SoVote

Mr. Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre, Lib.)

Dec/7/23 12:15:14 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I asked Mr. Weston and the others questions this morning about this code of conduct, which we, as Liberals, also support. Perhaps we are doing more than my colleague thinks. My Conservative colleagues are saying that carbon pricing is the sole reason for higher grocery prices. However, I heard them asking Mr. Weston questions this morning in that committee meeting. They recognize that there are other factors driving up costs, and that is why they want to get the companies to agree to abide by this code of conduct. Does my hon. colleague agree with the Conservatives that carbon pricing is the only thing driving up costs, or does he think that there are there other factors at play? It cannot be both things at once.

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

Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/7/23 1:57:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to when the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman stood up and I said, “Would you like me to bring up Ukraine?”, but I was not going to do that until the second half of my speech after question period. I will hold off and I will be judicious in my timing, but if the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman would like to hear that, I invite him to stick around after question period. The reality is that all the Conservatives ran on pricing pollution. Each and every one of them ran on pricing pollution. Now, if they chose not to, then they should table for this House where in their campaign literature they were going against Mr. O'Toole. I wait with anticipation for that. However, here is the reality of what Conservatives continually miss. It is the fact that many more people, eight out of 10 people, get back more than they pay in. According to Statistics Canada, 94%—

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

Mr. Kody Blois (Kings—Hants, Lib.)

Dec/7/23 4:14:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member across the way raised a number of very interesting points of debate. I wish I had more time. He talked about carbon pricing and the fact that some other jurisdictions in the world do not have it. However, there are 77 jurisdictions that do have a form of carbon pricing. I was tempted to ask whether this is about carbon pricing itself or the fact that we have to get more countries on board and have it built into a carbon border adjustment mechanism like we are seeing in Europe. However, he mentioned that carbon pricing is forming higher input costs, and he did not talk about anything else, no other factors. There was nothing about climate change and nothing about supply chains. He never talked about the war in Ukraine. There are a lot of Ukrainians in Red Deer, a large proportion of them. We had a bill before this House that talked about supporting Ukraine through a free trade agreement. There is already a carbon price in Ukraine, as we have a carbon price here in Canada, yet the member voted against a simple, straightforward bill that would have supported economic efficiency in that country and could perhaps help Ukraine win the war and get food prices down. Can the member explain his vote?

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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. Kody Blois

Dec/7/23 4:35:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I know that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is working on this question very closely. There will be more to be said, I am sure, from the government in the days ahead as it relates to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It is not surprising that Conservatives continue to raise this. I do not know what else they have in their tool kit they want to talk about, but they have vandalized the question on carbon pricing and tied it to affordability, which is a bit disingenuous, in my personal opinion.

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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 4:35:48 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, it is an honour again to join the debate in the House on the price on pollution. By my count, this is the 13th time Conservatives have brought forward some sort of motion on eliminating carbon pricing since the MP for Carleton became their leader, but it could very well be more than that. I have heard today that it is the 19th time some permutation of this motion has been brought forward. It is ironic, because Conservatives ran in the last election on bringing in carbon pricing. It did not make a lot of sense, but at least it was something. In fact, it was not the only time they ran on bringing in a carbon price. Under Stephen Harper in 2008, they ran on, get this, the green plan, but then, just like now, they flip-flopped. Now they say they want to cut it, and they are masquerading the motion as some measure in support of affordability in Canada, as if carbon pricing were the reason the cost of living challenges in Canada right now are significant. However, the Bank of Canada has recently confirmed that the price on pollution is responsible for only one-sixth of 1% of the inflation we are seeing. Contrary to the rhetoric we hear from Conservatives, when we look at the facts, economist have shown that the price on pollution is responsible for less than 1% of the increase we are seeing in food prices. Not only that, when Conservatives talk about the carbon price, they refuse to mention the rebates that are returned to individuals through the—

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