44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2023 02:00PM
- Dec/13/23 2:31:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the price on pollution is a key part of actually making things more affordable for the long term for Canadians by pushing and encouraging innovation.
Indeed, our departments reached out to the farm family of the very successful large mushroom farm in the member opposite's riding to talk about the programs we have that can move them off their dependence on fossil fuels.
We know there is work to do and we know there are investments to make, but that is how we fight climate change and build a better future. We have a plan to fight climate change. Conservatives have no plan because they do not even recognize that climate change is real.
120 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:41:28 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the price on pollution is simple: Activities that cause pollution cost a bit more. However, most Canadians get more money back than what they pay, with cheques being sent to Canadians every few months. Big industry pays more than the regular Canadian pays because industry pollutes more, and, as a result, industries have an incentive to reduce their pollution. The ideologically driven MAGA Conservatives are calling for pollution to be free again and for the government to take those regular cheques to Canadians away from them.
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:45:41 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, 97% of farm fuel emissions are exempt from the price on pollution. The average farm across this country pays a little less than $1,000 on natural gas emissions through the price on pollution. Therefore, one can only imagine how much natural gas this successful mushroom farm must be using for their cost of the price on pollution to be that large. We will happily work with the farmer to switch toward a lower-emitting approach to doing their business well and protecting future generations.
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:51:52 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the minister has already addressed this question and investigations are under way.
The work we are doing on fighting climate change is already cutting pollution while building a strong and competitive economy. While we work to advance our ambitious climate action, the Conservative Party has no plan because fighting climate change simply does not matter to it. The Conservative leader is turning his back on future generations on both the environment and the economy by refusing to commit to Canada's targets, like his mentor Stephen Harper did when he withdrew from the Kyoto accord.
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:58:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the average farm in Canada pays far less, around 1%, than what that very successful farm is paying. The reality is that 97% of farm fuel emissions are already exempt from the price on pollution. That is why we are continuing to move forward with programs and supports to encourage farms across the country, particularly very successful farms, to look at ways to reduce their emissions as they move forward into a net-zero future.
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 3:00:01 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, our government reached out and will continue to reach out to a range of farmers across the country who want to reduce their emissions, who are concerned about climate change, who want to preserve our land for future generations and who understand, unlike the MAGA Conservatives, that there is no choice anymore between protecting the environment and growing the economy.
While the Conservatives want to take us back to the Stone Age, we are going to continue to invest in supporting farms, supporting businesses and supporting Canadians, while we reduce our pollution, reduce our emissions and build a stronger future for everyone.
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 4:32:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I heard the member for Foothills indicate that the price on pollution is going to increase the cost of groceries by 34% over the next two years. Can he explain how he can substantiate that?
37 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:15:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member heard that the Governor of the Bank of Canada says that the price on pollution, or the carbon tax which is what the Conservatives like to put on bumper stickers, actually is going to cost 0.15%. That is 0.15 of 1%. That is a far cry from what the Conservative Party of Canada is trying to spread throughout the country, which is exceptionally misleading.
Canadians want a government that actually has a climate plan. Unlike the Conservative Party of Canada, most Canadians recognize that climate change is real. There is an expectation of leadership. They are seeing it with this government in terms of a number of policy points that we have annunciated in order to be able to ensure a higher sense of affordability.
If we want to talk about inflation rates overall, I will get to that point in my next question.
155 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:21:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there are close to 60 countries in the world that have a price on pollution: Canada; the whole European Union, 27 countries; Denmark; Japan; Korea; Mexico; New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; Sweden; the U.K.; many more; and Ukraine—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
46 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:22:12 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, again, there are close to 60 countries in the world that have a price on pollution. We are talking, of course, about Canada; Denmark; the whole European Union, 27 countries; Japan; Korea; Mexico; New Zealand; Norway; South Africa; Singapore; Sweden; and the U.K., and I could say many more, including Ukraine. Of course, we have trade agreements with many of these countries. We have had long-standing trade agreements. We have voted in the House, as Liberals, for a free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine.
Would the Conservatives, in their reckless and risky way, put many of our trade agreements around the world in jeopardy?
109 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:22:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, one of the countries that the member missed is the United States, where there are many states that actually have a price on pollution. I suspect that it is only going to be a question of time before the United States will, in fact, have a price on pollution, because, as I say, there are many states that currently do.
What is really important for us to recognize is that the price on pollution makes a lot of sense, as countries around the world are adopting it, including the European Union. That is one of the reasons why Ukraine has had it since 2011. One has to ask the question, why does the Conservative Party continuously vote against Ukraine, specifically the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement? It is totally amazing.
There is only one answer and that answer is that it is the MAGA right of the United States that is creeping into Canada via the office of the leader of the official opposition, who wants to be the golden boy of advertising and misleading, the Donald Trump of the north, as one of my colleagues would say.
189 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 5:41:15 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, can the hon. member comment on the fact that a business, such as a trucking company that moves food, pays a price on pollution or a carbon tax but gets a rebate, and as an input cost, it also gets to deduct that from the amount it earns as a company? Does that not, in the member's opinion, really negate the argument that somehow a price on pollution is behind high food prices today?
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
