
We have no choice but to drive to hospitals. We do not have a subway. We have very limited public transit. We do not have any streetcars, so we do not have those choices. I have a first nation in my riding where people have to get back and forth from home, and the choices are limited. How does my colleague think that it is fair for us to be excluded?
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- Nov/7/23 5:46:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, certainly folks who live in rural areas have challenges that people who live in urban areas do not when it comes to decarbonizing their lifestyles. I represent a semi-rural riding as well, and people do not have access to the same types of public transit opportunities. That is why we increased the rural top-up. I cannot speak to the specifics of the member's riding, but it is something that we need to look at on the supply side to make sure those options are there. It could be through transit, particularly regional transit where there are large gaps in the country. We need to make sure that we work with provinces, municipalities and other organizations as well to deploy things like electric vehicle charging stations, and others, so that people have the opportunity to make those changes.
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- Nov/7/23 5:48:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague.
Every province and territory can come up with a system that suits its circumstances. They can develop a system that defines rural regions differently. I think that, if this is a problem, we should talk to the provinces about it. Every part of the country is different, and it is hard to come up with a system that works for everyone. That is why we set it up this way.
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- Nov/7/23 5:49:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to speak to this opposition day motion today.
As the opposition notes, Canadians across the country are facing more and more dramatic impacts from climate change. They are also struggling with the sharp increases in the cost of living.
That is why we have put in place a comprehensive emissions reduction plan, which is the most comprehensive national climate plan ever implemented not just here in Canada but anywhere. It is very ambitious, and its aim is threefold: to reduce carbon pollution, to stop climate change, and to grow our economy and to position Canada to be a leader on the clean technology front as well as keeping life affordable for all Canadians.
My riding, as one of the previous speakers noted, is a semi-rural riding. I have hundreds of neighbours who use home heating oil. These recent measures take that into consideration, recognizing that home heating oil is by far the most expensive way to heat one's home, and it is also the most emissions-intensive way to heat one's home.
We are going to get people off home heating oil. We are going to get them the heat pumps that their systems need. We have highly polluting oil heat that we want to phase out, just like our efforts to phase out coal-fired energy, and we are going to do that in favour of clean and efficient cold-climate-adapted heat pumps.
I am a big proponent of heat pumps because I have one myself. That means that I am currently heating my house with electricity and not with natural gas.
If it gets very cold, I can turn on my natural gas system. It is important that this is about lowering emissions at this stage and not about completely eliminating our reliance on fossil fuels.
I would like to talk a little about carbon pollution pricing because it seems like, in the House, we spend a lot of time debating whether we fight climate change not how we fight climate change, and that is truly unfortunate.
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