44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 20, 2022 11:00AM
- Jun/20/22 3:10:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried about plastic pollution. They want progress on banning single-use items to keep our coastlines clear and to protect human health. The Liberals broke their promise to ban single-use items by 2021, and now the proposed ban would cover less than 1% of plastics. It does not even include items like coffee cups, lids, cigarette butts and other harmful plastics. Plastic pollution is threatening our oceans, our wildlife and our health.
Will the minister start showing some environmental leadership and expand the ban on single-use plastics?
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- Jun/20/22 4:12:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present.
First, I rise to present a petition on behalf of over 700 Canadians who are concerned about plastic pollution from balloons. This is particularly timely, given the government's announcement today on its limited single-use plastics ban.
The petitioners note that balloons are a major source of plastic pollution and marine debris. They are capable of travelling vast distances and persist in the environment for many years.
The petitioners note that more public education is needed to raise awareness about the harms of balloons and the fact that alternatives to plastic balloons for celebrations are widely available. They are calling on the government to ban the release of latex, mylar, nylon, rubber, helium and other party balloons and sky lanterns into the environment and to consider adding balloons to the list of harmful single-use plastics to be banned.
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- Jun/20/22 4:13:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting is on behalf of Canadians concerned that Canadian companies are contributing to human rights abuses and environmental damage around the world. The petitioners note that indigenous people, women and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected. They call on the House to adopt human rights and environmental due diligence legislation that would require Canadian companies to prevent human rights abuses and environmental damage throughout their global operations and supply chains.
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Mr. Speaker, modernizing the Broadcasting Act is important, and levelling the field between Canadian broadcasters and web giants is essential. Even with these needed changes, Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and other web giants still do not pay their fair share on the profits they make here in Canada.
Why is the government delaying the implementation of a digital services tax? Why are they protecting the profits of the web giants and refusing to make them pay their fair share?
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Madam Speaker, web giants are going to be using every possible loophole to circumvent our tax rolls and circumvent the requirement to fund Canadian cultural content. Therefore, the government has a responsibility to ensure the bill does not contain any loopholes. In the interest of transparency, is the government going to make public the instructions to the CRTC to ensure the web giants fulfill their obligations of making Canadian content discoverable and disclosing their financial information to contribute to the development of our cultural content?
When does the government plan to send and disclose these instructions?
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Madam Speaker, I have in front of me quotes from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists; from the Canadian Independent Music Association; from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada; and from many more. They are calling for this bill to pass. I am curious about why the Conservatives are using misleading statements about freedom of expression to protect the profits of the web giants at the expense of Canadian cultural workers.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby for all of his work on this file.
In front of me here, I have quotes from the Canadian Media Producers Association, from the Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada and many others who support this bill and want it to move forward and understand how much it will help cultural workers.
We have misleading statements from the Conservative Party, which is using misleading statements about freedom of expression to protect the profits of web giants. I am curious if the member can speak to just how unfortunate it is that they are prioritizing the profits of web giants over support for cultural workers.
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Madam Speaker, it is pretty rich to hear the Conservatives quoting Tommy Douglas, especially when it comes to time allocation: Under the Harper government, the Conservatives used time allocation over 100 times. I encourage my Conservative colleague to reflect on the words of Tommy Douglas when he said, “The greatest way to defend democracy is to make it work.” What we have seen from the Conservative caucus is obstructionist tactics, delays, repeated points of order and attempts to slow down legislation, not to try and make democracy work.
I encourage my colleagues to think about that.
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Mr. Speaker, this bill is a step in the right direction, but web giants like Netflix, Facebook and YouTube still do not pay their fair share. What is needed is a digital services tax, a tax that would require these web giants to pay their fair share on the profits they are earning here in Canada. I wonder if the member would commit to pushing his party to ensure that web giants pay their fair share.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her speech. For many years now, our broadcasters and cultural workers have been suffering from unfair competition from the web giants.
That is why the NDP believes this bill is a good first step in creating a level playing field and making the web giants pay their fair share. The Liberal government has been delaying this reform for many years.
