44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 1, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/1/23 11:13:29 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is high praise, coming from the masters of showmanship, to say that one has put on a good show, but it was a very good speech.
We have been talking about the cost of our climate action plan and the rebates, etc. I was just reading a peer-reviewed study, based on science, and it showed that 30% of the total burned forest area in western Canada and the United States between 1986 and 2021 can be traced back to 88 major fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers.
I am wondering if you can comment on the cost of inaction as well as the price of pollution.
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- Jun/1/23 12:51:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on that point of order, maybe the Conservative member does not know what his opposition motion says, but the fourth point says, “making life more expensive for Canadians [is] a cost of living crisis”. The member is speaking directly to the cost of living.
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- Jun/1/23 2:10:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “broken” is the only word to describe what happens to everything the current government touches.
We are learning of yet another $3-billion loan guarantee required to complete the Trans Mountain expansion so the Liberal government can sell it. It would not have had to buy it if it had not broken the regulatory approval process in the first place. The list just keeps getting bigger, with northern gateway, energy east, Teck frontier, 17 LNG terminals and, just in, Bay du Nord, which are all broken. The cost to complete the TMX has quadrupled in the past decade, to $31 billion.
The cause of all of these cost increases is not only inflation and supply chain challenges but also incompetence.
I would say to the Prime Minister that he broke it. He bought it, and then he broke it again, so he should get out of the way so the Conservatives can fix it.
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- Jun/1/23 2:51:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know the rising cost of food and groceries is having a challenging impact on families and single moms. That is why we introduced programs like $10-a-day child care, the Canada workers benefit, dental care and the Canada child benefit to help make life more affordable for families, for moms and for all Canadians.
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- Jun/1/23 2:54:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows really well, we had discussions on that just a few months ago. On July 1, we put into place some of the strongest regulations ever put into place to regulate the prices of patented medicines. This is great news because we are now going to compare the cost of patented drugs in Canada to a new basket of countries. It is a better basket of countries and excludes the highest costs seen in the world, which are in the United States and Switzerland. We look forward to doing more.
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- Jun/1/23 3:56:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think the member for Edmonton Manning knows there is no second carbon tax.
I want to ask specifically about what he has been talking about, which is the economics of the climate crisis. We used to talk about the future costs of inaction. Right now in this country, we have 179 wildfires in multiple provinces across the country. Does the member know the cost of climate-induced wildfires and floods from just the last year alone?
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- Jun/1/23 4:43:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Prince Albert.
The rising inflation costs, housing costs, grocery costs and the additional carbon tax are adding costs that have a direct effect on Canadians, especially in rural Canada. The first carbon tax, including sales tax, will add 41¢ a litre. The second carbon tax, including sales tax, will add 20¢ to a litre of gas. The combination of carbon tax 1 and carbon tax 2 will mean that Canadians will pay an extra 61¢ a litre for gas. Making life more expensive for Canadians in a cost of living crisis by implementing a second carbon tax demonstrates how out of touch the Liberal Prime Minister is.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that both carbon taxes will have a net cost of up to $4,000, depending on the province in which people live. The House recognizes the failure of carbon tax 1 and calls on the government to immediately cancel carbon tax 2.
Not only are groceries more expensive in rural communities, but there is also a distance to essential services, such as medical treatment. For example, a resident of Creston would have to drive to Cranbrook for a medical appointment, for a 250-kilometre return trip. If a specialist were needed, that would be a drive of 850 kilometres to Kelowna. That is a lot of fuel, and we can add to the complexity a senior who is on a very limited budget. Living in a rural area also requires our food security to be delivered from Vancouver. With diesel trucks transporting the product on a 2,000-kilometre return trip, the new cost per litre skyrockets. Can we guess who pays for the fuel increase? It is the rural residents, many of whom are on limited budgets.
Let us start from the beginning of our food security. We can take farming as an example. The carbon tax increase will have a direct impact on the price of goods being produced. The higher the carbon tax, the higher the price of vegetables, for example. Of course, adding to the complexity and the price is a 30% reduction in fertilizer. The farmer produces 30% less profit, and the cost increases accordingly. For dairy farmers, the carbon tax to heat barns and drive all the farm machinery adds significantly to the price of the products. The price increase is then given to the store purchasing the products.
Let us talk about the stores. Our grocery stores receive the products from the trucks. They pay the farmers for the products, the trucks for the transportation and, just to add to the cost, the store has to pay for the heat to maintain the operation of the store, including, of course, the carbon tax that they pay directly. Lastly, consumers come by. We must remember that it is rural Canada. Many times, they have to drive several hundred kilometres, and they pay the price of the products. This includes the farm carbon tax increase, for example, for heating barns and running farm machinery; the transportation carbon tax increase, which is the distance between the urban distribution centres and the rural grocery stores; the grocery store carbon tax increase; and, of course, the carbon tax for the fuel for the person to get to the store. It is no wonder that rural Canadians are hurting so much with the carbon tax increases, with additional costs on top of inflation. Again, many seniors are on fixed incomes.
