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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 278

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 8, 2024 10:00AM
  • Feb/8/24 10:14:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today. The first petition calls on the Liberal government to not involve itself in decisions that should be made by parents and by provinces. It identifies the fact that the Liberal government sought to interfere in New Brunswick's policy in this regard and, more recently, in policy decisions in Alberta. Petitioners note as well the statements of the Conservative leader calling on the government to not interfere in decisions that should be made by provinces and by parents, further noting that parents care about the well-being of their children and love them more than any state-run institution. The role of government is to support families and to respect parents, not to dictate to them how decisions should be made for their children.
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  • Feb/8/24 1:37:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will try to speak in French, but it is hard for me. I am sorry. In Alberta, more specifically in Edmonton Strathcona, we have a fast-growing francophone community. In fact, Edmonton's French quarter is in my riding and the people there add so much to the city. Does the member not think that we should focus on the objective of francophone immigration and adequate resources instead of targeting immigration levels?
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  • Feb/8/24 2:06:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the late Norman Kwong of Calgary will again make history next week when he is celebrated with his own Heritage Minute. A 60-second snapshot of his life will be thrust onto TV screens from coast to coast, injecting culturally historic education into an entertainment segment. Normie was the hard-working son of Chinese immigrants who had settled in Calgary and ran a grocery store in the early 1900s. He joined the Calgary Stampeders Football Club in 1948, just a year after the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed, and he became the first player in the CFL of Chinese descent. He won four Grey Cups in his 12-year career. He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame. He was named to the Order of Canada and recognized with the Alberta Order of Excellence. He helped bring the Flames to Calgary and is one of five people with their name on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup. In 2005, he broke another barrier and became the first Alberta Lieutenant Governor of Chinese descent. That is a lot to fit into a minute.
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  • Feb/8/24 6:17:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will return the compliment and say I find the member to be quite a reasonable individual, too. When it comes to our energy future, I would refer the member to the recent report of the International Energy Agency, which stated that global demand for oil and gas will continue in some form for decades, but overall demand for oil and gas will peak in this decade. At the same time, the deployment rate of renewables and uptake of electric vehicles are soaring. To the member's original question, the Prime Minister responded by affirming that Canada will continue to push forward to meet our net-zero targets, including our commitment at COP28 to lower the production emissions and consumption of fossil fuels over the coming decades. Part of that includes the proposed cap on oil and gas sector pollution in December. It was another step in our commitment to creating pollution caps on emissions that are both ambitious and achievable. The emissions cap is one that will ensure that the economic well-being of Alberta's energy sector does not come at the expense of our environment, by incentivizing investments in decarbonization, technological innovation and efficiency. Canada is the first major oil- and gas-producing country in the world to have done this. Allow me to quote Dr. Robb Barnes from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, who said, “This announcement marks a significant turning point. Canada is the first major fossil fuel-producing country to commit to capping emissions from oil and gas production. We recognize the Canadian government's leadership on this and urge other countries to follow.” In addition to the cap on emissions from this sector, we are also supporting energy producers in driving down methane emissions by at least 75% through world-leading environmental standards. Despite fearmongering from the Conservatives in this House, 12 major companies said that, thanks to this regulation, they would nearly eliminate methane emissions by 2030. That is incredibly encouraging news for the climate and for the workers in these competitive industries. We know that the responsible path forward is to invest in decarbonization and clean energy development to ensure that workers have a bright future and communities have clean air. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party's plan is to let the planet burn. Their plan is to axe environmental protections, axe job-creating projects and put moratoriums on renewable energy projects, as they have already done in Alberta and are trying to do in Atlantic Canada. While the Conservatives block vital legislation like the sustainable jobs act and our offshore wind bill, Bill C-49, Liberals are working hard to ensure that communities across this country benefit from the opportunities presented by a low-carbon future. The Liberal plan has delivered over $200 billion of investment into clean energy and the clean economy, helping to create thousands of sustainable jobs for workers today and in future generations.
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