44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 19, 2023 10:00AM
- Oct/19/23 10:24:19 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise virtually this morning to present a petition from constituents who are very concerned about the galloping climate crisis.
The particular approach of these petitioners, physicians, is to cite the health impacts of the climate crisis and to draw the attention of the House to the scientific consensus as represented in the Paris Agreement, that global emissions must be rapidly reduced for it to hold to a less-than-1.5°C global average temperature increase and to make the cuts that are necessary before the year 2030.
Petitioners direct the House to the finding of the World Health Organization, that the climate crisis represents the single largest threat to human health of the 21st century.
They call on the government to act rapidly to reduce the health threats that they list and that I will only summarize, the impacts from wildfire smoke, the impacts on lungs, the increase in insect-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, the threats created by heat domes and heat-related illnesses and death.
They call on this House to act rapidly to complete the end of the dependence of our economy on fossil fuels and take necessary steps to move rapidly to not just net zero but a zero-carbon green energy future.
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Mr. Speaker, let me speak to the hon. member's mentioning of the phrase “just transition.” There is a very simple reason why I do not like using “just transition” and it is because workers hate the phrase “just transition”.
I do recognize that the International Labour Organization created it. I understand that it did come from the labour movement. However, it does not speak to the people who I represent, and it does not speak to the people who work in the oil and gas industry or the energy industry as a whole. It does not speak to them.
We need these workers onside. We need them to lower emissions in the oil and gas industry because they are the only ones who know how to do it. We need them to build the renewables because they are the only ones who know how to do it. There may be certain phrases that get in the way of them doing that work or continuing to work in that industry, and building those things and doing those things is way more important to me than complying with the conjecture or the phraseology of Geneva.
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Madam Speaker, I would inform the member that there is nothing just about this legislation. When the Liberals are throwing at least 170,000 people out of work across the country, displacing 450,000 workers, risking the livelihoods of 2.7 million Canadians and damaging the industry that is literally holding the country up, there is nothing just about that.
I wish the Bloc would understand how much this industry can contribute to bringing down world emissions, taking dictators' dollars away and making strong, powerful Canadian paycheques instead.
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Madam Speaker, we are not saying to do less. Rather, we want to see things that bring results. The carbon tax, which the Bloc wants to radically increase, has done nothing. The Liberals have not met a single emissions target they have set. Flooding and forest fires are still happening.
Taxes are not the answer, but research, innovation and new technology are, and industry has been doing this for years. We will get there, and we want to get there, but we also have to be realistic about how we get there. To say that we are going to end all fossil fuels tomorrow when 3% of our energy comes from renewables is not realistic. Where would the other 97% come from? That is what we are saying.
We need to support these industries, which are world class and world leading, with the highest standards on the planet. That is how we will get there, not by being ideological and shutting down these critical industries.
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Madam Speaker, thank you for this opportunity today to speak to an incredibly important piece of legislation, Bill C-50, Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act.
For many reasons, the people of Canada are going through challenging times. I think we can all agree on that. Many of them are unprecedented. Canadian workers and jobs, and the global economy, were heavily affected by the global pandemic. On top of that, we experienced unprecedented wildfire levels over the summer. It has been reported that there were 6,118 wildfires that burned 15 million hectares and 200,000 people were placed under evacuation orders. Experts say these were influenced by climate change.
Like the rest of the world, Canada must adjust if we want to give ourselves a fighting chance against climate change. Many Canadians have already had climate change impact their work, including workers in the agricultural, fishing, emergency services and tourism industries. There was the interruption of supply chains. Many elements of mining and mining infrastructure have also been significantly affected by climate change. I could go on, but suffice to say few sectors and few hard-working Canadians will be able to carry on as normal at their jobs or in their lives as long as the planet continues to heat up.
That has been, as noted, one of the hottest seasonal temperatures on record with warm ocean temperatures, category 5 hurricanes and many extreme weather events. We have seen them play out in the media over the last year. All of us are rightfully concerned, and should be doubling down and tripling down our efforts on fighting climate change.
With Bill C-50, our government is determined to help Canadian workers stay ahead of the curve in today's rapidly changing job market. If parliamentarians are committed to supporting Canadian workers through the transition to a low-carbon economy, we must come together across party lines and work together.
Certainly, we do not need more signs from Mother Nature that we need to do this right now. I think Mother Nature has given us plenty signs for decades now, and it is time to get on with this. I think this bill makes a significant contribution to our climate action efforts.
