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Feb/6/23 6:53:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his continued work in this area. I mentioned in my speech highlights of a few things that we have undertaken, but there certainly are more. We are taking action to protect the rights and well-being of workers. This is a top priority for us. We are going to make sure we do things the right way. We are going to work in close collaboration with our partners and stakeholders, including the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, and the federally regulated employers and labour groups, just to name a few. To get this right, we need to talk to people. We need to know about their lived experiences, the barriers they face and their perspectives. That is how we are going to get this right, and this is how we are going to move this important issue forward.

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Mr. Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, CPC)

Feb/6/23 6:54:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on November 22, 2022, I rose in the House and asked a question of the government linking taxes, carbon taxes in particular, with the rate of inflation we are experiencing in Canada. I used the example of Japan and the decisions they are making to address inflation in Japan versus the ones we are making here. I got a response from the Associate Minister of Finance, the member for Edmonton Centre, which was more of a song and a dance than a reply. I hope I get a better response from the government tonight. Let us address this. In November, Japan was experiencing 4.2% inflation. Canada, on the other hand, was experiencing 6.8% inflation. As a result of the inflation Japan was experiencing, it cancelled its increase to the carbon tax, which was expected to take effect in April of this year, but that has been cancelled. Canada, on the other hand, is increasing its carbon tax by 30%. Notably, Canada's carbon tax right now is $50 per tonne, and it will rise to $65 if the government continues on the path its on. Japan's carbon tax is about $3 Canadian per tonne of carbon, so there is a significant difference between what we are doing here. We can see why inflation is much more of a problem in Canada. Carbon tax this year is expected to bring in $8.27 billion into Canada. Not to be outdone, when pressed on the issue, the governor of the Bank of Canada actually admitted, after some study, that the carbon tax itself was contributing 0.4% to the inflation rate in Canada. Instead of 6.8%, without the carbon tax, we would have an inflation rate of 6.4%. That amount is going to increase by about 1.3 times, so about 0.52% of our inflation rate is going to be part and parcel of the carbon tax. Let me bring home what that means. This summer we had oil prices rise. West Texas Intermediate, the grade we measure our oil by, was about $110 per barrel in the world. That equated to about $2.10 per litre filling up in Calgary. Think about the last time oil was that high. It was actually $1.40 per litre, so it has gone up an extra 70¢ per litre. Part of that is inflation, and part of that is the price inflation. Apples to apples, it should be about $1.72 per litre versus $2.10. Where is the extra 40¢? I will tell colleagues. It is in the form of taxes on gas. It is excise taxes. It is carbon taxes. It is clean fuel taxes. I know the narrative on the other side is going to tell me that x per cent of the economists around the world believe that a carbon tax is the most effective way of pricing carbon and reducing carbon emissions. I could agree. Let me ask this: If this is so, why are so many other taxation mechanisms required? There is the clean fuels standard; the clean electricity standard, which is on its way; emissions caps, some targeted at specific industries; vehicle mandates; and massive subsidization of chosen paths forward. This is billions of dollars that the government is spending needlessly, and all of them are, by design, inflationary. This is inflation built upon inflation. The savings of Canadians are at risk. The energy security of Canadians is at risk. Will the government come clean and provide Canadians clarity on what the future looks like in the designed inflationary spiral that it is designing here?

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Mr. Terry Sheehan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Lib.)

