44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/1/24 2:33:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this from a government that literally wrote a cheque on taxpayer dollars to give Loblaws millions of dollars for new fridges.
I would like to correct the record. It is not families that are raising grocery prices in stores; it is the government with its carbon tax.
The principle of the carbon tax is to make everyday things in life more expensive and more punishing. The Prime Minister does not care because he never has to deal with those costs. He does not have to pay the carbon tax on his flights or put packages of beef back on the shelf.
Will he finally have some mercy on Canadian families and axe the tax?
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- Feb/1/24 2:34:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure members will agree with me that it is hard to accept criticism from Conservatives when the person responsible for running their campaign is getting paid on the side to lobby to government Loblaws, the giant grocery chain, which is causing families to pay so much more for groceries than they were previously.
On this side of the House, we are going to put measures on the table that are going to help families put food on the table.
The Conservatives will align themselves with big grocery chains. We are going to do everything we can to make life more affordable.
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- Feb/1/24 2:35:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today the Conservatives tabled a motion asking the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition to cancel its plans to increase the carbon tax on April 1.
After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, and farmers' tax bills prove that. The numbers are staggering.
Prairie Gold Produce in southern Alberta is paying $1,500 in carbon taxes every single day. That is unsustainable. It has no option but to pass that onto consumers.
Will the Prime Minister finally axe his plan to increase the carbon tax on April 1 and make food and farming more affordable?
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- Feb/1/24 2:35:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the impacts of climate change on our agricultural sector are incredible, which is why we have put in place measures to help our farmers diminish their greenhouse gas emissions.
Let us talk about how much the farmers in the ridings of our colleagues have received: in the riding of the member for Carleton, $2.4 million; in the riding of the member for Dufferin—Caledon, $3.7 million; in the riding of the member for Haldimand—Norfolk, $22 million.
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- Feb/1/24 2:36:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the environment minister is struggling to find some positive numbers.
I will tell him the number. When the Liberals quadruple the carbon tax, it will cost Canadian farmers $1 billion a year. That does not include the GST, also $1 billion, that the Liberals are charging on top of the carbon tax. Higher carbon taxes and more GST will mean higher food costs for Canadians.
When two million Canadians rely on a food bank every single month, the Prime Minister is clearly not worth the cost. How many Canadians need to rely on a food bank before the Prime Minister cancels his plan to increase the carbon tax on April 1?
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- Feb/1/24 2:37:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that Conservative members of Parliament should stop misleading Canadians.
The carbon price is a thoughtful approach that addresses climate change and affordability. Eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back. The Leader of the Opposition's plan to address the climate issue is to take rebates—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/1/24 2:37:38 p.m.
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Colleagues, some members are having great difficulty hearing the response over the furor. I ask members to allow the answer to be given, so that all members can understand what is being said.
The hon. minister, from the top.
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- Feb/1/24 2:38:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would just say that the Conservative Party needs to stop misleading people.
The carbon price is an appropriate and thoughtful way to address climate change in a manner that actually addresses affordability. Eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back. The Leader of the Conservative Party's plan to address climate change is to take rebates away from Canadian families. It is to let the planet burn. It is to actually ensure that Canada's economic competitiveness will be eroded going forward. He should be ashamed of his thoughtless policy on climate change and the Canadian economy.
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- Feb/1/24 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Liberals should be ashamed of is the fact that, after eight years of this Prime Minister, food banks are stretched to the limit because too many Canadians can no longer afford to put food on the table. Things are only going to get worse on April 1 because the Prime Minister is going to further impoverish families with a new carbon tax hike. We can also count on the Bloc Québécois to support that new tax hike because the Bloc Québécois wants to drastically increase the carbon tax.
Rather than carrying out the Bloc Québécois's political will, which will punish families, will the Prime Minister give Canadians a break instead of a bill to pay on April 1?
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- Feb/1/24 2:39:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, we are here to support the agricultural industry in the energy transition so that it can produce the food that Canadians need while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
In our colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent's riding, farmers received over $5 million to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and farmers in the riding of Portneuf—Jacques‑Cartier received $1.2 million. We gave farmers across the country $1.5 billion.
What has the Conservative Party done? It voted against all of these measures to support the agricultural industry.
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- Feb/1/24 2:40:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always vote against. These taxes will drive up the price of food and make it impossible for Canadians to feed themselves. They will force two million Canadians to use food banks every month. Of course we will vote against these measures.
