44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 4, 2023 11:00AM
- Dec/4/23 3:10:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people with disabilities are being renovicted and priced out of their homes. Disproportionately, it is women, who are also at risk of gender violence.
Over half of women with disabilities are living on less than $10,000 a year. This is not sustainable or safe. The skyrocketing costs of housing and food is hurting persons with disabilities. They need the Canada disability benefit yesterday. Will this Liberal government end its unnecessary delay and release the Canada disability benefit immediately?
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- Dec/4/23 4:17:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again, my hon. colleague has clearly not read the bill. The bill is a transparency mechanism that would establish a partnership council of labour, industry, indigenous peoples and youth to provide advice to the government on how we work together to build an economy that is going to create jobs and economic prosperity. There is nothing across jurisdictions in the bill, and I would invite my hon. colleague to read it.
I would also say, “The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals.” That is from the president of the Business Council of Alberta.
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- Dec/4/23 4:19:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, throughout the time we have been in committee, and we are, in fact, still on the same meeting that began on October 30, we have heard all sorts of conversations about strawberry milkshakes being drunk through straws and about muscle cars, but we have not had an opportunity to hear from workers about what their perspectives are on the sustainable jobs act.
I was wondering if perhaps the minister could help us to have a better perspective, from his conversations with organized labour over the past six weeks, about how they are feeling with the delays we have been seeing in committee and what they are hoping to see.
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- Dec/4/23 4:25:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, earlier I heard my colleague say that there are two bloc parties here: the Bloc Québécois and the “block everything” party. I am not prepared to credit this claim, because I see two very well-defined camps in this Parliament. On the one side, we have the Bloc Québécois. On the other, we have three parties that are staunchly defending the oil companies.
I say this because this bill was originally supposed to be about a just transition, but that term appears to have been little too difficult for the government. It opted for “sustainable jobs” instead. Canada is the only western country that will be using the term “sustainable jobs” rather than “just transition”.
Why? It is because Canada is afraid of how Alberta will react, and I think that if it is afraid of how Alberta will react, it will not be bold enough to do what needs to be done to fight climate change.
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- Dec/4/23 4:26:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is very important that we have a conversation about the future, about an active and prosperous economy in a low-carbon world.
This conversation about sustainable jobs is very important everywhere in Canada, and we are working with the provinces and territories to build a strong and prosperous economy for the future.
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- Dec/4/23 4:32:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is incredibly important and needed because we are moving toward a low-carbon future. That is happening around the world. Even if the Conservatives want to deny the reality of climate change, everybody else around the world recognizes that we can have a plan for the economy that does acknowledge moving toward a lower-carbon future.
At the end of the day, it is important that voices from various governments and the proposed partnership council that is part of the bill will have labour representatives, industry representatives, indigenous leadership and youth to have a conversation and help inform government policy about how we grow an economy that will be strong and prosperous going forward.
The president of the Business Council of Alberta said, “The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources that the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals.”
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- Dec/4/23 5:58:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, maybe I will just summarize by saying that at COP28, they are globally discussing and planning for an economic policy, including, and chief among them, the just transition. Maybe the member should be a little more worried about the fact that the host of COP28 says, “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says the phase-out of fossil fuel is what's going to achieve 1.5ºC.” He says, when people are asking for a phase-out of fossil fuels, “ Please help me. Show me...for a phase-out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socioeconomic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”
I hear them laughing, because they probably have a claim to make about green-washing, but they cannot stand up and justify all of their decisions based on COP28 on the one hand but then litigate it on the other.
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- Dec/4/23 6:27:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my esteemed colleague from Lakeland is absolutely right. This bill is based on a concept that is used by the Conference of the Parties, or COP, by the United Nations, by all western countries and by labour movements that go far beyond unions in Canada and Quebec. Everyone uses the concept of a just transition, which refers to what is now a global reality.
Why can Canada not apply the concept of a just transition? Why do we need to talk about sustainable jobs?
It is up to the government to respond, but in my opinion, the answer is very clear. The government is doing that because it lacks courage. As I was saying earlier, if the government cannot call a spade a spade, then I do not see how we will be able to implement the difficult measures needed to achieve a low-carbon economy.
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- Dec/4/23 7:07:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have to follow up on something the member just said about wasting time.
During the four hours I was at committee, some of the speaking going on was really unfortunate. I have been around a long time. I am in my fifth decade, so I know what it is like to be silenced around a table of men who want to have their way. I do not appreciate the way this is being handled. We have totally forgotten that women are involved in sustainable jobs and in the next economy. We know they were left behind the first time around.
I would like to hear from the member when we will hear from some women about what is happening in the economy these days.
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- Dec/4/23 7:45:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, what the member is talking about might not be the bill that we are debating. We are talking about the sustainable jobs act. Am I correct? The sustainable jobs act is about getting people to the table. Could you just clarify, Mr. Speaker?
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Mr. Speaker, officially titled “An Act respecting accountability, transparency and engagement to support the creation of sustainable jobs for workers and economic growth in a net-zero economy”, at its core, Bill C-50 is about including workers in a legislative process that impacts their lives.
We recently heard from witnesses during the natural resources committee's study on a fair and equitable Canadian energy transformation. Those witnesses told us that people are anxious.
It is human nature to be anxious when faced with the unknown, especially when people's livelihoods are potentially facing a big change. We learned from those many witnesses that this clean energy transition is a generational opportunity for Canada. We are looking at a shift not seen since the Industrial Revolution.
We need Canadian workers and their skills on the front line of discussions in navigating this transformational shift, or we will be left behind. The shift to clean energy is here; denying that fact does not make it any less real. It simply means that Canadian workers will not get the best opportunities if we fail to take action.
Being from Sudbury, I can tell members that we know a thing or two about industrial change and progress. In Sudbury, we have Science North's world-renowned Dynamic Earth centre. For visitors, it provides immersive, hands-on earth science and mining experiences.
On its website, it says:
“Put on a hard hat, as we descend seven storeys underground to walk in the footsteps of Sudbury's miners.
“This guided tour takes you through our demonstration mine to discover the evolution of mining from turn-of-the-century to modern day.”
I went through the tour in August, and it is exceptional. One first enters a replica of a turn-of-the-century mine. It is dark, wet, muddy and cramped. We learned about the hazardous nature of mining during this time period. The tour then moves through the progress of mining through the last century, where we end up in a wide and open, bright space, with electric vehicles and incredibly advanced technological processes.
What has not changed is the need for skilled workers in mining. The tasks and methods are different, but the workers are the heart of mining.
That is why I know we need Bill C-50, so we can have the best people present in planning the next step: the people who do the jobs now and know that they will be needed to do them in the future.
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