Feb/6/23 6:58:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, unfortunately, what the member for Calgary Centre failed to identify is something that has become quite obvious. Climate action is no longer a theoretical political debate, it is an economic necessity. A few months ago, the Parliamentary Budget Officer published an announcement showing that climate change has negatively impacted and will continue to negatively impact the Canadian economy. The reality is that we can lead the fight against climate change, and we can do it in a way that creates good-paying jobs and new businesses for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Our government also understands and appreciates the fact that a national price on pollution is the most effective and the least costly way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Let us make it very clear that our price on pollution does not make life less affordable for the large majority of Canadians. In jurisdictions that do not have their own pricing system consistent with the federal benchmarks, such as Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, approximately 90% of the direct proceeds for the fuel charges that are being directly returned to the residents in those provinces through the climate action incentive payment are very significant. In 2023, for instance, these increased payments mean a family of four will receive $745 in Ontario, $832 in Manitoba, $1,101 in Saskatchewan and $1,079 in Alberta. In addition, families in rural and small communities like mine are eligible to receive an additional 10%. Therefore, the reality is that most households are getting back more than they pay. When it comes to the higher cost of living Canadians are dealing with, our government understands that it is difficult for many people to put food on the table. That is why we took action. We took action through many measures that were recently passed, including making life more affordable through the doubling of the GST, through dental and rental relief, through our child care plan. I am on the phone all the time with my constituents who tell me it is making a real difference. On inflation, there is some good news. In Canada, it was 8.1% in June and now it is down to 6.3%. While that is still high, it is lower than what we have seen in many of our peer countries. For example, in the United States, just south of the border, it is 6.5%. In the euro area, it is 9.2%. In the United Kingdom, it is 10.5%. Still, inflation at 6.3% in Canada is too high, in my opinion, and we continue to take measures to help reduce it. While the targeted investments we made to support Canadians and our economy through the pandemic have meant Canada has experienced a strong rebound like no other from the pandemic recession, we do understand that the coming months will continue to be difficult times for many Canadians, for our families, for our friends and for our neighbours, and that is why we continue to support Canadians who need it most when they need it: right now. I spoke about some of our measures. For instance, our affordability plan has been providing up to $12.1 billion in new supports, with many measures continuing in 2023, to help make life more affordable for millions of Canadians. Just on the GST credit, which we are doubling for six months, this is delivering $2.5 billion in additional targeted support to roughly 11 million individuals and families. Many of them are seniors and young people who are getting that relief right now.

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Mr. Greg McLean

Feb/6/23 7:02:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I said the member was going to talk about the price on pollution and how everybody agrees that is the way to go forward here, except when we are addressing inflation. There are certain mechanisms that the government has tools to address. It is going to have to choose which path it is going to take, but inflation is a real concern for all Canadians. I will also point out to the member that inflation is measured differently in different jurisdictions. If people believe that our inflation rate is lower in Canada than the United States, they should look at the way we measure it versus the way it is measured in the United States. They will find that housing deflation is the difference between the two. There actually is lower inflation in the United States. However, we do measure it, and I appreciate him reading the statistics that say we are lower. In fact, we are not, though. The member did talk about the Parliamentary Budget Officer. If he is going to talk about the Parliamentary Budget Officer, he is going to have to pay attention to his other report that says the carbon tax is costing Canadians a lot more than he is giving it credit for. This is a problem that needs to be considered in his inflation adjustments and we have to address it going forward. I do not want more narrative. Let us address the—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Feb/6/23 7:03:08 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Secretary

Mr. Terry Sheehan

Feb/6/23 7:03:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our support is targeted and fiscally responsible. Our government wants to help Canadians get through this challenging economic time marked by high inflation. That is why we are continuing to provide inflation relief, through our affordability plan and other targeted measures, to Canadians who need it the most: the most vulnerable. Canadians can count on us to continue supporting those who need it while also carefully managing our finances and protecting our environment. That is what Liberals do best.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)

Feb/6/23 7:03:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, last week, I found out that the government spent $6.7 million in fiscal year 2022 to house 10 people at a Calgary area quarantine hotel, which works out to about $670,000 per person. I asked a very simple question in the House: Was anyone fired for this? The government did not even acknowledge that this was a problem. I want to say why this is a problem, just so that, before I ask the question again, my colleague opposite understands. First of all, fiscal year 2022, which was April 2022 onwards, was after most of the world had already lifted virtually all COVID restrictions. This was after the Government of Canada and most provincial governments and municipalities had eased COVID restrictions. This was after the government's own panel of experts said that the quarantine hotel was not necessary. This was after months of the government refusing to show any data that home quarantine could not provide the same capacity of preventing the spread of COVID that hotel quarantine did. There was no justification for this expense. This expense was incurred even though the government had the option to end the contract with these hotels with a 30-day notice period. It did not end these contracts until after this outrageous amount of money had been spent. To me, this boils down very simply to an incompetent government that is not doing its job. It is not monitoring public expense, and at a time when inflationary spending is creating a cost of living crisis, every penny counts. The government cannot afford to be spending the same price as a beautiful two-bedroom home five minutes away from this hotel on a program that there is no justifiable reason to have. There was no justification to spend that amount of money, particularly in fiscal year 2022. When I asked the question in the House, and I remember it vividly, the minister did not even say, “This was a problem and we should have ended it. I am looking into it to make sure this is not happening in other hotels, and I assure the Canadian public we want to be good stewards of tax dollars. I will fire somebody over this. Somebody deserves to be fired over allowing waste like this to happen.” In the ensuing week since this exchange happened, we found out that it was not just happening at this one Calgary hotel. There were dozens of hotels across the country where this type of waste happened in fiscal year 2022 after COVID restrictions had been lifted. I am just going to ask my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, the question again: Has somebody been fired over this waste?

