SoVote

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/8/23 3:10:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our country is on fire. The climate emergency is all around us, and instead of serious action, we have the Conservatives' tone-deaf efforts to repeal the carbon tax on one side and the Liberals giving our money to the very sector, the oil and gas industry, most responsible for it on the other. What we need now is action, not more loans for the Trans Mountain pipeline. Will the government get serious and end all subsidies to the oil and gas industry today?

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Context: House Hansard - 209 - Jun/8/23

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/8/23 3:53:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the words of this motion speak specifically to stopping the investments in fossil fuels. One of those investments was just this past week when we saw $3 billion more in a loan guarantee to the Trans Mountain pipeline. I respect the member for Kingston and the Islands. I see him as one of the leading voices in the Liberal caucus when it comes to moving further on climate. Can he talk about the extent to which we need to stop with these loan guarantees and invest those funds in the proven climate solutions we need?

97 words

Context: House Hansard - 209 - Jun/8/23

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/8/23 4:52:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the words of the motion say “stop investing in fossil fuels". The member for Winnipeg North just shared with the member for Mirabel that we need more patience for TMX. We need more patience for what? To cut down more old-growth forest, to waste billions more dollars. This is what the UN Secretary General calls moral and economic madness. We do not need patience; we need urgent action so that our kids do not live in climate hell.

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Context: House Hansard - 209 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/9/23 12:10:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tonight, climate-fuelled wildfires continue across the country, almost 15 times the 10-year average for this time of year. Upward of 126,000 people across the country have been evacuated because of these fires. We know parents who are keeping their kids home from the playground because the air quality is so bad. Earlier this afternoon, I was pressing for an end to fossil fuel subsidies. I am glad to be back in the House, now after midnight, to keep pressing for solutions, real climate solutions, such as public transit, for example. For us in Ontario, transportation is the largest source of emissions, at 32%. While electric vehicles may be part of the solution, they also have many drawbacks, including contributing to more sprawl and poor land use planning decisions, the embodied carbon of manufacturing EVs, the rare metals needed to manufacture them, and the fact that owning a car remains out of reach for many in my community. Canadian transit riders, by comparison, are disproportionately low-income workers. They are women and people from racialized communities. Many cannot afford to drive, and 64% have no access to a car, among those who take transit. It is why, prior to this year’s budget, I was pressing for the governing party to invest more in public transit, specifically recognizing that municipalities like mine are being forced to raise fares while, in some cases, simultaneously cutting services due to a lack of sufficient investment from higher orders of government, not that there is none, but that it is insufficient. Specifically, groups across the country such as Environmental Defence and the Canadian Urban Transit Association were sounding the alarm at the time, warning that transit systems are at risk of falling into a death spiral without critical operational support that had run out since the worst of the pandemic. Sadly, the budget missed the mark, with no new transit funds committed. This is what Nate Wallace, program manager for clean transportation at Environmental Defence had to say: “It is very disappointing to see that this budget does not include much-needed funds to support transit systems now.” Truthfully, to me, it is a shame that we are even talking about this. If we were responding to the climate crisis at the scale required, we would not just be talking about emergency operating funds. We need to be talking about going a step further, and I believe that the parliamentary secretary may agree with me on this, that we need federal funds so we can scale successful efforts to reduce fares altogether. One example was started by a friend of mine, Dan Hendry, co-founder and director of Get on the Bus, who piloted a program in Kingston, Ontario, that provided on-bus training and free transit passes to high school students specifically. What was the impact? High school ridership increased from 28,000 rides in 2012 to close to 600,000 rides annually, which is exponential growth in ridership among high school students, by providing training and free bus passes. Municipal leaders in my community are now looking at this model, and I would love for them to do it. I want young people in the Waterloo region to have better options. However, municipal leaders are having to discuss this without the benefit of federal funds to subsidize it. My question is this: Will the governing party step up for these emergency funds and go further, recognizing the crisis we are in?

586 words

Context: House Hansard - 209 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Mike Morrice

Jun/9/23 12:18:02 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I really appreciate, and I expected it this evening, that I do not need to convince the parliamentary secretary about the importance of transit, as a transit user herself. It means we can have a more adult conversation about what needs to be done in the midst of the crisis we are in. Again, I recognize and appreciate the funds that have been allocated in the past on transit but also want her, and the governing party, to recognize that this is not sufficient. First, it is not sufficient in terms of emergency operating funds that organizations across the country have been calling for and were not delivered. Second, it is not sufficient to ensure we can actually reduce fares to increase ridership at the pace required for young people, for example, to start habits of using transit from a young age and continue doing so in order for us to shift the curve on the climate crisis and address the transit and transportation emissions we know we have. How will she continue to advocate within the governing party to see the investments increase at the pace this crisis requires?

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