I highly doubt the Prime Minister visited a food bank during his $84,000 one-week trip to Jamaica. Surely he has seen how many Canadians go to food banks because they can no longer afford to put food on the table.
Will the Prime Minister cut taxes so that families do not have to cut back on the amount of food they put on the table, yes or no?
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- Feb/1/24 2:40:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite says that he will vote against. I am going to talk about what the Conservatives voted against.
They voted against the climate action fund to support sustainable agriculture. Last month, they voted against the dairy innovation and investment fund and funding to help supply-managed dairy, poultry and egg producers. That is what they have voted against.
What do they vote for? We are not sure, but it is certainly not for farmers.
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- Feb/1/24 2:41:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers have spent $470 million on asylum seekers. Rather than reimbursing them, the minister is instead announcing $100 million for temporary accommodation for future claimants.
That is fine if it means lower accommodation costs in the future, but he has yet to reimburse the costs that have been piling up since 2021. It is as though the minister has not paid his rent for two years and now he is showing up with part of his February rent, saying we are even. Most people would kick out a roommate like that pretty quick.
When will he pay Quebeckers back?
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- Feb/1/24 2:42:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can hear the members laughing, but yesterday in the House, the leader of the Bloc Québécois compared immigrants to heat pumps. Then, during my announcement of more than $300 million to help house refugees, he was talking about social housing. They are not taking this seriously. It is an issue that needs to be taken seriously.
We are not negotiating with the federal member for Beloeil—Chambly, the leader of the Bloc Québécois. We are negotiating with a serious government, the Quebec government.
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- Feb/1/24 2:42:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if he cannot bring himself to answer questions in the House of Commons, he might as well stop coming.
There is nothing there to reimburse Quebeckers for taking in asylum seekers over the past two years; there is nothing for education, nothing for francization, nothing for health, nothing for last resort assistance, nothing for sharing intake among the provinces, nothing for reinstating visas for Mexicans, nothing for supporting our overwhelmed community organizations, nothing to speed up the file processing for asylum seekers, and nothing for work permits. That is supposed to be his job.
When it comes right down to it, what tangible difference does that announcement make to Quebeckers?
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- Feb/1/24 2:43:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as people heard yesterday, we are providing the money. Quebec has done more than its share, and we applaud its efforts.
There is still work to be done to speed up the work permit process, and we are doing that. We are working with Quebec to speed up the process so that asylum seekers can work in the health care sector.
That is very important, but the starting point is working collaboratively with the Government of Quebec.
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- Feb/1/24 2:43:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about math. Quebec takes in 45% of all asylum seekers in Canada but receives just under 28% of new investments in temporary housing. Quebec continues to contribute far more than its share of the effort and continues to receive far less than the financial share it deserves. This is one more injustice on top of a bunch of others.
Frankly, at this point, does the minister realize that we Quebeckers are starting to feel like we are being laughed at?
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- Feb/1/24 2:44:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is not doing anything. Apart from asking questions in the House, Bloc members are doing absolutely nothing while the minister works, collaborates and holds discussions with Quebec.
We started by contributing $50 million. That is a huge amount. Next we paid close to $70 million, and yesterday, $100 million. That is a lot of money. The Bloc should not ridicule these financial efforts. We commend the Quebec government for the enormous amount of work it has done. We applaud the work done by the Government of Canada, which has been also enormous.
We will continue to work collaboratively despite what the Bloc wants, which is bickering. There are no quarrels here. We are working together.
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- Feb/1/24 2:44:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are having a tough time. Two million of them are relying on food banks to feed their families. Meanwhile, the out-of-touch Prime Minister wants to increase the carbon tax again on April 1. Together with their partners in the Bloc Québécois, the Liberals keep making matters worse for Canadians with their so-called environmental plan, which in reality is just a tax plan.
Will the Prime Minister use some common sense for once and cancel the April 1 tax increase?
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- Feb/1/24 2:45:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Conservative Party does not seem to realize is that farmers are among the first to be affected by the impacts of climate change.
Look at the droughts in the Prairies. Alberta thinks it may need to ration potable water this summer for all residents and for farms. What is the Conservative Party doing while this is happening? It is saying that climate change is not a problem and that we can just let the planet burn.
Our plan is working. We have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of more than 30 million tonnes, and it is certainly not thanks to the Conservatives. We will continue to be there to fight climate change and work with our farmers.
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