The need to move fast does not mean we need to do this piecemeal, or thoughtlessly or carelessly. Canadian workers, their families and their communities, whether in our largest cities or in the farthest reaches of our territories, need substantive and clear legislation that commits Canada's government to action that supports them.
This act was written after extensive consultation with the people it is intended to help, which is a primary principle of all good consultation work. It has to include the people who are most impacted. Their words assisted us in defining its purpose to help the government facilitate the creation of sustainable jobs for Canada's workers, while seizing opportunities for economic growth.
We want to provide support for workers and their communities in the shift to a low-carbon economy, and ensure transparency, accountability and ongoing engagement with Canadians across every region of the country on issues like training, workers' rights, the job market, economic growth, and, of course, reducing emissions.
This framework and all federal action on sustainable jobs would be guided by the principles enshrined in this legislation. They are principles that would strengthen our collective efforts, ensuring that all of Canada's national policies and programs, and the federal entities that carry out this work, are grounded in the fundamental values that underpin this work. This would be along with international best practices, and would be delivered equitably, fairly and inclusively.
This means that this act supports the creation of decent, high-quality work opportunities for Canadians by establishing a framework for effective action. Through this framework, we would be better positioned to address the barriers that have made it difficult for some to join the workforce. This legislation has four guiding principles developed in consultation with Canadians, built on guidelines adopted by the International Labour Organization, and tailored to fit with what Canadians value.
The first principle reflects the need for adequate, informed and ongoing social dialogue between government, workers and industry. Social dialogue is a term used by the International Labour Organization to describe all types of communications that help build understanding of and consensus about issues impacting the workforce. The government believes that this is a must if we want to shift to a low-carbon economy, to succeed for Canada's workers, their families and their communities.
The second guiding principle of this legislation is that the policies and programs that are put in place should support the creation of decent work, meaning good-paying, high-quality jobs, including union jobs. It is work that is productive and delivers a fair income. It is work that gives workers a voice in decisions that affect them.
Labour policies and programs influenced by this legislation should consider job security and social protections to reduce and prevent poverty and vulnerability among Canada's workers, as well as promote ongoing social dialogue. We also need the policies and programs associated with sustainable jobs to recognize local and industry-specific needs.
During our extensive consultations, Canadians told us openly and directly that they want Canada's government to acknowledge, with real action, that regions dominated by fossil fuel jobs have unique needs and opportunities. They told us that our policies need to reflect the fact that workers in high-emitting industries need pathways to low-carbon industries as the world shifts to different sources of energy. I can assure the members of this House that we hear those concerns.
Closely related to that is the need for our policies and programs to reflect workers' cultural values, strengths and potential while we create an environment where workers, businesses, investors and consumers can create sustainable, inclusive economies and societies.
The third guiding principle in this act recognizes that shifting to a low-carbon economy presents an important opportunity to improve the diversity of Canada's workforce and address barriers to the participation of marginalized and under-represented groups in the labour force.
Let me use the mining industry as an example. The industry's need to hire more workers is an opportunity to diversify its workforce. Women and people who have been granted permanent resident status in Canada are vastly under-represented in mining, making up only 15% and about 7% of its workforce, respectively.
While mining is the second-largest employer of indigenous peoples in Canada, accounting for 12% of the upstream mining workforce, the data shows us that indigenous people overwhelmingly hold entry-level manual jobs. We can and must unlock the potential of Canada's under-represented population groups if we are to have enough workers to fill all of the jobs that expect to be created over the next two decades. It is a significant number of jobs. RBC has reported that by the end of 2030, this could create as many as 400,000 jobs in Canada.
Because the need to fight climate change and expand sustainable employment is a global issue, the last guiding principle in the sustainable jobs act is international co-operation. Canada already works routinely and extensively with other countries, and we are proud that international co-operation is widely considered to be one of our strengths.
Canada is playing a leadership role on the international stage to promote an inclusive and people-centred approach, and I highlight, underline and emphasize “people-centred approach”, to the clean energy shift or transition, leading on a range of initiatives to advance sustainable jobs while promoting diversity and inclusion of marginalized groups in the clean energy sector.
Notably, Canada is leading the Equal by 30 campaign, which encourages voluntary commitments from both public and private sector organizations to work toward equal pay, equal leadership and equal opportunities for women and other marginalized groups in the energy sector by 2030. Canada co-leads the clean energy ministerial empowering people initiative with the United States and the European Commission, which brings together like-minded partners to advance people-centred transitions. There is more collaboration I could mention, but I will stop there.
