44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 28, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/28/23 1:38:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I found it interesting. At the beginning of the member's speech, he spoke about the pillars of democracy and what is so important in a democracy.
Is it the Conservative Party's and the Leader of the Opposition's desire that, in their terms, common-sense democracy means that when someone does not agree with another parliamentarian who does not share the same beliefs, it is okay to resort to bullying and aggressive tactics to the point where safety and security have now been an issue for two women in the Senate that the House leader of the opposition specifically targeted?
Are they learning lessons from January 6 in the United States and the MAGA Republicans? Is that how they view democracy in this country?
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- Nov/28/23 1:39:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very interesting question from a person who supports a Prime Minister who wore blackface, a person who supports the Prime Minister who elbowed a female MP on the floor of the House of Commons because he was not getting his way in a vote, a person who divided Canadians, called them undesirables and people who do not deserve to be in the same country when they just wanted to talk to the Prime Minister, and supports someone who will not ever talk to people if they do not agree with the Liberals and the Prime Minister.
The member asked what my opinion of democracy is. My opinion of democracy is when someone has a public phone number, and people can call it and ask for the person's stance. At least people can have a conversation, not being divisive or calling people undesirable, saying they should not have the same freedoms because they made a personal health choice. What a disgusting question.
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- Nov/28/23 1:40:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am trying to see both sides of the issue.
I understand that the carbon tax, as applied in the Canadian provinces and territories aside from Quebec, makes it possible to build up funds that will help people when disaster strikes. That said, I also understand that our farmers, who make up 3% of the population, feed us and are already overburdened with expenses. I understand all that.
We really need to find a happy medium between helping disaster victims, including farmers, and enabling farmers to produce our food at a price that is good for both them and us.
In the case at hand, we have a bill that was passed here in the House by elected members. Now it is being studied in the Senate, and the Senate has decided to delay or stonewall it, despite the fact that members of the Senate are not elected. Basically, they do not represent the people of Canada and Quebec.
I would like to know my colleague's opinion on this subject. From now on, should senators be elected, instead of being appointed for partisan reasons?
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- Nov/28/23 1:41:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, some senators are elected. Alberta has elections for senators already, but the Prime Minister will not appoint the senators that have already been elected by the people of Alberta. This is another way he thumbs his nose at democracy.
To the member's point, I agree that 3% of Canadians are farmers. They help feed Canada and the world, and they deserve this carbon tax exemption because it will help them innovate on their farms. One thing I will always believe is that a dollar in the pocket of someone who earned it is always worth more than a dollar in the government coffers that was taken from that person or company in the first place.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting this motion because it is consistent with my third reading vote on Bill C-234.
What the Conservatives are complaining about today is precisely the same behaviour they have used in previous Parliaments. They have used their Conservative senators to upend private members' bills in previous Parliaments. How can we take the Conservatives seriously when they call out behaviour that they are guilty of in many occurrences in the past?
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Mr. Speaker, as a member of the NDP-Liberal coalition, I am sure we would not want to cast the sins of the father onto the son. The NDP leader would not want that to happen.
I was not around when this supposedly took place, but I appreciate the member's support for this motion. The member is an hon. member of the agriculture committee and I appreciate him being consistent in the application of his vote on third reading of Bill C-234 and this motion. I thank him for that.
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- Nov/28/23 1:44:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reason I am standing today is that last week, we had an opportunity to debate a common-sense Conservative bill that would remove the carbon tax from all farm fuel. That debate took place in the House, then moved to the Senate and then it stalled. The reason it stalled is that the members opposite from the Liberal Party of Canada asked the Senate to stall it, to delay, to use every tactic in the book to try to prevent the legislation from going through. That is incredibly sad. What that means is farmers will not benefit from a carbon tax being taken off of such things as drying grain, harvesting their fields or heating their barns. Those are common functions for farmers, the people who produce food in our communities.
I am here to advocate for those individuals who produce our food, but I am also here to advocate for Canadians at large, those who buy food.
I was first elected about eight years ago. Shortly after I came into this place, I had a conversation with a member opposite. That member took an interest in my riding which, of course, is in Lethbridge, Alberta. It is a beautiful mix of a small city of about 105,000 people and a county, which consists of a lot of farmland and those who know how to make that land produce something incredible that is called food. The member asked me questions about my riding. He said to me, “That farmland that you have there, they are just growing for fuel, right?” I said, “Excuse me?” He said, “Yes, they are just growing for fuel, right?” I said, “No, they are growing food.” He said, “Oh. Normally we just go to the grocery store now for food. We do not really need that.”
