44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/7/23 4:26:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with the leader of the NDP that climate change is not some passing fad. It is the crisis of our generation. It is an emergency. I also could not agree more that the Conservative big oil lobby is on display every single day in this House, denying that climate change exists, denying that climate change is human-caused and denying that it is a priority for the government and Canadians.
I was disappointed yesterday, to be very frank, that the NDP decided to vote with the Conservatives on a motion to reduce the integrity of carbon pricing in Canada. I was glad to see a few NDP members, I think it was six, abstain from the motion. It was heartening.
How can the leader of the NDP justify his efforts to scale back our priority, which is pricing carbon and reducing emissions, while at the same time bringing a very similar motion forward today?
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- Nov/7/23 5:49:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to speak to this opposition day motion today.
As the opposition notes, Canadians across the country are facing more and more dramatic impacts from climate change. They are also struggling with the sharp increases in the cost of living.
That is why we have put in place a comprehensive emissions reduction plan, which is the most comprehensive national climate plan ever implemented not just here in Canada but anywhere. It is very ambitious, and its aim is threefold: to reduce carbon pollution, to stop climate change, and to grow our economy and to position Canada to be a leader on the clean technology front as well as keeping life affordable for all Canadians.
My riding, as one of the previous speakers noted, is a semi-rural riding. I have hundreds of neighbours who use home heating oil. These recent measures take that into consideration, recognizing that home heating oil is by far the most expensive way to heat one's home, and it is also the most emissions-intensive way to heat one's home.
We are going to get people off home heating oil. We are going to get them the heat pumps that their systems need. We have highly polluting oil heat that we want to phase out, just like our efforts to phase out coal-fired energy, and we are going to do that in favour of clean and efficient cold-climate-adapted heat pumps.
I am a big proponent of heat pumps because I have one myself. That means that I am currently heating my house with electricity and not with natural gas.
If it gets very cold, I can turn on my natural gas system. It is important that this is about lowering emissions at this stage and not about completely eliminating our reliance on fossil fuels.
I would like to talk a little about carbon pollution pricing because it seems like, in the House, we spend a lot of time debating whether we fight climate change not how we fight climate change, and that is truly unfortunate.
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- Nov/7/23 6:56:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. colleague, although I reject the premise. Climate change is real, and it is having really devastating impacts in Canada. Again this year, communities across our country were severely impacted by catastrophic storms, wildfires and floods. In fact, 2023 has indeed been the hottest year on record.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Mr. Adam van Koeverden: Regardless of how loudly the Conservatives would like to yell at me, climate change is indeed—
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- Nov/7/23 6:57:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, 2023 saw the worst wildfire season on Canadian record. It was also the hottest and driest year ever on record, leading to hundreds of thousands of Canadians being evacuated from their homes. It is our firm belief that decisive actions need to be taken in order to mitigate these impacts and better protect our environment and communities for generations to come.
In the face of that, the Conservatives still stand in the House every day and refuse to even acknowledge the human contributions of climate change. Their only contribution to this conversation is that they think we should get rid of carbon pricing in this country. Fortunately, that remains an efficient way to combat climate change, and pollution pricing is, in fact, working. Contrary to what the hon. member said, Canada's emissions have dropped by 6% since 2005. Now, they often also say that we have missed every target. However, the first target is in 2030, and we are on the path to reach that target. We need to move faster, in fact, to meet it.
I know one thing for sure: If we stop pricing carbon, if we stop pricing pollution, if we do not put a cap on oil and gas emissions, then there is no chance we will reach those targets.
Our system encourages innovation, reduces emissions and promotes greener behaviour. What is more, it gives Canadian households flexibility. It gives businesses opportunities to decide how and when they want to make those changes.
Another thing that the Conservatives always avoid talking about is our rebate program. I would encourage anybody watching to look at their bank account statements from October 13; if they are in a province whose premier does not have a plan to fight climate change, then they will be subject to the federal backstop program. On October 13, they would have received one of their quarterly payments for the climate action incentive program.
Experts agree that this form of carbon pricing is the best way to get results and lower our emissions. Since 2005, despite 10 years of Harper's inaction on climate change and even refusal to accept that it existed or admit that human activity was causing it, we have seen a 6% reduction in our emissions. That has largely been since 2015.
