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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 323

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 3, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 323 - Jun/3/24
Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)
  • Jun/3/24 9:33:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last year's summer was the hottest on record and the most devastating for wildfires. Smoke from wildfires forced kids to spend their days indoors, and Canadians across the country were evacuated from their homes because of the wildfires. Our kids are breathing in harmful toxins, and when I think about the summer to come, it is only going to get worse with this year's wildfire season. However, we have the Liberals, who keep acting like it is business as usual. They are breaking their climate promises, handing out billions of dollars to Canada's biggest polluters and watering down key climate policies, like the emissions cap. The Conservatives, though, cannot even agree that climate change is real. Canadians should not have to choose between deny and delay, but it is not only wildfire smoke that is contributing to air pollution and making people sick. This past year, we saw increased deaths due to air pollution because of the wildfires, but on average, in Canada, 15,000 Canadians die each year because of air pollution. We also know that petrochemical plants are making people sick. In Ontario, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation issued a state of emergency declaration last month due to excessive discharge of benzene from an industry factory. Several people had fallen ill with headaches, nausea and dizziness, and it is all too common that these impacts disproportionately affect indigenous communities. This is unacceptable, and the government must do more to regulate industry pollution. It also needs to do more to tackle the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving up emissions, that are threatening the future for our children and our grandchildren and that are polluting our air, so much so that a child in Edmonton said that it felt like an elephant was standing on their chest. This is in Canada. I continue to be disappointed by the Liberal government's refusal to address environmental dangers, to address environmental racism and to protect Canadians. Will the Liberals stop putting the interests of the biggest polluters over the health and safety of Canadians?
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Context: House Hansard - 323 - Jun/3/24
Mr. Adam van Koeverden
  • Jun/3/24 9:41:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I find myself agreeing with most of what my colleague says. I do desperately want bold climate action, and we are finding with the current government, that we also have to be reasonable. Canadians still need oil and gas. They still create a lot of jobs in Canada. Most Canadians still use natural gas to heat their homes and still use gasoline in their vehicles. A just transition is under way. We need to work with the industry that is most responsible for those emissions. We cannot just ignore it. We cannot pretend it does not exist. There is not an on or off switch. There is no on or off switch for the oil and gas sector in a way that we could just say that we do not need that product anymore, when we definitely do. It is a matter of finding innovations and finding solutions. The oil and gas sector is one of those parties that is going to find innovations and solutions for their polluting ways. If that sector does not, then who will? It definitely needs to transition to find other sources of energy and to find cleaner ways to extract the resources that they have. I will not shy away from tough conversations with groups like Pathways Alliance.
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