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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 155

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 7, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 155 - Feb/7/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)
  • Feb/7/23 10:17:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to read from the Conservative platform that the member for Carleton, the Leader of the Opposition, ran on in the last election. It says, “Conservatives will work with the provinces to implement an innovative, national, Personal Low Carbon Savings Account. This will put a price on carbon”. The leader of the opposition at the time, the member for Durham, said, “We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use pricing mechanisms.” The Conservative member for Calgary Centre, when commenting on that platform, said, “I think it's an evolution for parts of our party”. We have now seen seven or eight motions similar to this one that have come forward in the House since the Conservatives ousted the previous leader. It has actually been 150 days to the day since this member became the leader of the official opposition, so congratulations to him. My question— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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Context: House Hansard - 155 - Feb/7/23
Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)
  • Feb/7/23 2:39:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues on the other side, the Conservative Party, of a few facts. First of all, carbon pricing was implemented in 2019. It has not been eight years; it has only been three years since this pricing was put in place. Second, it does not apply in Quebec, because the Quebec government's cap-and-trade system applies in Quebec. My colleague from Quebec is completely wrong on this issue. Third, we give more money back to eight out of 10 Canadians than we take in through carbon pricing.
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Context: House Hansard - 155 - Feb/7/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen
  • Feb/7/23 3:34:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I hope the member appreciates that I will directly answer his question. I will not try to avoid answering it, as the Conservatives do every time I ask a question about changing their position on their platform. At the time, I thought that was the right solution and now I do not. I realized that pricing something actually impacts choice in the marketplace, and I have changed my mind on it. Do members see how easy that was? When someone changes their mind on something, as the Conservatives clearly did since the last election, it is okay to get up and talk about it and explain to people that they once had one position on something and now have a different position on it. I would encourage the Conservatives to recognize my ability to do that, and I would encourage them to do the same thing as it relates to their platform commitment in the last election to put a price on pollution.
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