It is interesting. In that moment, I realized just how out of touch Canadians at large are with where their food comes from, how it is produced and how important it is that we support those who produce it. It is easy to think that food just arrives on the grocery store shelves in a pretty package and maybe some nice marketing tools are used. We get to pick up that food, bring it home and consume it. We forget the process or maybe we never knew the process that it underwent in order to get there.
In my riding, I have the privilege of being able to see that process from start to finish. I watch as those farmers actually take the seed off their field. I watch as they actually process that seed and prepare it for use in next year's field. Then I watch as they till the ground and put that seed into it. I watch as they use water to care for it. I then watch as that seed produces plants which continue to flourish and eventually are harvested. Eventually, that harvest is taken, dried and processed. It is either shipped out like that or it goes for further processing locally. Eventually, it becomes food that is sold in our grocery stores. Much of that is sold right here in Canada in our grocery stores, but sometimes it goes to other places around the world.
Canada has this incredible gift called land. We have this second incredible gift called farmers. They are the individuals who work incredibly hard and with great innovation to make sure that Canadians are fed.
I will talk a little bit about these people in my riding, because if we care to learn, we can. These are individuals who are incredibly community-minded, who work collaboratively together. These are individuals who are incredibly hard working. These are individuals who care deeply about animal health and welfare.
These are individuals who are the original environmental stewards. They are the ones who take care of the water, land and air. They have done that from the beginning, because they know that to take care of those things is to take care of the food they produce and to be good at what they are doing. They are the folks who thrive in spurring on innovation, in bringing forward new technologies and great business practices. These are the individuals who are incredibly generous.
In my riding, it is these folks who have funded community swimming pools and community recreation centres. It is these individuals who have paved park pathways and created parkways. It is these individuals who have invested in our local hospital. It is these individuals who have given tremendous amounts of money to the underprivileged, especially those who are homeless.
It is these individuals who have helped to fund programs through our college and through our university. It is these individuals who are making a tremendous difference in our community day in and day out. These are the individuals the government insists on punishing through a punitive carbon tax. It is these individuals who feed Canada and feed those around the world.
To those in my community and to those who like to eat, we celebrate these men and women. We look at them as the individuals they are: people who are doing something wonderful, not only for my local community but for the nation and even the planet.
The member's opposite see these individuals as if they are the enemy. It is a mystery to me. Again, we are talking about women and men who are not only caring for us by producing food but taking care of the environment by sequestering carbon, by making sure soil health is good, by making sure the air quality is excellent and by making sure water is stewarded. These are the folks who get zero credit for those actions and instead are frowned upon for what they do and how tremendously wonderfully they contribute to society.
The government has decided to apply a punitive carbon tax, and yes, it is applied to farmers from the moment they put the seed into the ground to the moment they harvest to the moment food goes on to the grocery store. The carbon tax does not stop. It keeps going on and on, until finally it is picked up by the consumer at the store. The truth is that even then it does not stop, because the consumer pays the carbon tax at the till and pays the carbon tax again when they put the food in their trunk and drive it home. They then pay the carbon tax again when they turn on their stove and make that food. It just keeps going.
We are asking for the carbon tax to be taken off farmers. We are asking that this House exercise some common sense and make the determination that farmers are incredible people who deserve to be celebrated, not punished. It just makes sense.
When farmers have this punitive carbon tax attached to them, the carbon tax eventually makes its way to the consumer. When the consumer has to pick it up, they are detrimentally impacted too. There are more Canadians than ever before lining up at food banks. In my community of Lethbridge, since 2019 the number of people going to a food bank and relying on it as their primary source of food has doubled. The biggest group of people there, which is growing, is those who are working a consistent job. They are not able to make ends meet anymore, because under the government, things have become too expensive. They are desperate for help. They are desperate for a government to listen to them. They are desperate for a government to understand their concerns.
A woman recently reached out to me. She is in her sixties and has a disability, so she lives on a very small amount month to month. It is $1,700. We can imagine what it might be like to live on $1,700 a month and pay rent. She cannot just live anywhere because she is in a wheelchair. She has to pay extra because she needs to make sure it is wheelchair accessible. This an individual who then has to pay for her food, transportation and her phone. Then she might even want to engage in the human dignity of buying a birthday gift for someone once in a while. This is an individual who has to cut back on even the essential things of life.
The reason people are having to make these difficult choices among medication, healthy food, paying rent and paying their heating bill is that the government has made life so unaffordable. The ask on the table today is very simple, very straightforward and very tangible. It is to axe the tax on farmers. When we axe it there, we bring it down everywhere else and all Canadians benefit. That is what we are asking for today. It is common sense for the common people.
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- Nov/28/23 1:54:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened intently and heard the member opposite talk about giving credit to farmers and celebrating them. I would like to give credit to and celebrate the National Farmers Union representatives who came to see me just last week. I had a wonderful conversation with farmers from New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, who asked the government to continue moving forward with a price on pollution. The last time I checked, they were farmers like any others.
