44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/7/23 10:07:38 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise and present a petition on behalf of the constituents of Regina—Lewvan.
The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the notion that freedom of choice in health care is becoming increasingly curtailed and further threatened by the legislation and statutory regulations of the Government of Canada. They say it is a fundamental right for individuals to choose how to prevent illness or how to address illness or injury in their own bodies. They state that Canadians want the freedom to decide how they will prevent illness or how they will address illness or injury in their own bodies, and that Canadians are competent and able to make their own health decisions without state interference.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to guarantee the right of every Canadian to health freedom by enacting the charter of health freedom, drafted for the Natural Health Products Protection Association on September 4, 2008.
I have many constituents who are concerned with the changes to the natural health product regulations, and I present this on their behalf.
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- Nov/7/23 11:10:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member actually mentioned Regina and home heating oil, and there are not a lot of people who heat their homes with heating oil. They do not get any of the divisive carbon tax exemption that was brought forward.
An hon. member: Yes, they do.
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- Nov/7/23 11:11:46 a.m.
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No, they do not.
Madam Speaker, the Liberal minister from Newfoundland and Labrador said that if one wants exemptions and to be treated fairly, then please vote Liberal.
The Liberal member did not bring home the tax exemption for his people and there are more people who use home heating oil in northern Ontario than in Saskatchewan. There are quite a few Liberal members in northern Ontario. Why are they so incompetent that they could not get the tax exemption for their constituents and the people who live in their communities, when they are the ones, after eight long years, who created this affordability crisis in the first place?
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- Nov/7/23 1:19:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to take to my feet today to ask this random Liberal from Whitby a question.
I will give him credit. He is one of the only Liberals who told the truth recently, when he looked in the camera and said that Canadians are going to feel pain because of the Liberals' costly carbon tax. He was honest. The pain has come forward. There is an affordability crisis after eight long years of this NDP-Liberal government because of its policies.
He went through a litany of programs where they are trying to give the money back to Canadians through different programs. Why take it in the first place? Leave it in their pockets. Canadians can spend their own money better than the government can.
One program that he did not mention was the oil to heat pump affordability program that came out in March 2023. Provinces joined Newfoundland and Labrador in June 2023.
How many heat pumps have actually been delivered in this country since March 2023? The number is 43.
They failed on the environment. The environment commissioner said they will not meet their targets. This is a tax plan, not an environmental plan and they have never reached a target.
When will the Liberals admit their carbon tax has failed Canadians?
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- Nov/7/23 7:12:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to join in and try to get some answers for the question I asked the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources last week. I am happy that the parliamentary secretary is here because he has said a few things tonight that I would really like to delve into. We will do just the facts if he is okay with that, and if he can manage to answer some things straightforwardly.
One is that they have always said that the carbon tax, after eight long years of this NDP-Liberal government, was an environmental plan. They have also said that the carbon tax is revenue-neutral. They have also said that eight out of 10 Canadians get more money back, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said is not true. He said that 60% of Canadians get less money back after they pay the carbon tax. That is what the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said about their carbon tax plan.
If the carbon tax was revenue-neutral and was an environmental plan, why was there the flip-flop last week? Why do they now say that they had to exempt home heating oil from the carbon tax as an affordability measure?
Both of those statements cannot be true. It is impossible. The carbon tax cannot be revenue-neutral and eight of out of 10 Canadians, as they falsely claim, get more money back if they have to flip-flop with what they say is a nationwide program to say, with their NDP colleagues, that they need to do this as an affordability measure. I would love to hear from the parliamentary secretary if he can square the circle that this is an affordability measure now. It is actually impossible. Everyone across Canada knows this, and 3% of Canadians now get an exemption from the carbon tax, while 97% do not.
They have said, all week, that this is a nationwide exemption. It is not true. Most of these exemptions are where the Prime Minister was getting decimated in the polls, in Atlantic Canada, and the Liberals are desperate to stop the bleeding in their polling numbers. This flip-flop had nothing to do with environmental science and everything to do with political science. I am excited to hear the answers to a few of these questions.
While I am on the topic, he is talking about the carbon tax being an environmental policy, which we all know is not true, as it is a tax policy, because, today, the environment commissioner said that, with their carbon tax as their flagship policy, they will not meet one environmental target they have made. They will not make their emissions target by 2030.
His good friend, the member for Whitby, said that Canadians will feel pain because of this carbon tax. They were exactly right. They felt the pain with zero environmental gain, and two million people in this country line up at a food bank every month. That is their record. I would love to see how the carbon tax can be an environmental plan when it is actually a tax plan, which is revenue-neutral, but they had to flip-flop to make sure it is now an affordability measure. Could he please explain that to Canadians because I cannot?
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- Nov/7/23 7:20:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am glad that the member brought up the rebate. I talk about our climate policies all the time because in Saskatchewan, we have lowered our per capita emissions more than any other province in Canada has over the last five years, with carbon capture and sequestration and new technologies. The new technologies in farming have sequestered more carbon, and we are doing a wonderful job of ensuring that we have climate sustainability in the province of Saskatchewan. With respect to a smog day in Saskatchewan, that is how out of touch the member is. What a ridiculous comment that is. We are the land of blue skies, and we have a beautiful province.
I would just like to say that the member is so incompetent. He says that people get $1,200 back, but with carbon tax 1 and carbon tax 2, the people of Saskatchewan pay $2,600 a year in carbon tax. Therefore, if he can tell me how $1,200 is more than $2,600, I would love it. I would love it if he could tell me how that math works out, but he is not very good at telling the truth in the chamber.
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- Nov/7/23 7:22:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I apologize for saying that he cannot figure out math or for being unable to square the circle of the carbon tax—
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- Nov/7/23 7:22:39 p.m.
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I apologize for the comments I made, Madam Speaker.
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