As an example, Mary in Creston had to decide to go to a grocery store to buy food or drive to a medical appointment 240 kilometres away, because she did not have enough money to do both. It is very sad. Mary asked me if it is all because she lives in rural Canada. Then there are Tara and Bill in Yahk, who drive their children to school and recreation events throughout the Kootenays; some of these events are in larger centres, such as Kelowna and Vancouver. The carbon tax increases have put an end to many of those trips, as they do not have the income to put fuel in their vehicle.
Many of the businesses in Cranbrook are trying to weather the carbon tax increases to barely stay open. Of course, there has been significant damage as a result of the opioid issue in Cranbrook, and the groups this affects are non-profit organizations and businesses that have always supported them. However, the carbon tax increases, along with inflation and the damage from criminal behaviour, are making it difficult for our small businesses. The donations to non-profits are getting smaller and smaller; in some cases, there are no donations.
Another challenge we face is in transit in rural and urban centres. In urban centres, there are trains, light rail transit, the SkyTrain, the TTC subway, the OC Transpo light rail transit, the Montreal Metro subway, extensive bus service, taxi and Uber-type personal transportation, and compact metro vehicles, even scooters, for point-to-point rentals.
I know, having lived in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver for many years, that transit is not only affordable but also convenient. From talking with my daughter, who lives in metro Vancouver, I know that many of her friends who are 30 to 40 years old do not own vehicles. In fact, they do not have a driver's licence, and, in many cases, have no plans to apply for one. When I talk with her friends, I hear that many have lived in metro urban centres all of their lives. Until I talked with them, they had not really understood why rural areas are so different. This is a real challenge. The way of life in rural Canada is a bit different than in our cities. In urban centres, we do not have bus service. We do not have light rail transit. We do not have sky trains and we do not have subways. In fact, in many remote areas, there is no taxi service. Again, it is really challenging for residents.
The answer for rural Canada is a vehicle: a gas car or a diesel truck, especially in adverse weather conditions, like travelling through the Kootenays. People are going through the Rocky Mountains, the Purcell Mountains, the Selkirk Mountains and the Monashee Mountains all in one day. The additional carbon tax will have the effect of residents not being able to attend medical appointments, or they will have to pay extra to try to get groceries delivered. Students will not be able to attend school events, or children will not be going to figure skating and hockey tournaments as a result of the carbon tax increase.
I am a bit disappointed and, actually, surprised. I have had no response from the government with respect to assistance in funding. I am working with a non-profit group on the feasibility of an electric train from Cranbook to Yahk, Creston, Procter, Nelson, Castlegar and Trail. It is a small, 24-passenger electric train to transport individuals, for example from Nelson to Cranbrook for medical appointments, because, many days, the highways close as a result of avalanches, and many residents are elderly. It would also transport tourists from the Cranbrook international airport throughout the Kootenays, and the Nelson-Castlegar corridor is extremely busy, with significant traffic increases. The end result would be to try to reduce the carbon footprint.
All I asked for from the federal government, four times, was enough funding to be able to make a comprehensive business case. The Kootenay Rail Service Society has completed some background research to support the electric train, with funding dedicated to helping reduce carbon footprint. It is a fantastic opportunity for the federal government to show leadership and provide funding to complete the business case. The safety benefits are significant.
Here is a really positive project to reduce our carbon footprint, with no support from the government, yet the government is spending billions of dollars on buying legal guns from legal gun owners and spending billions on getting a handle on our addictions and opioid crisis, which is truly an emergency. The 300% increase in opioid overdose deaths is truly evidence that we, as a government and elected officials, need to step up and provide solutions and not band-aids. The government spends billions on housing strategies, yet the price of housing has skyrocketed. Even after spending billions, there has been zero impact from those billions of dollars of spending in Kootenay—Columbia.
The carbon tax is having a devastating effect in rural Canada and on all Canadians. The proposed carbon tax increase will impose a significant cost on rural residents.
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- Jun/1/23 4:54:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we do listen to the PBO actually, because the PBO has come forward with some cost analysis. I think I would rather listen to the PBO a lot of times than listen to the government. So, yes, I do actually have some faith in the PBO, and that is where we are taking some direction from. We do research, and we want to make sure that what we are looking at is fair and honest, and we are open to finding out what the costs are.
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