In our extensive consultations with Canadians, we were told to bring our people-centred approach to our international work, and we agree wholeheartedly. People-centred legislation makes it easier for our policies to remain coherent at every level of government, but, more importantly, it is critical to ensuring that Canadians have equal access to a variety of social supports or job training and job opportunities.
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Madam Speaker, the environment minister went to China and promoted all the great work the Communist dictatorship in Beijing was doing on the environment, yet that country is building coal-fired generation stations as we speak.
We could be displacing that coal with clean, green Canadian LNG. We could be exporting nuclear technology around the world to ensure we are displacing more emissions-intensive forms of energy. We could be displacing the Russian crude that is holding the European continent hostage. We could be ensuring that Canadian expertise and energy is solving the world's problems. However, under the Liberals, with their lack of an understanding of what is just in this world, we are being held back.
I would like to clarify one thing. The Liberals seem to think that somehow Conservatives do not support clean energy. That could not be further from the truth. I can say that definitively because I am a massive proponent of energy investment of all kinds. Whether that be new clean tech or traditional forums, we should be a world leader in all forums.
The difference is that the Liberal philosophy is to hold people down, hold them and drown out anything they do not agree with. That is what they believe. The Conservatives offer a clear alterative. We want to empower people to do what is best for them. We want to ensure that it is not the government that picks winners and losers, but that industry, innovators and, ultimately, Canadians to do what is best for themselves and for our country. When we are doing what is best for Canada, we are doing what is best for the world, and the entire planet would benefit from Canadian leadership.
Let us look at some of the facts. Bill C-50 could lead to as many as 170,000 jobs lost, including many of which would be in my consistency. I dare those Liberals to look my constituents in the eye and tell them why their jobs do not matter. We could see up to close to half a million indirect jobs lost. That is the whole spectrum. I am not sure if the Liberals realize this, but a lot of the clean tech jobs depend on affiliated industries that also do work in our traditional energy sector.
We also need to look at realistic outcomes to ensure that when we pass public policy in this place it will actually accomplish the objective. Nothing in this bill would benefit Canadians. Nothing in the bill would be just. Nothing in the bill would lower emissions. Nothing in the bill would lead to a prosperous future for Canadians. However, we see the government pushing forward, using manicured talking points that are somehow supposed to take the place of realistic and concrete solutions.
The facts speak for themselves. The only evidence that the Liberals could point to for even having an iota of success with emissions reductions is twofold. One is Alberta's leadership in reducing emissions, including in the energy sector. Two is the government pointing to COVID and the lockdowns associated with it as a reason why emissions went down.
It is truly shameful and a disgrace. The fact that if it were any other part of the country, we would not see Liberal members pursuing this sort of agenda. That leads me to my final point.
It should be the job of any prime minister, first and foremost, to ensure that there is national unity in our country, yet the Liberal Prime Minister and those corrupt Liberals are dividing our country. I hope it can be repaired. I believe it can be, but there are so many who are losing faith in the very foundations of our institutions, the very foundations of our country, because of an ideological agenda that is not only ineffective but is truly tearing the country apart.
The bill and the ideology need to be defeated. The members who support it need to be shown the door. When it comes to the future of our country, in every metric, this is the wrong direction. It is time for a government that can bring home a future for Canada that works.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to address the member's question, because here is the reality. The only party in the country that supports clean, green sustainable jobs is the Conservative Party of Canada. We believe in an economy that allows for the prosperity of all industries. Whether that is mining in northern Ontario; or oil and gas in Alberta and across the Prairies; or tidal energy, which the Liberals have ensured is not affordable in the Maritimes; there is one party in our country that truly wants to see prosperity for all, lower emissions and a future that works for Canadians, and it is the Conservative Party.
Therefore, when that member spouts off the same tired talking points that have been tearing our country apart, he can be held accountable, as the Liberals not only fail on the environment but they fail on the economy, and Canadians are getting sick and tired of it.
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Madam Speaker, the only thing being stolen from our country is the prosperity that should be given to Canadians. It is that member's disconnect with reality that is on full display here.
I can see windmills from my house. I drive by solar farms on a regular basis. For that member to somehow think that we have to pick one or the other shows an absolute disconnect with the reality of how we solve what is a developing global energy crisis.
Let us build in our country. Let us ensure there is clean tech. Let us ensure that when it comes to traditional energy, we continue to move toward that lower emissions path. Let us ensure that it is Canadians who lead the way as opposed to being held back like they are under that coalition.