I would like to continue to remind the opposition that our pollution pricing system is providing more money back to the majority of households than it costs them. With the pollution pricing rebates in provinces where the federal system applies, a family of four can now receive payments of up to $1,500 a year under our plan.
When it comes to our government's decision to temporarily pause the carbon price on deliveries of home heating oil, we did that because it is the most expensive form of home heating. We want to make sure that we are working with those families to get them off home heating oil and on to a heat pump, which is an efficient electric way of heating one's home. It reduces emissions. However, for the 1.3 million households across the country that rely on home heating oil, it is also extremely costly.
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- Nov/7/23 7:01:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, here we go. Conservatives are pretending as if a carbon tax is going to stop a hurricane in its tracks. That is the type of rhetoric we hear from these Conservatives: How many hurricanes has this carbon tax reduced; how many emissions; how many tonnes of carbon has the tax removed from the environment? Obviously, the members opposite are unwilling to do a bit of reading to inform themselves or look up a climatologist or economist who works on these types of things.
Economists around the world are unanimous that if we want to fight climate change we have to price carbon. We have to put a price on pollution to reduce our emissions.
I will say again very clearly, because the member opposite was looking for a number, that it is 6%. The goal is between 35% and 40%, so we have a lot more work to do. We have to reduce those emissions and we have seven years to do.
I know one thing for sure, laughing about it and pretending it does not exist—
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- Nov/7/23 7:06:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not even know where to start with the only MP who voted against the Paris Agreement. She always has more climate denial and conspiracy theories in this House than I can handle.
I would remind the members opposite that they all ran on a similar plan in 2021 to price carbon. In fact, the Tories reprimanded the member of the Conservative caucus over her comments on climate change. The Conservative Party told the media that the member was told to take down videos from her YouTube channel that were spouting those conspiracy theories—
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/7/23 7:07:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member continues to yell that it is a big conspiracy and it is censorship to tell her to take those videos down. I did not tell her to take those videos down. The Conservative Party told her to take her videos down because they were full of nonsense, misinformation and conspiracy theories about climate lockdowns and about governments that were going to put into place certain restrictions, like those imposed by COVID-19.
It is like the member gets all of her news from the National Enquirer and brings it into this House to spread misinformation and disinformation throughout her riding. It is extremely disappointing. However, this is not the first time we have heard blatant climate denial from the member. I hope for the sake of her caucus that they ask her, as they did in 2021, when they all ran on a plan to price carbon, to maybe tone the rhetoric, conspiracy theories and climate denial a bit, because as the member for Wellington—Halton Hills has stated, no party without a viable climate plan to reduce emissions is ever going to get elected. I could not agree more.
Like the member opposite, a lot of my community members use home heating oil in order to heat their homes. It is akin to using coal. These products were used in the 1800s to heat homes, and we can do a lot better in 2023. Rural Ontarians will hopefully get a deal from Premier Ford whereby we can help subsidize their home heating through a heat pump, which is an efficient way to heat a home. It is an effective way to heat a home. It also drastically reduces emissions.
The members opposite continue to yell at me that I do not work in the cold, but it is not true. It gets cold where I live, and I use a heat pump that works just fine. There are also cold-adjusted ones that use a mix of various technologies, which I would say is the only word the Conservatives have used to describe their climate policy. They say they are just going to use technology to drive down all emissions, and they are going to meet some fictitious target with the kind of technology we have invested in, like carbon capture, use and storage.
The Conservatives do not have a plan to fight climate change. They have absolutely no leadership in their party. They have stopped talking about climate change altogether, and it is really disappointing.
As to affordability, the vast majority of those living in provinces like Ontario, where the member and I are both from, who go about their lives and pay the price on pollution receive a rebate. I would encourage anybody who is curious about that rebate to check their bank statement from October 13. They will see one of their four quarterly amounts, with up to $244 for a family of four, which is $946, if my math is correct. That is part of the rebate program.
The Conservatives will never talk about it, because they do not want to accept that our program, which is a consumer-based revenue-neutral program, is better than theirs. If members recall, in their 2021 election platform, they had some sort of Zellers-style catalogue, and people could choose something from it, like a bike or another green product. That would not work and that is why they did not win that election. As the member for—
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- Nov/7/23 7:11:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this denial is beyond just climate change denial. The member was indeed instructed to take videos off of her YouTube feed, and she did take those videos down. There was one, a particularly disgusting video the member put up, that included an image of the Prime Minister with a noose around his neck.
