44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 28, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/28/23 6:33:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this very important issue.
I first have to, unfortunately, correct the record on a couple of things. Back in 2015, Canada was trending to exceed 2005 emission levels by 10%, but by 2030, we will have effectively bent the emissions curve. We had a lot of work to do, since the previous Conservative government under Stephen Harper completely ignored climate change and denied that the existential threat of climate change even existed.
I again have to correct the record. Our plan is working, and experts have indicated that up to one-third of current reductions are a result of carbon pricing. I would remind the member that, in the last election, in 2021, when the Conservative leader was Erin O'Toole, all Conservatives ran on a plan to price carbon. It was this sort of Zellers green catalogue where one could choose some green products, perhaps. It was also affectionately titled “The more you burn, the more you earn” by experts. It was not likely to achieve very good results, but our plan has achieved results. We have an 8% or 9% reduction already since 2005. That curve has required some time and effort to bend since 2015, but we are on track to reduce our emissions by 34% by 2035.
I agree that we need to do more to reach Canada's ambitious 40% reduction target, but not by just repeating slogans in the House of Commons. It might be fun to say “axe the tax”, because it rhymes and fits well on a T-shirt or a bumper sticker, but it is not an environmental plan. It will not do anything to reduce emissions in this country. I would urge the member and all Conservatives, if they have really good ideas for how to fight climate change and lower emissions, to bring them to the House, because that is what these longer debates are all about. Unfortunately, we are still debating whether we should fight climate change rather than how to fight it.
As I said, we have more work to do. We have to be more ambitious. The environment commissioner said that we are moving in the right direction, perhaps just not fast enough. A 34% reduction by 2035 is not enough. We need to reduce our emissions by 40%, and our reduction target is still in sight. A price on carbon pollution is an integral part of that plan. As has been said over and over again, up to a third of our carbon pricing to date is responsible for our reductions. Let us also not forget that our plan, unlike the Conservatives' Zellers green catalogue, sends more money back to 80% of households that are under the backstop program with the federal government.
It is also always worth noting that provinces and territories under the federal backstop plan do not have a plan to fight climate change and lower emissions. British Columbia, Quebec and others have their own plans, which work well too. However, it is incumbent upon all provincial premiers to have a plan to fight climate change and reduce our emissions. Canadians in northern Ontario and across Canada understand the cost of inaction. It is extremely stark. If we ignore climate change entirely, by 2025, we could see a $25-billion annual slowdown in our economic growth. That is why our climate plan is not just a plan for the environment but also a plan for the economic stability of Canada's future.
A climate plan today is one of the many ways to make life more affordable for Canadians. I would again encourage my Conservative colleagues to come up with some good ideas. Canadians used to look to members such as the member of Parliament for Wellington—Halton Hills for a little climate leadership; unfortunately, it seems all that climate leadership and ambition has dried up with the Conservatives.
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- Nov/28/23 6:37:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are starting to recognize what the Conservative Party is all about. It was really highlighted last week when, en masse, they voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, using carbon pricing as a wedge against it, suggesting that it was because the agreement mentions carbon pricing. It is worth noting that the agreement does not insist that either country have a carbon pricing plan. It is also worth noting that Ukraine has been pricing carbon since 2011. This is nothing new for it.
Despite the fact that President Zelenskyy himself, the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and the Canada-United Kingdom Chamber of Commerce begged Canadian members of Parliament to vote for that agreement, Conservatives used carbon pricing as a wedge and decided to vote against it. Apparently, this “axe the tax” strategy that they have put forth over the last couple of months is more important than the rebuilding of Ukraine. Ukrainian Canadians see that and are extremely disappointed in the Conservative Party, as am I.
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- Nov/28/23 6:43:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what an absolutely out-of-touch question this is from an urban member of Parliament who clearly has no idea what it is like living in a rural part of the country.
There are lots of members in our society who live too far away from a natural gas pipeline, who still use home heating oil to heat their homes. It is not a regional thing. There are lot of people in Atlantic Canada who still use home heating oil, but there are over 150,000 Ontarians, and hundreds of people in my riding of Milton, who still use home heating oil. It continues to be the dirtiest and the most emissions-intensive way to heat homes. It is also the most expensive by far.
The market-based instrument that is used to nudge people away from certain products, like home heating oil and other emissions-intensive products, work best when there is a clear alternative. That is what we are doing, we are creating that alternative for Canadians. We are providing free heat pumps. We are working with provinces to get people off the dirtiest form of home heating in favour of an electric option.
It is really disappointing to continue to hear this from members. The Conservatives have become a one-issue party. They are really focused on carbon pricing, when they all ran on a promise to price carbon. The member talked about accountability, why we were sent here and under what pretense we were sent here. I hate to tell the member again, for the third or fourth time, but he ran on a promise to price carbon. It was in the Zellers sort of catalogue of green options, “the more you burn, the more you earn” was the byline that a lot of people gave it.
The continued insistence that this is a regional program and that carbon pricing does not work is categorically false. Our emissions are dropping in Canada. We are making great progress. We had a lot of work to do from 2015 when we got elected, because the previous Conservative government was completely oblivious to climate change. It did not believe it existed, and it did not want to lead around the world.
With this fall economic statement, released just last week, our government is taking further action to support the middle class and to lower our emissions. Our economic plan is all about building a strong economy that works for everyone, with more homes built faster and great jobs that Canadians can count on.
As we have seen the rapid rise in interest rates, they have started to really have an impact on Canadians' wallets. That has been a significant financial challenge, but tying it all to climate action and carbon pricing is not just misleading Canadians, it is also completely false.
I am glad that, last week, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance announced some new targeted measures to help stabilize some prices and make life more affordable, and protect people who have mortgages to pay. We are meeting the moment. There is an affordability challenge out there, so we are finding solutions to actually help Canadians while the Conservatives just wear their t-shirts, slap their bumper stickers on the back of their trucks, and say “Axe the tax.” That is not a climate solution. That is not an economic solution. That is not a solution for affordability.
It will not help Canadians. It certainly will not help lower- and middle-income Canadians who get more money back than the price on pollution actually costs them. It is a very well-known thing. It is not surprising to see the Conservatives always standing up for people who earn the most money. That is what they did with their universal Canada child tax benefit. They sent cheques to millionaires. It was a completely ineffective way to lower poverty.
The Conservatives have never really been that focused on lowering poverty. They are focused on supporting oil and gas companies, sending cheques out to millionaires, and taking us years back on climate action and fighting climate change.
In his rebuttal, I would just beg the member that if he is so insistent that we stop pricing carbon and he does not want to go back on the solutions that he provided in his—
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- Nov/28/23 6:48:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, allow me to say it again: The affordability challenges being faced by Canadians right now are a top concern of the government. We are putting forward real solutions to help meet the moment and make sure that they can afford things such as home heating, groceries and rent. Finding real solutions means meeting the moment and finding ways we can actually help Canadians. However, if the lowest-income Canadians are getting more back than they put in on carbon pricing, then taking it away is not a solution.
Our government's pollution pricing program is working. It is responsible for up to a third of our current emissions. Climate change is causing wildfires and natural disasters across this country. For the Conservatives to continually come back into the House, repeat their cheesy slogans, insist that is their only affordability measure and offer no solutions to fight climate change, shows they have taken quite a few steps back from when Erin O'Toole was the leader of the party and they had a plan to fight climate change. It is disappointing.
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