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Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, Lib.)

Feb/6/23 7:07:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come here to night to talk about some of the measures the government took earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and safety of Canadians. My friend and colleague opposite is doing her job well, and I appreciate that. I want to thank her for doing her job well. She knows that I do not work in HR, so I cannot comment on any specifics in regard to people's employment, but I can speak to some of the measures we took throughout the pandemic to keep Canadians healthy. Our government consistently worked to protect Canadians by adapting our response to COVID-19 based on the latest science and evidence. In fact, experts say that without our public health measures and vaccines, 30.7 million more Canadians would have contracted the virus, 1.85 million of those people would have been hospitalized and 700,000 would have died. These are some numbers that are truly troubling. Gratefully, we did not get to the worst-case scenario. The Public Health Agency of Canada had arrangements with hotels as part of their designation as quarantine facilities under the Quarantine Act, and these facilities were there as an important measure to stop the spread and to save lives. At present day, there are no designated quarantine facilities in operation in Canada. These facilities were part of our overall efforts to reduce and manage risk. The various waves were very unpredictable. Nobody knew when they were coming. Over 22,000 travellers were admitted to designated quarantine facilities between March 22, 2020, and September 30, 2022. The costs associated with the program were not just for the rooms. There was lodging, meals, security, transportation and all sorts of public health measures. Several other countries that had quarantine hotels for travellers, such as New Zealand and Hong Kong, as well as Australia, some of those continued their programs well into 2022. Our government has always worked to protect Canadians. We have adapted our COVID-19 response based on the latest science and evidence. Designated quarantine facilities met public health guidelines for the purposes of accommodating travellers to quarantine as required by emergency orders under the Quarantine Act. It was a huge challenge for everybody in Canada and around the world over those couple of years, but we did our best to stand up for Canadians and make sure that there was a safe place for them to go when they got back home after a trip. Once again, I want to thank my friend and colleague for doing her work, and for her diligence. I would be glad to take a rebuttal.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Feb/6/23 7:10:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that $670,000 a person on 10 people, that happened after restrictions had been lifted, long after restrictions had been lifted. This program should have been cancelled. The government should have phoned the hotels and said that we cannot afford to waste the same amount of money it would cost to gift a family who is struggling with a house. Nobody did that. It cost our country millions and millions of dollars, unnecessarily. It could have been used on health care. It could have been used on anything else. It was flat out waste. Somebody needs to be held to account for it. My colleague said he is not HR, that he cannot say he would be fired. Does he at least agree that someone should be fired for wasting this money? Will he commit to holding his government to account to make sure there are consequences for its waste?

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Mr. Adam van Koeverden

Feb/6/23 7:11:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have to say I appreciate my colleague's work, and I have appreciated her work over the last couple of years. She has been a really unique voice of reason from the other side. There have been some times when we have really had to shake our heads and say, “My gosh, what are people reading on the Internet?” Just recently, the former leader of the Conservative Party did an interview. With respect to his caucus, he described that a bunch of them were spending a lot of time on the Internet. He said, “There was a section that went right down the rabbit hole of COVID—Ivermectin, the whole nine yards.” I am glad that group does not include my friend from Calgary Nose Hill. She has been an extraordinarily rational and cogent voice in the House throughout the pandemic, and I thank her for her work in holding the government to account. Our government remains committed to evolving our public health response as situations change, and as public health demands change, we will adapt to the needs of Canadians and apply appropriate measures at the border and monitor compliance with public health measures to prevent infection and to ensure that we continue to be a safe country for—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Feb/6/23 7:12:10 p.m.
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Unfortunately, that is the end of the time. The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:12 p.m.)

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