44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2024 10:00AM
- Jun/13/24 2:31:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, the government was forced to admit that the carbon tax will cost every single Canadian household more than $1,800 in lost GDP. They kept a $30-billion secret. Not once in anything ever released claiming that Canadians were somehow better off with the carbon tax did the minister include these devastating economic costs that he knew existed. It was more important for him to continue to spread the falsehood.
Canadians know they deserve a minister who will tell the truth. If he is incapable of that, when is he going to resign?
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- Jun/13/24 2:31:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier in the House, it is great to see that the Conservative Party of Canada now actually believes that economists are thoughtful and give good advice. Three hundred of them signed a letter that told people eight out of 10 Canadian families do get more money back.
I would encourage my hon. colleague to read that letter. Certainly, I would say that, as we move forward, we must have a plan to address climate change, and we must do so in a manner that is affordable. That is exactly what carbon pricing does. That is something we will continue to do, balancing the environment and the economy, versus a party that actually has no plan for the environment whatsoever.
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- Jun/13/24 2:32:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government gagged the Parliamentary Budget Officer that actually told Canadians the truth; it then cherry-picked portions of the data that support its version of the truth. This makes it look even more guilty.
If the Liberals truly believed that the carbon tax was helping, they would release the report. Instead, they kept a $30-billion secret from Canadians. The minister wanted to tell Canadians that, by paying more for gas, groceries and home heating, they would be better off, misleading them by about $30 billion. I do not know how he looks anyone in the face.
When will the Prime Minister actually fire him?
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- Jun/13/24 2:33:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is beyond me how the Conservative Party of Canada and those members who campaigned to put in place a price on pollution can look anyone in the eyes. How can they look anyone in the eyes and say, “We are doing nothing to protect you against forest fires, we are doing nothing to protect you against hurricanes, and we are doing nothing to protect you against flooding”?
The Conservatives have no plan for the economy. They have no plan for climate change. They have no plan to work with communities to protect them from the devastating impacts of climate change.
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- Jun/13/24 2:33:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government tried so hard to hide the truth that the carbon tax was driving up the cost of everything in Canada. The Parliamentary Budget Officer even had to call them out for blocking the release of their own economic impact report. They were literally forced to release the report.
Now we all know that each Canadian family is losing at least $1,800 a year, and there is no rebate for that. When will the environment minister finally resign from misleading Canadians?
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- Jun/13/24 2:34:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my hon. colleagues on the other side of the House to actually go and talk to the PBO and the 300 economists who have said eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back. They say it is those living on modest incomes who actually do the best.
I would say the collective amnesia that actually exists on the other side of the House is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. Every one of those members, including the member opposite who asked the question, campaigned on putting in place a price on pollution. It is hypocrisy.
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- Jun/13/24 2:35:20 p.m.
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What is hypocritical, Mr. Speaker, is that, even while the Liberals' carbon tax was costing families more than $1,800 a year, and even while they knew over two million Canadian families per month were accessing food banks, the Liberals continued to try to convince Canadians that they were better off paying for a higher carbon tax. An $1,800 tax is a lot of money to many Canadians.
When will the Liberal government give Canadians back their money and fire the environment minister?
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- Jun/13/24 2:36:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is very proud of the environment minister, who put the first credible plan in history on the table to meet the Paris Agreement, the Paris Agreement that the Conservatives want to rip up.
It is no surprise, and the Conservatives got all of the data today, that eight out of 10 Canadians are better off. The Conservatives are standing up for the more well off in our society. They want to move on from what they did two days ago, which was to stand up for 0.13% of Canadians, not the people who draw a paycheque, make an honest living, go to work every day and pay their taxes on time.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Jun/13/24 2:36:42 p.m.
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I know all members are excited to be returning to their ridings for the weekend, but to move things along quickly, I will ask members to only take the floor when they are recognized by the Chair.
The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
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- Jun/13/24 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Bloc tax is costing our economy $30.5 billion a year. That adds up to nearly $2,000 per family in costs that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change tried to conceal. The Minister of the Environment knew it, yet he deliberately hid the numbers from the Canadian public.
After deliberately hiding the facts, will the Minister of the Environment have the courage to stand up in front of all Canadians and resign for not telling them the whole story?
