44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/7/23 2:30:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Prime Minister's plan on home heating is cynical and divisive, but the Conservatives are no better. They are more interested in playing games than actually helping people. If they were genuine about helping people, they would support our plan to take GST off home heating for all Canadians, to help people access clean and affordable ways to heat their home and to make the big oil and gas companies pay for it.
We know that the corporate Conservatives will never stand up to big oil and gas. Will the Prime Minister support our plan to help all Canadians?
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- Nov/7/23 2:32:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question we will have to answer tomorrow is whether we want to offer a rebate to all Canadians while continuing to fight the climate crisis. The Conservatives do nothing but recite slogans, and we will see tomorrow if their CEO friends will allow them to vote to help Canadians. The Liberals just want to pit regions against each other.
Will the Prime Minister acknowledge his mistake and offer all Canadians a break on home heating?
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- Nov/7/23 4:15:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Elmwood—Transcona.
I am very happy and proud to debate our plan to save all Canadians money this winter and to fight the climate crisis. Heating our homes in Canada is essential. Canadians are already faced with the high cost of living, and looking at a cold winter, they are deeply concerned about increased costs.
For the Liberals, it seems like home heating is only an issue if their seats are at stake. For the Conservatives, it is all a political game. They are not serious about helping people. If they were, they would be supporting our plan, but the reality is they are not going to support our motion to take GST off home heating for all Canadians to help Canadians find more affordable and cleaner ways to heat their homes.
We want to take on big oil and gas, and corporate Conservatives will not stand up to big oil and gas. Establishment Liberals are so out of touch that they think they need to divide the country, and corporate Conservatives are so beholden to the big oil and gas lobby that they will not stand up for all Canadians.
If we want to take on the climate crisis, it is going to require everyone coming together. It is going to require everybody working together to make life more affordable, to create good jobs and to fight the climate crisis. However, climate-delay Liberals and climate-denying Conservatives both want to divide the country. We have climate-delay Liberals dividing the country based on who voted for them, and climate-deny Conservatives do not even believe we have a problem in the first place.
Our plan is to stand up for all Canadians. Our plan is to take the GST off home heating for all Canadians, help everyone have heating that is clean and affordable and make the big oil and gas companies pay for it. That is our plan. The challenge is this: Will the corporate Conservatives finally stand up to their CEO and big oil and gas lobbyists, or will they continue to cave in and do their bidding? Will the establishment Liberals stop dividing Canada and support our plan, which helps everyone?
If the Conservatives really want to help people instead of reciting cute little slogans, they will support our motion.
That is because our plan, unlike theirs, will lower all Quebeckers' bills. It will make it easier to get heat pumps installed, especially for those most in need. It will also make the big oil companies pay for it.
Unfortunately, we know that the Conservatives are just here to play games. It is too bad because Quebeckers deserve help too.
The leader of the Conservative Party loves his slogans, but today he has a chance to axe the GST tax on home heating. What is he going to do? He is not going to support this motion because corporate Conservatives are beholden to the big oil and gas lobby. It is very informative that the reason they are going to vote against it is that we want to help all Canadians have access to cleaner and more affordable ways to heat their homes and want big oil and gas companies to pay for it by taxing their excess record profits. The corporate Conservatives do not have the guts to stand up to their corporate masters.
Why is it the case that the corporate Conservatives are so beholden to the oil and gas lobby? It is not hard to figure out why. Half of the governing body of the Conservative Party is made up of oil and gas and other lobbyists for greedy CEOs. The governing body is made up of lobbyists who want to continue to defend the billions of dollars in profits of oil and gas and other corporate sectors rather than stand up for Canadians. That is why the Conservatives will not be voting for this motion today.
The Conservatives are very quick to cut services for Canadians and take away the services they need but are so reluctant to make the big corporations finally start paying what they owe to put money back into the pockets of Canadians and pay for the services they need. It is not surprising, because corporate Conservatives will always side with big lobbyists, big CEOs and big corporations.