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- Oct/19/23 2:12:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the tired Liberal-NDP government, ideology matters more than helping Canadians with the crippling cost of living. Thankfully, some Liberals are beginning to break ranks with the government over its punitive carbon taxes that will see Canadians pay an extra 61¢ for every litre of gas. The member for Avalon has warned his party that it cannot make life more expensive for people than they can handle, but all of his colleagues do not care. The member for Cloverdale—Langley City was quick to dismiss the concerns of struggling Canadians and double down on the carbon tax as a tool to force change in consumer behaviours. These Liberals just do not get it.
The people of Newfoundland and of Saskatchewan cannot turn their lives around on a dime. Farmers and producers do more than their fair share to control carbon emissions in a way that the current government just does not comprehend. They know that this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Only a common-sense Conservative government would axe the tax and bring home lower prices for all Canadians.
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- Oct/19/23 2:49:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Suncor is raking in billions of dollars in profits, yet its corporate rap sheet is a long list of disturbing allegations: environmental damage, workers killed on the job and price fixing at the pump. However, the blockbuster lawsuit in the state of Colorado is new. The Colorado indictment is clear. It states that Suncor knowingly and substantially contributed to the climate crisis through “intentional, reckless and negligent conduct.” This is the big tobacco moment for Suncor.
What will the minister do to hold this company to account and make sure it reduces emissions to protect our children's futures?
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- Oct/19/23 3:02:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to explain to my hon. colleague how Quebec does not use a pricing system, but a greenhouse gas emissions cap and trade system, and that the clean fuel regulations that we brought in was one of the Conservative Party's commitments in the 2021 election campaign. The difference between us and them is that they only talk about these issues while we on this side of the House take action.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that ever since oil was discovered in Alberta back in 1949, we have had central governments in this country try to control it. No other region in this country has had a federal government seek to control its destiny more than western Canada given its oil resources.
Quebeckers stand up for their resources, and I applaud them for that. We should all stand up for our resources. I will not apologize for standing up for our strong oil and gas sector, a sector that is investing in clean energy, renewable energy and carbon capture. I see it in my riding, which is working to sequester CO2 emissions today and is doing a great job. It is a sustainable industry. Let us support it.
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Mr. Speaker, I see that I received applause from a Conservative. Apart from you, Mr. Speaker, he is the only one who still claps for me. We will see how long that lasts.
The Bloc Québécois's position is clear. It is imperative that we change our energy trajectory so that Canada, which still includes Quebec, for now, contributes to the effort to prevent average temperatures from rising by 1.5°C. That is essential. We are talking about the future of humanity, the health of our people, the safety of our communities and the future of generations to come. We have to make the effort. That means we have to stop ratcheting up our fossil fuel production. That is point number one. The International Energy Agency says we must not start any new oil and gas production projects. By 2030, we need to gradually reduce oil production, which is part of the problem.
It is completely wrong to think that some kind of capture technology is going to let us increase oil production while reducing our absolute emissions. I am not talking about emissions per barrel, but absolute emissions. These are basic scientific facts. By reducing our oil production, we will gain access to large sums of public money, which is currently being disproportionately invested in fossil fuels. This money could be directed elsewhere so that Canada can transition to a 21st-century economy, focused on the long term, on the future of coming generations and on renewable energy.
We stand in solidarity with the workers who will have to participate in this process. When the Trans Mountain project began, we did not just say that the government should not invest money in that project and that there would be cost overruns. We know that the project is costing over $30 billion. What we said was that we should take that money that was in the Canadian public purse and use it for the transition, for good-paying jobs in the high-tech sector that produce technologies that can be exported, namely, energy storage technologies. By so doing, we would not impoverish communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, who are the primary victims of the lack of transition, who will be among those who will pay the most, and who will be even more disproportionately affected when finally do make the transition when it is too late and it is even more urgent.
The government has done enough greenwashing. We need to take action. Obviously, when we talk about greenwashing, I cannot help but think about this bill, which basically contains nothing of what I just talked about. There is nothing about any of that in this bill. The Liberals are saying that they want to train workers in the clean energy sector, but they are investing billions of dollars in dirty energy. Clean energy workers do not need this bill. They need an employment insurance system that works.
We learned from the member for Thérèse-De Blainville that half of all workers are not covered by employment insurance. When I look at the federal government's investment strategies, and when I look at the Conservatives' plans, I am not sure I would want to apply to set up a wind turbine project. It has been so devalued.
