SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23

Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Oct/19/23 10:54:21 a.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-50

Mr. Speaker, this flawed bill is a bill to basically create a committee to create a committee, and there would be no assurances within this committee that the 15 positions, other than bureaucracies, would actually represent those workers. They would not represent the worker who is on the dragline in Westmoreland Coal in Estevan or in Bienfait, Saskatchewan. The committee would not have that person there. It would have a bureaucrat or union person who is focused on that aspect, as opposed to knowing exactly what that job is. On top of that, you talked about wanting to listen to the workers. I quote you on that; you want to hear from them directly. Where in the legislation does it say we would have that worker there? Furthermore, there is no mention in there about communities. You talked about the new sustainable jobs plan. It does not make any mention of sustainable communities or mitigating negative economic impacts. These are important things that would affect each and every one of those workers in Bienfait, in Coronach and around this country who would lose their jobs because of this.

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Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23

Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Oct/19/23 3:35:43 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-50

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have the opportunity to speak about this flawed bill once again. The member spoke a fair bit about possible jobs, but nowhere in this bill does it talk about that. He talked about some of the issues and, in particular, one was transitioning. Transitioning from our current energy system is not merely a matter of flipping a switch, which is what the member and this legislation seem to indicate. We cannot just flip a switch to make this happen. We need to make certain that steps are taken. The people who are doing that hard work and doing those hard jobs today, whether they are coal miners, pipefitters or involved in sequestration, are creating those jobs. These people would not be sitting at the table of this 15-member committee that the government would be forming. Could the member comment on how we can assure these people are there, not somebody who was signed up to represent them?

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Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23

Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Oct/19/23 3:55:09 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-50

Mr. Speaker, the member also comes from an oil and gas area, like I do. It is very interesting. I also have five coal-fired power plants in my area. The workers are extremely worried about the transition that is supposedly happening. There is no aspect of looking at older people who are near the end of their career and how they would transition out, not to mention those who are trying to get involved. The member talked about wind and solar. I wonder how she actually responds to her constituents when they find out that the wind turbines are all being built somewhere else. They are not being built in Newfoundland and Labrador. They are not being built in her neighbourhood. The solar panels are not being built there. They are all being imported. The jobs are not being created. I am wondering how the member responds to her constituents on that aspect.

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Context: House Hansard - 235 - Oct/19/23

Mr. Robert Kitchen (Souris—Moose Mountain, CPC)

Oct/19/23 5:24:58 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-50

Mr. Speaker, the member talked a lot about what this legislation talks about, which is basically report after report. Ultimately, the first report would not be until 2025, which is over a year and a half away. That is when the report would come in to decide what the government may do down the road. I am sure the member recognizes in Quebec how he wants to efficiently get Quebeckers to work doing the jobs, but that ultimately, just like with any project, they are being delayed just in coming up with the idea. After that, it is another six years to create the jobs that need to be created. That pushes things down the road continually. I wonder whether the member would comment on how he sees that affecting Quebec workers and making sure that Quebec keeps its people employed.

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