SoVote

Dec/7/23 4:30:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I will answer him in English because his question is very specific. I want to make sure I give my hon. colleague the best response I can. At the end of the day, I would have encouraged the Senate, as I did in letters I wrote publicly, including to the vice-chair of the agriculture committee, the member for Foothills, to maintain the bill as it was. A majority of members of the House, representing all parties, voted in favour of bringing that forward. As to the question around barn heating and cooling, are there other methods to turn to? I think, yes, more so than grain and vegetable drying, which is either natural gas or propane. There are other alternatives for barn heating and cooling, but the committee weighed that and felt that, at this time, the affordability costs and the ability to make the transition were difficult, so it should also be included. The bill has come back to the House, and we will have that debate. At least the grain and vegetable drying portion should absolutely become law, and I would support a more expansive piece on barn heating and cooling.

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Context: House Hansard - 264 - Dec/7/23

Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/7/23 4:32:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not surprised that the Conservatives want to kill carbon pricing. They have wanted to kill it since the moment this government introduced it back in 2019. I want to explain something to my hon. colleague. Keeping a price signal on heating oil would have been strictly for politics and not for public policy. Let me explain that the 1.1 million households that use heating oil in this country, including almost 400,000 in Quebec, are paying the highest cost to heat their homes in the country, and it is the worst from an environmental perspective. If people are asking themselves why they are paying the highest cost to heat their homes, it is probably because they cannot pay the cost for the transition toward a better source, whether it is natural gas, propane or even an electric source. The government recognized this in 2022. It put $250 million on the table to help people in Quebec and all across Canada make a transition. However, it would not matter if the price was $3,000 a tonne. People in some parts of my riding cannot afford to make the transition, and that is why the government put a pause on the carbon tax for three years with a direct tie to an enhanced heat pump program to help people make a transition. It was the responsible thing to do. It applies across the country, and it does not undermine the climate program. In fact, the heat pump program is going to make a difference on affordability and for the environment.

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Context: House Hansard - 264 - Dec/7/23

Mr. Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, Lib.)

Dec/7/23 4:44:56 p.m.
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Switching from home heating oil to a heat pump will save families between $1,500 and $3,500 a year. That is why we are working with the provinces and territories to roll out programs to speed up the adoption of heat pumps in Canada. Together with switching to an EV, this can save families as much as $10,000 a year. The government is intent on making that happen with a series of incentives and programs. It is working. As I mentioned, emissions are going down. Over 18% of new vehicle sales were electric last year, and 26% of new vehicle sales in B.C. in the last quarter were zero-emission vehicles. It is not only the future; it is also the present. We cannot let the Conservatives bring us back to the Stone Age. This motion, along with the last 12 or 18 or whatever it may, is simply a distraction from the real reason the cost of energy is high, which is, of course, the windfall profits from the oil and gas sector. The Conservatives would rather keep Canadians strapped into this roller coaster while the majority of foreign-owned fossil fuel companies are hosing Canadians, sending tens of billions of dollars from Canadians outside of the country while handing out massive bonuses to CEOs and cutting thousands of Canadian jobs. Instead, we are showing how we can deliver a cleaner and more prosperous economy.

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Context: House Hansard - 264 - Dec/7/23

Mr. Patrick Weiler

Dec/7/23 4:47:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my speech earlier, the vast majority of Canadians actually receive more in rebates than they pay in the price on pollution. In fact, this is not just a climate measure; it is actually an affordability measure at the same time. We know that it is important to support Canadians so they can transition into cleaner forms of transportation and home heating. The member for Kings—Hants just talked about our program on supporting Canadians to adopt heat pumps. This is absolutely essential, because it will save Canadians a ton of money, especially low-income Canadians. It is important that we provide a lot of those supports up front, so it is important that we work with provinces and territories to do that. When we are talking about transitioning to electric vehicles, it is why it is important that we have those incentives there to support Canadians to adopt them until the price comes down. The price is starting to come down as the technology gets more and more mature and as we reach economies of scale. There is a very important role for the government to assist in the rollout of a lot of these measures, and that is precisely what the government is committed to doing.

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