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- Jun/13/24 2:37:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that member from Quebec will never do what the other member from Quebec, the Minister of the Environment, has done for Canada by submitting a credible plan for lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The minister has also complied, and will continue to comply, with the Paris Agreement, which the Conservatives want to take us out of.
It comes as no surprise that this member wants to pull us out of a plan that benefits eight out of 10 Canadians and, at the same time, is going to help us meet our climate change targets. That member should be ashamed.
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- Jun/13/24 2:38:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he is absolutely right. I would never hide the $5-billion cost of a carbon tax from Quebeckers. That is exactly what the Minister of the Environment did in his own documents.
According to row 17, column AN, the carbon tax is costing Quebeckers $5 billion a year. The Bloc Québécois supports that tax. After trying to ridicule and muzzle the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who was telling the truth, as we now know, will the Minister of the Environment resign?
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- Jun/13/24 2:39:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will never hesitate to be there for Canadians, to defend their right to clean water, clean air and a clean environment, unlike the Conservative Party of Canada.
The extent of the Conservative Party's ignorance on this issue is beyond the pale. All the member has to do is turn around. If he were to turn around and talk to the member sitting right behind him, she can explain to him that Quebec has its own carbon pricing system, which was in place long before the federal system. What is more, several Conservative members have voted in favour of provincial carbon pricing. This is completely ridiculous.
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- Jun/13/24 2:39:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that the CBSA's ArriveCAN app cost $60 million more than planned.
Well, the CBSA has found a way to do worse with its new app, the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management, or CARM. This app is supposed to make it possible to register all imports at the border. So far, there has been $300 million in cost overruns and counting. CARM does not work. The CBSA had to postpone its rollout.
These two apps are money pits. How much more money will the CBSA be allowed to throw out the window before the minister gets angry and cleans house?
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- Jun/13/24 2:40:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has stated that we are aware of some of the industry-led concerns, and we are working to make sure that the application is fully functioning, but I want to reassure all Canadians that the app was created to modernize Canada's border system to ensure that tariffs are collected fairly and promptly. I should also note that the app was purchased and developed in 2010 under the Harper Conservatives, but it is something we are going to ensure is working properly.
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- Jun/13/24 2:41:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the worst part is that $300 million has been wasted and CARM does not even work.
All of Canada's imports will have to go through this app. Its rollout had to be delayed because the tests did not go well. The CBSA is still unable to provide us with its contingency plans in the event that problems complicate billions of dollars in transactions every day. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum expressing its concern. Imagine. Even the Americans are concerned about the CBSA's incompetent management.
Does the minister find that embarrassing?
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- Jun/13/24 2:41:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we are going to ensure that the app is in good working order to ensure that Canada's border system and tariff collections are done in a modern, efficient and effective manner. Something that we have needed to do is hold consultations with industry leaders as well. This is where countries are going to ensure that our border services and our trade across borders is done in the most efficient way possible. We are continuing to work with CBSA to make sure that the processes are in place and that the app continues to work properly.
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- Jun/13/24 2:42:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the topic of the Canada Border Services Agency, Quebeckers were scandalized to learn that some big stores are destroying and throwing away enormous quantities of unsold clothing that could have been donated to charity instead.
What they do not know is that the federal agency encourages this practice. The obsolete or surplus goods program refunds the duties and excise taxes paid on destroyed goods, but not on donated goods. The Bloc Québécois wrote to the minister a month and a half ago calling his attention to this, but we have yet to get a response.
Will the government stop rewarding waste?
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- Jun/13/24 2:43:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is something that the minister has taken on seriously. He is working with finance to find the appropriate solution. We want to ensure that collection, and our customs and tariff system, are working properly, but the minister is well aware, and we are looking into the matter.
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- Jun/13/24 2:43:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling to make ends meet, the Prime Minister put a gag order on the Parliamentary Budget Officer to prevent the PBO from releasing the full report exposing the true cost of the NDP-Liberal carbon tax. We now know that the carbon tax will cost Canadians $30 billion in economic activity. That is over $1,800 for every family.
Why do they continue to muzzle the PBO? Is it because the report is so damning it should cost the minister his job? When will the Prime Minister fire his truth-evading minister?
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