Can the member explain the repercussions of this delay on the loss of revenue and jobs in the cultural sector in Quebec and Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, I asked this of a number of the member's colleagues, but I have not received a straight answer. This bill is clearly a step in the right direction, but web giants are still not paying their fair share. The Liberal government is delaying legislation on a digital services tax, which is something that would actually make companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Netflix pay their fair share on the profits they make here in Canada.
Will the member commit to pushing his party to implement a digital services tax?
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Mr. Speaker, one of the important aspects of this bill is ensuring that web giants pay their fair share and that money is there for our cultural workers and the Canadian broadcasters that have not been on a level playing field. Unfortunately, the big web giants still do not actually pay their fair share.
There is a need for a digital services tax. The Liberal government has been delaying implementing legislation on a digital services tax, and I am curious if the member would speak to his commitment to ensuring that the web giants truly pay their fair share.
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- Jun/21/22 12:06:46 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by quickly acknowledging the work of an incredible organization in my riding.
I am very pleased to highlight the incredible work of the Société francophone de Victoria, which serves more than 5,000 people who speak French in Victoria. In addition to promoting, representing and protecting the French language and culture, this organization has created spaces that foster inclusion and celebrate expression. From June 21 to August 18, it will hold Rendez-vous Victoria, a community event with music activities and performances, all in French.
To support its objective of creating an inclusive francophone community space in the downtown area, the Société francophone de Victoria has applied for federal funding to help buy the building it currently occupies and make it more accessible. I am very grateful to this organization for its passion and dedication, and I am asking the government to support its work.
Now I will get to a critical issue.
Last week, we found out that internal documents from Environment and Climate Change Canada and Natural Resources Canada showed that the Liberal government’s climate plan and targets are not feasible. Sadly, it is not surprising. Canada has never met a single climate target it set. Under the Liberals, Canada has the worst record in the G7, and Canada has the worst track record in the G20 when it comes to handing out public money to oil and gas companies.
It has now been three years since the Liberals declared a climate emergency, but they are still not taking action at the scale or speed required. Their claim that they could reduce oil and gas emissions while increasing oil and gas production never made any sense. It is clear that we will not meet our targets by relying on costly, unproven carbon capture technology, technology that those same internal documents called “high risk”.
The Liberals’ emissions reduction plan only aims to meet the low end of their target to reduce emissions by 40% to 45%, which is not adequate. It does not leave any room for error, yet they are relying on “high risk” carbon capture technology.
The IPCC is clear that the world urgently needs to move away from fossil fuels and make significant investments in renewable energy if we have any hope of securing a livable future. They have also warned against relying too heavily on carbon capture. They point out that it is one of the most costly and least effective options.
Renewable energy technology is ready and available, and over the past decade the costs have decreased significantly. The International Energy Agency reports that wind and solar are the cheapest sources of new electricity generation in history, and their cost continues to drop. If we are going to meet our climate targets and avoid the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis, Canada needs to dramatically boost investments in renewable energy.
These investments, along with strengthening grids and electrifying infrastructure, not only help us fight the climate crisis, but also create good, long-term jobs for Canadians. Instead of investing in renewables and in a just transition for workers, Canada continues to hand out billions in public financing to profitable oil and gas companies.
Will the government commit to ending all fossil fuel subsidies, stop funnelling billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies through a carbon capture tax credit and instead invest in real climate solutions?
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- Jun/21/22 12:14:38 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his answers, for being available to answer questions at this late hour, past midnight, and for his reflections on this scathing report from the environment commissioner.
I also want to bring up what the environment commissioner is pointing to, which is that this government has been going from failure to failure. His own department called carbon capture “high risk” and said that with their plan, it was not feasible to meet emissions reduction targets in the oil and gas sector.
Experts have learned not to rely on carbon capture to meet our climate targets, yet when big oil asks for yet another subsidy, billions of dollars of more public money, the government gave them the carbon capture tax credit. The government also bought a pipeline, approved Bay du Nord and plans to increase oil and gas production.
That is not a climate plan. Why are the Liberals listening to big oil instead of climate experts?
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