44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 23, 2022 02:00PM
- Mar/23/22 2:40:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax is a punitive, ineffective and unnecessary tax that disproportionally hurts rural and small town Canadians, including seniors. Whether it is the rising costs of living, soaring inflation, interest rate hikes, two dollars for a litre of gasoline or the average home cost doubling, Canadians are feeling the pain and are needing relief now.
With the new NDP-Liberal government cooked up in the back rooms, how much more pain can Canadians expect at the pumps and grocery stores and in their pocketbooks?
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- Mar/23/22 2:41:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all know that putting a price on carbon is one of the most effective ways to reduce emissions. If they will not take it from the Parliamentary Budget Officer or the International Monetary Fund, maybe—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/23/22 2:41:34 p.m.
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Thank you kindly, Mr. Speaker.
As we all know, putting a price on carbon is one of the most effective ways of fighting climate change. If the Conservatives will not take it from the Parliamentary Budget Officer or the International Monetary Fund, maybe they will take it from the Conservative member for New Brunswick Southwest, who asked his own province to implement the federal pricing system.
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- Mar/23/22 2:49:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is presiding over Canada's highest inflation rate in a generation, which has been fuelled by structural deficits that were baked in before COVID, out-of-control spending, monetary expansion, and an ever-increasing carbon tax.
The Bank of Canada recently confirmed that the carbon tax alone is responsible for driving up inflation by nearly half a per cent. Will the NDP–Liberal government commit today to cancelling this year's carbon tax increase and give consumers a break?
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- Mar/23/22 3:08:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal carbon tax is hurting rural Canadians. I hear this every single day.
Laurie, in my riding, says she feels like she is freezing because she has to keep the temperature very low in her home because she cannot afford the cost of propane with the carbon tax on top of it. I am glad the members across think it is so funny that Laurie keeps the temperature so low. It is the kind of answer and response we get from a government that has absolute disdain for people who do not follow its ideological view.
Will the government cancel this increase, or will it tell Laurie to just keep freezing?
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- Mar/23/22 5:41:22 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I agree with him that the increase in the cost of living is deplorable for the people in his riding and those in mine. We need to find a way to help our constituents with the rising cost of rent, food, gas and so on.
In my opinion, slashing the carbon tax is not the solution, and it is not a good idea either. In Quebec, we have the carbon exchange, which is working well.
For the other provinces, the tax that was imposed increases people's bills by a few dollars a month, but they can recoup that money through a tax refund. Will eliminating the carbon tax generate enough money to help our constituents? I do not think so.
I think we that we should go after the money in tax havens rather than eliminating the carbon tax, since that tax is a good measure to help combat climate change. Does my colleague agree?
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- Mar/23/22 6:53:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on February 1, I mentioned to the Minister of Finance how the overall food price increase from 5% to 7% is becoming a concern for constituents in my riding. I also raised the concern of how the price of food in Alberta is expected to be higher than the national average in 2022.
In her reply, the Minister of Finance said that inflation is a global phenomenon driven by global challenges. My question was about the overall food price increase in Alberta, not the global concern of inflation. Unfortunately, the minister did not respond to my question. Instead, she talked about early learning and child care. Although this is good for families with children, this does nothing to support seniors or young couples without children.
When it comes to our everyday basics such as food, clothing and housing, and more specifically costs to heat our homes, the Liberal government has made life more expensive for Canadians through its policies. I am speaking about how the carbon tax is being charged multiple times for the same products, such as for farmers growing grain, truckers hauling it to processors and then going to distributors, to grain finally ending up on grocers' shelves, where even customers are charged a carbon tax on their fuel to get their groceries.
I am aware of what the carbon tax is supposed to accomplish, which is to lower the carbon emissions we create daily. The issue is that when it was first proposed, it was supposed to be used as an incentive for Canadians to upgrade their windows and doors, add more insulation to their homes or purchase an energy-efficient furnace, all to reduce their utility bills.
When the government first introduced the carbon tax, it started putting pressure on Canadians. Since then, the Liberal government has continuously raised the carbon tax and is planning to raise it again on April 1. How do we expect Canadians to make their homes more energy-efficient when they can only afford to either pay the carbon tax or make their homes more energy-efficient? They cannot afford to pay both.
Many constituents in my riding, especially seniors with fixed incomes, have reached out to me regarding their natural gas and electrical bills. They have all expressed their concerns on the added carbon tax that was charged to their entire bill and not to the gas or electricity they used. The carbon tax added to their overall bill is not fair because this means they are paying on franchise and distribution fees, rather than on what they actually used.
On February 9, I reached out to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and informed them that the added carbon tax is unaffordable and unfair to consumers, especially when the carbon tax portion of their bill is larger than the actual natural gas or electricity they consume. The response of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change was, “People of Alberta are better off with the system we have put in place than without it.” How are the people of Alberta better off with this system, when they have all reached out to me and expressed their concerns and frustration for the added carbon tax on their entire utility bills?
The government will say that it is okay, because it is giving back more to Canadians than what they are being charged. However, based on the public accounts, the government pocketed $136 million above what it actually returned to Canadians. The Liberal government is making the cost of living for Canadians more expensive when it actually pockets $136 million of Canadians' money.
In order to lower carbon emissions, Canadians need to make their homes more energy-efficient, but they cannot afford to do so because of their high utility bills. It is doing nothing to improve our environment, and this is why the government's policies are hurting Canadians.
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