44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 9, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/9/23 2:37:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they can huff and they can puff, but their carbon tax house is falling down because it was built on two pillars that have completely collapsed. The first is that it is revenue-neutral, but the Prime Minister's own budget watchdog has said that Canadians pay far more in the tax than anything they hope to receive. The second is that it would allow the government to hit its own emissions targets, but the Liberal-appointed Environment Commissioner confirmed this week that the government has no hope of hitting its targets, even with the carbon tax.
After eight years of failure, will the Prime Minister put his ego aside and admit he has a tax plan, not an environment plan?
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- Nov/9/23 2:38:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are getting there. We are 85% of the way to meeting—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/9/23 2:39:01 p.m.
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The hon. minister, from the top, please.
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- Nov/9/23 2:39:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are getting there. We are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets.
Do members know what is worse than not even trying? It is not even being willing to admit that climate change exists. Last week, the Leader of the Opposition was asked in a scrum, right over there, whether he would meet the Paris targets. He was like a deer in front of headlights. He could not even answer the question. He would not even answer the question.
On this side of the House, we are doing everything we can to achieve our 2030 targets, as opposed to the Conservative Party that wants to bring us back to the Stone Age.
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- Nov/9/23 2:39:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, his own government has admitted that it is not going to hit those targets. The Liberals are getting there? Does somebody have a participation trophy we could send across the way? Maybe they would get there faster if they stopped saying no to clean energy projects, like when they killed a tidal electricity project in Atlantic Canada that would have created zero-emissions power for Canadians, when they say no to nuclear or when they say no to carbon capture. There were 18 LNG terminals on the books when the Prime Minister took office. Zero have been completed.
Instead of cancelling clean energy projects, why do the Liberals not cancel their carbon tax?
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- Nov/9/23 2:40:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as is too frequently the case in the House, the member is just factually wrong.
At the end of the day, the previous Conservative government got almost nothing built, including zero LNG facilities, because it gutted the environmental assessment process. It paid no heed to environmental impacts and did not have a climate plan.
At the end of the day, we have put in place measures to ensure that we are going to see good projects go ahead, including offshore wind in Atlantic Canada, battery manufacturing plants in Bécancour, the Volkswagen electric vehicle plant, Air Products' hydrogen plant and a whole range of other things.
We have to have a climate plan if we want to have an economic plan. The Conservatives have neither.
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- Nov/9/23 2:41:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, the Bloc Québécois unveiled its expectations for the economic update on November 21. We presented seven responsible but urgent demands.
With winter approaching, we need an emergency homelessness fund. We need a $50‑million emergency fund for the media. We need the repayment deadline for the Canada emergency business account loans to be extended by a year while maintaining access to the forgivable portion.
The minister no doubt realizes that the key word is “emergency”. Will she include these urgent measures in the economic update?
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- Nov/9/23 2:42:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that my colleague is so enthusiastic about the fall economic update.
I want to point out that Canada's economic fundamentals are strong, and we are delivering results for Canadians and Quebeckers. A million more Canadians and Quebeckers are employed than before the pandemic. The IMF predicts that we are going to have the best economy of the G7 in 2024. We will continue to build housing, we will continue to build an economy that works for everyone, and we will unveil our plan on November 21 when the Minister of Finance delivers her fall economic statement.
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- Nov/9/23 2:43:04 p.m.
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Before continuing, I would just like to encourage members to stay seated until I recognize them.
The hon. member for Joliette.
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- Nov/9/23 2:43:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind members that being responsible in the current economic context does not mean austerity. It means investing wisely.
To address the housing crisis, the Bloc Québécois is proposing funding for more than 100,000 housing units that could be ready as of next July. To help seniors deal with inflation, we are calling on the government to increase the old age pension for all seniors aged 65 and over. To fight climate change, we are calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies in favour of a green shift. That is what it means to be responsible.
Will the government include our responsible proposals in its economic update?
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- Nov/9/23 2:44:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that my hon. colleague is so excited about the upcoming fall economic statement, which will be presented shortly, on November 21.
We are making responsible, forward-looking investments, such as the investment in Bécancourt and investments in Air Products in Edmonton. We are making investments from coast to coast to coast, to build a green economy for the future, one that will put people to work from coast to coast to coast. We will have more information on our plan, on the debt and on our investments on November 21, with the fall economic statement.
