SoVote

Mr. Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)

Feb/1/24 12:20:56 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I will take the liberty of asking my colleague, the member for Timmins—James Bay, who is also my neighbour, about a climate change issue that directly affects his riding, as well as mine. I am talking about the forest fires we have seen happening. He talked about this when he discussed the impact on farmers. The carbon tax has a very small impact, we agree on that. However, I am wondering how we can actually help our farmers. I would have liked to hear more about that today. There are problems caused by drought, which I am sure has been an issue in his riding, as it has in mine. There is also the winter freeze, which must have affected his riding, since it affected our region. This has an impact on hay and all the other seedlings that are failing to grow. The AgriStability and AgriInvest programs have not been rolled out in our region. What were the consequences for the member's riding? Has the federal government stepped up to help the farmers he represents? I would like to hear my colleague's comments on this.

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Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24

Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)

Feb/1/24 12:36:11 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, that was an interesting speech from the member. I would like to congratulate him on the birth of a child. I think that is an important thing. First of all, I want to say how much I love rain. I am lucky to like rain because I live in a rain forest. Right now, in my riding, we are in a moderate to severe drought across that area. At the same time, we are seeing extreme storms and rain in our area that are washing away so much because we do not have the normal amount of water being absorbed into the land. We are seeing forest fires in my area, and we have never seen that before. Therefore, I feel so confused that Conservatives continue to mislead, especially British Columbians, who do not pay any federal pricing, that somehow their plan is going to work. Can the member tell us what their environmental plan is?

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Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24

Mr. Branden Leslie

Feb/1/24 12:37:08 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the kind wishes on the birth of my daughter. As a farm kid, I am well aware because we have been dealing with a number of droughts and floods for decades, but obviously there is some concern regarding the frequency of those. That is why I think it is important that we rely on technology and not taxes. I will use the case of agriculture as an example, in which we can use genetic improvements to improve drought and moisture resistance. The reality is that punishing Canadians with this punitive carbon tax is not going to do anything to stop the pollution coming out of major economies such as China and India, which are a bigger cause of this. Driving Canadians into poverty is not going to help—

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Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24

Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)

Feb/1/24 7:32:59 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I believe in Canada. It is nice to stand up here and talk about how I believe that Canada is greater than the sum of its parts. One of its parts, my home province of Alberta, is such an important part of our Confederation. It provides so much food, not just to Canada but to the world. It provides energy, not just to Canada but to the world. Sometimes I feel like my province is forgotten in some of the discussions we have here. One of the areas that is very near and dear to my heart but also very near and dear to the economy, not just of Alberta but to the entire country, is water. Right now, Alberta is looking at planning for a period of drought and trying to figure out how we provide that food and energy, contribute to Canada's economy, global food security and global energy security, and also deal with the potential of a very large water shortage. This should be an important part of Canada's environmental plan, yet the federal government has been not relatively silent but very silent on this very important issue. It is February. This is going to be a problem come summer. The time for the government to have a plan to deal with this and to partner with my province is now. There should not be any partisan politics to this. The federal government should be actively seeking to help my province and come up with a way to support and plan for what is clearly going to be a large problem that affects the entire country. Now, in February, before we deal with the outcome of this issue, my question to the government is simple. What is it doing to assist the Province of Alberta, farmers, residents and industry in dealing with this drought situation?

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Context: House Hansard - 273 - Feb/1/24

Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner

Feb/1/24 7:38:59 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I did not get an answer to my question. This is the parliamentary secretary with responsibility for energy. Canadian energy production could be severely impacted by water restrictions and the drought in Alberta, so my colleague opposite should be able to provide some response to this. It is not just energy, though. Average Albertans may be facing water restrictions several short months from now, and one of the most critical agricultural areas in the country may be facing severe water restrictions, so I will ask my colleague again whether the government is at least willing, as we do not have a lot of runway with only a bit of time, to immediately partner with the provincial government, farmers, energy producers and average Albertans to come up with a plan to help Alberta get through this time successfully. This would be not just for the benefit of Alberta, but for all of Canada.

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