SoVote

Mar/6/23 2:48:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's spy agency has warned us that the climate crisis will threaten national security, critical infrastructure and our food systems, but in the face of this clear and very real threat, we have the Conservatives, who deny that we need to act, and the Liberals, who keep delaying while handing out billions to big polluters. Oil and gas CEOs are laughing as they rake in record profits and scale down their climate commitments. The climate crisis threatens everything we hold dear. When will this government force big polluters to clean up their act and stop making Canadians pay the price?

103 words

Context: House Hansard - 164 - Mar/6/23

Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)

Mar/6/23 6:43:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising again in this House for what feels like the thousandth time to call on the government to end fossil fuel subsidies, to implement a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies and to invest in climate solutions. Each time, I draw attention to the fact that we are in a climate emergency and that, in the words of Greta Thunberg, “our house is on fire”. When one's house is on fire, one jumps into action and calls the fire department. Instead, the government not only is continuing business as usual and planning to increase oil and gas production in the coming years, but continues to hand out billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies. These are the companies that are literally fuelling the climate crisis, that for decades have been funding disinformation about climate change and that are profiting off increasing emissions. Our house is on fire, and instead of using our financial resources to put that fire out, the government has decided to hand out billions of dollars to the very companies intent on pouring gas on the flames. The Liberals say, yes, there is a climate emergency and yes, our house is on fire, but let us just wait inside a little longer before we take action, and we should probably listen to the oil and gas lobbyists and CEOs. We should probably listen to the arsonists when we make a plan to put out that fire. They are experts in fire, after all. This is the reason we are where we are. For over 30 years, the science has been clear, and now we are seeing communities washed away, and Lytton burned to the ground. There are severe hurricanes on the east coast, and on the west coast we are choking on smoke in the summers. Hundreds of people are dying in heat waves. This is happening now, and it is only the beginning. We know what this means for our children, for the future we are leaving them. My colleagues will excuse me if I am upset and angry and tired of broken Liberal promises. I want to see action, but not the kind of action we have been seeing from the government. It should not give our public money to big polluters. They are making record profits. It should make them pay for their own pollution. They can afford to reduce their own emissions. The government listened to big oil and gas lobbyists and created massive new subsidies and new handouts for unproven carbon capture and storage technology. According to the world's top climate scientists, carbon capture and storage is one of the most expensive, most risky climate options and unproven at scale, but it is the oil and gas industry's favourite option because it does not involve transitioning to different energy sources. If the oil and gas industry wants to gamble on expensive, unproven technologies, get them to do it with their own money. Instead of forcing these rich oil and gas CEOs to reduce their own emissions, the Liberals gifted them billions in tax credits. What are those very companies doing now? They are increasing their emissions. They are scaling down their climate commitments. They are raking in record profits and asking for more handouts. We need to fix Canada's taxation system, which is rigged in favour of big oil and gas. Let us end fossil fuel subsidies and implement a windfall profits tax.

585 words

Context: House Hansard - 164 - Mar/6/23

Ms. Laurel Collins

Mar/6/23 6:51:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hope the member was not serious when he said that most inefficient fossil fuel subsidies have been eliminated, because that would mean that whatever the government is counting as inefficient fossil fuel subsidies is not taking into account the billions of dollars we are still handing out to oil and gas companies. I am baffled by Liberal MPs who claim to care about our climate and to understand the urgency of the crisis we are in, but then support massive handouts to oil and gas and refuse to make these companies pay what they owe. Oil and gas companies have profited for decades from fuelling the climate crisis. These rich CEOs and lobbyists have successfully lobbied for tax breaks and handouts. I will remind my colleagues that oil and gas companies last year made more money than they have ever made before, while Canadians are struggling to pay for groceries. It is time for Canada to stand up to big oil and stop making Canadians and the environment pay the price.

174 words