What would it take? First, we need commitments and principles. This bill turns the process upside down and says that workers are going to be trained. It does not begin with what needs to come first. There is no commitment and there are no principles and no targets. It proposes solutions to a problem that has not been defined. Kafka himself could not have come up with this.
Next, we need a collaborative approach. They forget sometimes, but we are in a federation. There are provinces and municipalities. There are ecosystems in the labour market. There are communities, regions, workers, unions, employers, chambers of commerce and investors. There needs to be consultation. The democratic and civic process in the communities needs to be respected, but that is not covered in the bill. The bill provides that committees will submit reports, and it is not quite clear what will be done with those reports. We know that endless reports are issued here, and we know where they end up. They end up in a place where no one reads them. That is what will happen.
Once we have done all that, then we need measures to achieve the objectives. We need to think of the workers, the communities and the first nations communities. That is not happening at all. The provincial jurisdictions will need to be respected. There will need to be requirements for the planning and production of sectoral reports that cannot solely be the federal government's responsibility.
Labour law is under provincial jurisdiction. The workforce in Quebec has been under Quebec's jurisdiction since the 1990s. Everyone knows that. There are agreements, there is funding. It has not always been easy, but we have those things today. That is not reflected in the bill.
My take on this bill is that I do not doubt the intentions behind it, although given that the title completely eliminates the concept of the just transition, one can doubt the government's intentions. However, the whole thing feels improvised to me. The bill does not define a problem, yet it tries to find solutions. It is funny how the Liberals think a report is the solution to everything.
Since being elected, I have been bewildered to learn that committees work to submit reports to the government, and we vote on motions, but the government never reads them. Why, then, would it read the reports that are going to be produced under this bill? That is not plausible. That is where things stand.
The worst part is that the bill speaks to the government's utter ignorance, whether deliberate or not—if it is deliberate, then that is even worse—of Quebec's regional realities and Quebec's labour market. It is a bit like what happened with the early childhood centres. We are way ahead when it comes to skills training and collaboration on skills training. It seems like the federal government always waits 30, 40, 20 or 15 years. It dilly-dallies before eventually saying that Quebec is right and that it will try to push the other provinces to follow Quebec's example. That is precisely what is going on here. There will need to be asymmetry.
In the 1990s, Quebec voiced its demands on workplace skills training. In the 1990s, there were discussions about professional training, which led to federal transfers to Quebec for workplace skills training. This bill is on skills training, but Quebec does that, and it is good at it. If results matter, then the government should be consulting Quebec.
On June 22, 1995, the National Assembly passed the Act to Foster the Development of Manpower Training. Since then, Quebec has been in charge of workplace training. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, this reform is based on partnerships. In 1997, Quebec created the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail. This labour market partners commission repatriated active employment measures from the federal government to Quebec, and are working together to find innovative solutions, not just in green energy, but in all sectors, because every region of Quebec is different. Who are these people? The group brings together employers, employees, labourers, the education sector, universities, vocational training schools, community organizations and economic and social ministries that are familiar with Quebec's realities. It is working. Ottawa needs to stop ignoring that.
When we have immigration files in our ridings, we wait months for labour market surveys for each immigration file when those labour market studies have already been done in each region and in each sector. They are meant to determine what the needs are, what the needs will be in the future, how to plan and how to do things better. By deliberately ignoring Quebec with this bill, the government is saying that it does not want to do better. If Quebeckers want things to be better, they can vote for the Bloc Québécois, because we always defend Quebec's jurisdictions.
What should we do with this bill? We are thinking about it. It is not easy, but maybe something can be done with it. We are thinking it over. For starters, the government needs to listen to these concerns. It needs to consult Quebec. When we asked officials in committee if they consulted Quebec, they said it did not occur to them to do so. They turned red as ripe tomatoes, much like the tomatoes grown in my riding, which are redder than those grown elsewhere. When money is being allocated to implementing the strategies in the bill, Quebec will have to get its fair share. Negotiating labour agreements has never been easy.
Moreover, the government has to honour the Paris Agreement. It also has to honour the COP26 just transition declaration. The generally accepted term in the international community is “just transition”, which emphasizes the importance of making the energy transition and doing so in a way that serves everyone now, in all provinces and all communities, as well as future generations. As for the bill's title, my mouth dried out by the time I finished saying it. That is because someone is trying to hide something.
I think there is a lot of work to be done, and I invite all parties to take the blinders off and really consider Quebec's reality and its institutions. If objectives and achieving those objectives is so important, the government should take a step back and consult the Quebec government.
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