Could the member opposite please comment on whether or not she will join me in celebrating and giving credit to those representatives from the National Farmers Union?
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- Nov/28/23 1:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the sake of the farmers who pay into that union, I would ask the member to table the document that professes what he says it professes, because I am doubtful that it exists. Living in a farming community, I have not had one single person come to me to say they want the carbon tax to stay.
My request is simple. I would ask the member to table the document. Then I would be happy to concede.
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Mr. Speaker, I am always surprised to see how the Conservatives bring everything back to the carbon tax. The conflict in Ukraine is all about the carbon tax. Now, the Conservatives are saying that the problems farmers are having are because of the carbon tax. The Conservatives' common sense boils down to one thing: eliminating the carbon tax, even if it does not apply in Quebec.
All of the Conservatives' efforts over the past 18 months have been focused on the carbon tax. I have a very simple question for my colleague, who says he wants to help and support farmers. If that is what he wants to do, then there is a very worthwhile bill that is also sitting in the Senate, the supply management bill. If the Conservatives want to help farmers, why do they not focus their efforts on Bill C-282?
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- Nov/28/23 1:56:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, there is a difference between the member and me. I exist here as a member who belongs to the Conservative Party of Canada and he exists here as a member who belongs to the Bloc. I exist here to defend all of Canada and he exists here to defend Quebec. My picture of a wholesome and united Canada includes Quebec and all other provinces and territories. When I stand in this place, that is what I contend for. I contend for all people everywhere across this country.
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- Nov/28/23 1:57:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the member. Today's debate is not about the carbon tax but about a motion to send a message to the Senate.
We are getting this motion from the party of the Nigel Wright and Mike Duffy scandal. This is the party that has appointed failed candidates and party operatives to its ranks. This is the party that has used its senators to block legislation. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, how in the world can we take Conservatives seriously when they are guilty of such rank hypocrisy?
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- Nov/28/23 1:57:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the sole purpose of that comment was to launch a scathing attack toward me, so I will allow the member to do that. Of course, it his prerogative to use his time in that way. I do not know that I have a response to it.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for highlighting the importance of getting Bill C-234 across the line. Could she once again explain to the members opposite how the carbon tax escalates the cost of food throughout the supply chain?
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- Nov/28/23 1:58:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is an important question for all of us to understand, because many are without comprehension of how the carbon tax continues to accumulate.
The farmer puts the seed in the ground and uses fuel to do so. That seed is then watered and energy is used to bring the water up and apply it to the land. After watching that seed grow, it eventually has to be harvested and there is a carbon tax attached to that process. Then, when drying it, there is a carbon tax attached to the process. Eventually, when that material, that raw good, is transported, there is a carbon tax attached to that. Then when it is processed, there is a carbon tax attached to that. It is then transported again and there is another carbon tax attached to that. Eventually, it will make its way into the grocery store, and there is a carbon tax attached to keeping it there. Then it is purchased, and there is a carbon tax attached to that. Once it is transported home, there is a carbon tax on that. Eventually, once it is cooked and prepared, there is a carbon tax on that as well. There is a whole lot of carbon tax.
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- Nov/28/23 1:59:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point order. Earlier today, there was a discussion about the appropriateness of talking about senators and their corrupt practices. If you seek it, I think you will get unanimous consent for the notorious Senate playing cards, with Mac Harb, Patrick Brazeau, Raymond Lavigne—
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- Nov/28/23 2:00:02 p.m.
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This is debate.
The hon. member for Pickering—Uxbridge.
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- Nov/28/23 2:00:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am curious. The member opposite spoke about how important it is to send a message to the Senate, but where was she to send that message when the Senate was blocking legislation for judges to be trained in sexual assault cases? Will the member opposite stand up and explain why she did not stand up for women?
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- Nov/28/23 2:00:36 p.m.
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Unfortunately, we have run out of time for responses.
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- Nov/28/23 2:00:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, throughout the month of November, we celebrate Lebanese heritage thanks to the member for Halifax West, who introduced the bill.
Ottawa—Vanier is home to a large and dynamic Lebanese diaspora that is an integral part of our rich cultural mosaic. Through gatherings at the Lebanese festival, the Saint Charbel Maronite church or the Saints Peter and Paul Melkite Catholic Church, this community displays spirit and altruism.
Its past and present contributions continue to make our national capital region and our country more diverse, more prosperous and more inclusive. For generations, the expertise of the Lebanese community has touched every facet of our society, from the performing arts, entrepreneurship and business to cuisine, science and medicine.
I invite my hon. colleagues to join me in recognizing and celebrating the invaluable contributions that Lebanese Canadians have made to building the Canadian society of yesterday and today.
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