The member opposite can continue to yell and bring into the House news that is not even fit for the National Enquirer. It is a challenge that we all have to face in this place, that some people are elected on the basis of their misinformation, disinformation and tabloid-style campaigns.
I was heartened to see that Erin O'Toole, in the last election campaign, told his Conservative caucus that, if they do not get on board with fighting climate change, they are not welcome in their caucus. I guess they showed him because, as soon as they did not get elected, they showed somebody who is willing to talk about climate change the door.
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- Nov/7/23 7:16:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I can tell that the member opposite cannot explain to his constituents concepts like a market-based instrument or how a revenue-neutral carbon pricing scheme works, because he cannot explain it in the House, and he could not explain it at the doors in 2021 when he ran for the Conservative Party. Therefore, allow me to.
Yes, indeed, our carbon pricing plan is revenue-neutral. That means that all of the money that comes in from the carbon tax, as the member would like to call it, goes back to families in our communities. In fact, a family of four in Saskatchewan will receive $1,360. That is a number they will not see in an email that the member has sent to a constituent. He will not remind them that it is a revenue-neutral program. He will not say that they are actually getting a refund or a rebate every single year, and that it is tax-free.
The reason that the price is on pollution is that Saskatchewan, like some other provinces, continues to use coal to generate all of its electricity. Therefore, even if someone is using an electric car or a heat pump, unfortunately a lot of their electricity is still coming from coal. In 2005, Ontario also generated a lot of electricity using coal, and, like Saskatchewan, it had a lot of smog days. There are smog days in Saskatchewan now, and a lot of it has to do with burning coal. Coal is bad for the environment and it is bad for our health.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Nov/7/23 7:18:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will say it again: The rebate of $1,360 is what families of four in Saskatchewan receive through the climate action rebate.
The member might wave his hands and say that is just hogwash. Two members from Saskatchewan are now waving their hands at me as if $1,360 were irrelevant to their constituents. I think it actually is quite relevant and it is quite a lot of money, money that will be well spent by families who need it. Despite the fact that those colleagues all ran on a similar plan to price carbon in 2021, they do not want anybody to know that because they want families to feel like they have always been against environmental policies to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to fight climate change. However, since 2015, the Liberal Party and the government have been there for Canadians. We have been relentless in our pursuit of solutions to make life more affordable for families in our country, and we are also doing that while fighting climate change.
As the commissioner said, the fight on climate change needs more ambition; it needs stronger targets and more action. That is what we are doing. We are redoubling our efforts to fight climate change and lower our emissions in Canada, while the Conservatives have zero ambition, zero targets and no plan. I am curious to know from the member what his plan to fight climate change might be. I have never actually heard the member say “climate change”, so I would encourage him to talk about climate change a bit in this debate and tell Canadians and people in his riding what his plan is to fight it.
In a year when wildfires burned out of control, hundreds of thousands of Canadians were forced out of their homes and it has been the hottest year ever on record, inaction is certainly not an option for our government. We need to move faster. We need to be more ambitious in fighting climate change. There is just no way around it. We have to take action now to fight climate change. Our pollution pricing system is one of the best ways to do so and is a component of any serious plan to fight climate change, as Erin O'Toole put in the Conservatives' plan to fight climate change in 2021.
With regard to our decision for a temporary pause, I will come back in the rebuttal.
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- Nov/7/23 7:21:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not want to avoid answering the question, but the member just called into question whether or not I can be honest in this chamber, and I think that goes against parliamentary procedure. That was unparliamentary language, and I would ask him to stand and apologize.
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- Nov/7/23 7:22:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government has been there to support Canadians. I want to point out that when colleagues opposite suggest certain people are paying more for certain things, it really does a disservice to the debate and the quality of the conversations we have in this House.
I want to point out that the quintile of Canadians who might receive less back in the climate action incentive than they pay are the wealthiest Canadians. They are the top quintile of earners. It just goes to show that the Conservatives are always here to fight for millionaires and big oil. When it comes to fighting for affordability or the middle class, they are literally nowhere to be seen.
Since I am by myself in the chamber, I will finish there.
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