Last year alone, the biggest oil and gas companies in Canada brought in $38 billion in revenue. People are struggling to heat their homes and fuel their cars while those companies rake in record profits. How is that fair? It should not be a surprise, as our system has been designed by establishment Liberals and corporate Conservatives to continue to benefit those at the very top, to the detriment and harm of working Canadians. They are going to do everything they can to protect the status quo. Last year, the establishment Liberals and the corporate Conservatives teamed up to defeat a motion we had that would have made the big oil companies pay what they owe.
The New Democrats have the backs of people. We are not backing down. We believe Ottawa should work for them, not for CEOs and not for corporate Canada. That is why today we are calling for the elimination of GST from home heating, a measure that would help all Canadians in all regions. We want to make it easier for families to have access to clean and affordable ways to heat their home, and we want to tax the excess profits of big oil and gas companies to pay for it. This plan is fair, saves all Canadians money when it comes to heating their homes and helps us continue the fight against the climate crisis.
The Speaker will find this amusing but very sad. This summer, the leader of the climate-denial Conservatives had to cancel his climate-denial tour because of climate disasters. After all the scientific evidence and the concrete and devastating impacts of the climate crisis here in Canada, how is it possible that Conservatives continue to deny this reality? It is because climate action hurts the pockets of big oil companies. It hurts their profits.
As we all know, 50% of the Conservative party's governing body is made up lobbyists for these big oil and gas companies and other corporations. The Conservatives do not want to take action on the climate crisis because it is going to hurt the profits of their corporate masters. They are not interested in helping all Canadians save money, which is what our motion would do, because it would take on their big oil and gas masters. They are just here to continue to support the oil and gas sector and other corporate sectors.
While Canadians are squeezed between Mr. Climate Delay and Mr. Climate Deny, the New Democrats are showing another option, one that unites the country, makes life more affordable and continues our fight against the climate crisis together.
Now that they are worried about losing seats, the Liberals have decided to help some Canadians deal with the cost of heating. Unfortunately, the help is going only to the seats the Liberals want to save. Climate action works when it is fair, not when it is divisive, not when the government plays favourites.
During these tough times, all Canadians deserve help paying their heating bill. If the government wants better environmental results, it needs to do even more to help people make choices that are good for their wallets and good for the planet by providing better subsidies.
That is the NDP plan: help people pay their heating bill, support them so that they make better choices for the planet, and make the big oil companies pay.
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- Nov/7/23 4:27:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what the Liberal government did was present a plan that divides our country and creates unfairness. There is no way we can fight the climate crisis and make life better for people if we pit regions against each other. We voted against that unfairness.
Let us be clear. While I absolutely agree that the climate denial of the Conservative Party hurts the efforts to protect the future for our kids and our present when we are faced with extreme weather, the climate delay of the Liberals is also harming that effort.
I want to say to Canadians that they do not have to choose between climate delay or climate denial. New Democrats have a path for supporting our country together, helping everyone save money when it comes to the cost of heating their homes this winter, helping everyone when it comes to choosing better alternatives that are cleaner and more affordable and continuing the fight to protect our planet.
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- Nov/7/23 4:29:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is very problematic that the hon. member's riding does not have access to health care or a hospital. I wonder who the provincial government is in the riding the member represents. I am pretty sure that government is in power for a second term, and it has continued to neglect the good people of York—Simcoe.
I hope the people of York—Simcoe remember that they have been let down by the provincial government when it comes to what the member is raising as a serious concern, which is not having a hospital. It is in power with a majority for a second term and it still has not addressed the problem the hon. member raised. The provincial Conservative government has a lot to answer for, but this points out what people get when they vote Conservative.
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- Nov/7/23 4:31:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I could not agree more.
It is really problematic, what our country is doing. We continue to subsidize oil and gas companies with public money. That is unacceptable. What we need to do is use that money to invest more in clean energy, in opportunities to create the economy of the future in order to create good jobs and reduce our emissions.
That is why today's motion includes the idea of making oil companies pay their fair share to fund measures that help people reduce their emissions—
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