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- Nov/9/23 2:44:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the economic update, being responsible starts with helping 220,000 small and medium-sized business avoid bankruptcy. The deadline for repaying CEBA loans must be extended by a year while maintaining access to the forgivable portion. That is all our businesses want: a little flexibility.
I sincerely hope the Minister of Finance is listening right now. Forty SMEs in her own riding have told the Canadian Federation of Independent Business that they are on the verge of bankruptcy. What message will her economic update send to those 40 businesses in her riding? Will she help them or turn her back on them?
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- Nov/9/23 2:45:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can reassure my colleagues that we are here for small businesses.
We have already given small businesses an extra year to access the forgivable part of the loan. They asked for more help, so we gave them more flexibility to refinance, more time to access loan forgiveness and a one-year extension of the repayment deadline.
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- Nov/9/23 2:46:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, the Prime Minister's own environment commissioner has confirmed that he will not meet his targets. He missed 88% of it. Worse, the Liberals have missed targets in seven out of the eight years they have been in power. The only year they hit the target was when the economy was shut down for COVID. Still, they insist on punishing Canadians with their carbon tax chaos.
Why are those Liberals burying their heads in the sand and pretending like the carbon tax is working when Canadians know it is not?
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- Nov/9/23 2:46:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would invite my colleague to actually watch the proceedings from the environment committee this morning where the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said that not only was carbon pricing working, but it was responsible for 30% of the emissions we have seen in Canada since we took office.
Nothing would have happened under the Conservative Party. It has no plan to fight climate change. It has no plan to develop the economy. It has no plan for renewable energy, for clean electricity, for electrification of transportation. That is why Canada is lagging so far behind other countries. We are playing catch-up, but thanks to all our efforts, we are getting there, no thanks to the Conservative Party.
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- Nov/9/23 2:47:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, nobody believes the Liberals any more. They lean on a tax that punishes Canadians and will not meet their own targets. They say no to carbon capture and storage. The environment minister himself opposes nuclear.
The Liberals have delayed approvals to 25 years to mine the minerals we need to get cleaner power. They are tax collectors in 58th place out of 63 countries on climate change.
Will the Liberals save us the sanctimony, stop killing clean energy projects and cancel their failed and now selectively applied carbon tax?
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said before in the House, people may be entitled to their opinions but they are not entitled to their own facts.
The commissioner this morning actually said that it was effective and it was working, and so do all of the academics. I do not know where that person gets her facts, but at the end of the day, the facts are the facts.
The fact is that those folks do not have a plan for climate change, but they also do not have a plan for the economy. In fact, right now, in the natural resources committee, the Conservatives are blocking moving forward with Bill C-49, which is about enabling the development of an offshore wind and hydrogen program in Atlantic Canada, something that is supported by the Conservative Premier of Nova Scotia and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is bizarre.
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- Nov/9/23 2:48:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, eight years times zero targets met is still zero. After eight years of that zero government, Canadians know that its environmental record is nothing but hot air and hypocrisy.
The Bay of Fundy can supply green tidal energy to all of Nova Scotia and make us a net exporter of green energy. The only successful project to harness the power of the Bay of Fundy, delivering endless green energy, was killed by those Liberals when they refused to renew the permit. They killed capital investment in tidal power.
Why does the Prime Minister claim to support green energy but veto green tidal projects?
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- Nov/9/23 2:49:45 p.m.
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Do you know what is the height of hypocrisy, Mr. Speaker? It is a member of Parliament who was elected on a campaign platform that included a price on pollution and who now disavows that every day in the House. It is an Atlantic Canadian member of Parliament who is actively opposing the development of a major offshore wind and hydrogen project in Nova Scotia in direct opposition to the Conservative premier of his province. That is the height of hypocrisy.
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- Nov/9/23 2:50:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when women were invited into all military operations in 1989 and submarine services in 2001, they entered an environment not made for them. Trailblazers, these women endured through discrimination and lack of support, and the physical and mental outcomes they dealt with were not documented. Now, as veterans, they are often underserved because of the lack of documentation.
When will the government honour servicewomen and make it right?
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