44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/9/24 11:34:52 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, farmers are the first to be impacted by climate change, and we need to support them and their transition to greener fuels, as the member said. However, we have already done many of those things by exempting gas and diesel for farm use from pollution pricing. We have created a rural top-up for rebates, and we have returned over $120 million to farmers just in 2023 thanks to carbon pricing proceeds.
Today is the warmest January day on record, and last year was the warmest year on record. Wheat yields are down. Climate change is having an impact through droughts and floods. There is a variety of ways that climate change is affecting food prices, but we will never hear that from the Conservative Party of Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are determined to increase the price of food, with the environment minister making it his personal mission to kill Bill C-234. He admitted to lobbying six senators to gut the bill, and he promised to reveal those names. After 49 days, he gave the names of three, not six, senators. While I know the Liberals are not good at math, it is clear he provided misleading information, so this week I invited the Minister of Environment to our committee to explain himself, but the NDP-Liberal coalition shut it down because it does not want the truth.
Let me ask it here: Why is the environment minister going to such great lengths to hide the names of the senators he personally lobbied to gut Bill C-234?
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- Feb/9/24 11:36:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a little rich hearing this from the Conservative Party members, when Conservative senators sit in their caucus and one of those senators was accused of bullying to the point where independent senators were afraid to go home at night. Shame on the Conservative Party for bullying those senators. It is absolutely shameful that any member of government should fear for their safety as a result of that party.
I will say it again: Carbon pricing is not to blame for Canada's affordability challenges. We are serious about helping Canadians afford their grocery bills. Fighting climate change policy is not the way.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals love to try to distract their way out of this, but this is not Monopoly. There are no more “get out of jail free” cards for the environment minister. The price of food is at record levels, and the NDP government just does not care.
Just this week, Sylvain Charlebois, Canada's leading food expert, called on the Liberals to suspend the carbon tax on the entire food industry. Instead, the cover-up coalition plans to increase the carbon tax by 23% on April 1.
Bill C-234 would provide relief for farmers and Canadian consumers, yet the radical environment minister told senators to gut it.
My question is simple: Which senators did he call and how did they vote on Bill C-234?
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- Feb/9/24 11:37:33 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is obvious to us, and I hope it is obvious to Canadians, that what they are talking about is nonsense. Sylvain Charlebois is working with us in order to make sure we take the right steps to bring stability to prices of food in Canada. The first thing that was asked from us was to reform competition. That is what we have done through a landmark bill we passed in December, and we are going to do more. Now we have subpoena power for the Competition Bureau. We removed the restrictive covenant in leases.
We are going to fight for consumers every step of the way, and we have nothing to learn from these guys.
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- Feb/9/24 11:38:11 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been a year since the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying recommended allowing advance requests. That was what the vast majority of the committee members wanted. We need to allow advance requests for people who are suffering from conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's.
The federal government has been dragging its feet for a year on implementing the committee's strongest recommendation. Why?
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- Feb/9/24 11:38:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we recognize Quebec's leadership in the medical assistance in dying file, which is extremely important for the Government of Quebec and Quebeckers, as well as for the Government of Canada and all Canadians.
What Quebec is asking for deserves consideration. The legal mechanism it is proposing seems extremely difficult, if not impossible, to implement. However, that does not prevent us from continuing to consider and discuss it with Quebec and all of the provinces and territories of Canada.
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- Feb/9/24 11:39:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, medical assistance in dying is a matter of freedom of choice. The Liberals should understand that.
The role of the state is to guarantee the conditions for exercising a free and informed choice. Those who do not want medical assistance in dying do not need to apply for it. It is as simple as that. The National Assembly is unanimous. Quebec is ready. It has its own legislation.
Will the federal government amend the Criminal Code to allow advance requests for people who are suffering?
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- Feb/9/24 11:39:52 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are obviously sensitive to all issues around medical assistance in dying.
I would reiterate to my colleague and all parliamentarians that we have a very interesting bill that is being studied in the House. There is a deadline, March 17, to suspend certain things. It reflects a broad consensus within the joint committee of this Parliament. I encourage my colleague to be sensitive to the advance directives but also to act now, in light of our deadline.
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- Feb/9/24 11:40:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, the Prime Minister and his carbon tax are not worth the cost. That is because, when we tax the farmer who grows the food, the trucker who trucks the food and the grocer who refrigerates the food, all those carbon taxes get passed on to consumers. Now the Prime Minister wants to increase the carbon tax another 23% on April 1.
When will the Prime Minister give Canadians a break and cancel his inflationary carbon tax?
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- Feb/9/24 11:41:11 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised an important point. He would know very well, if he was at the agriculture committee this week, that there is no evidence to suggest that carbon pricing is increasing the price of food. The evidence shows that climate change has an impact on the price of food.
When the leader of the official opposition goes around Canada, the only thing he wants to axe is the agriculture budget on the backs of farmers.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of groceries. A University of Saskatchewan study said that Canadian farmers have at least 60% fewer emissions than the average of the world. I attended an irrigation conference this week with hundreds of farmers, such as Rob, who told me it costs him tens of thousands of dollars in the carbon tax to operate his irrigation. There is no rebate, and they all want it gone.
When will the NDP-Liberals give farmers and families a break, pass Bill C-234 and axe the tax?
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- Feb/9/24 11:42:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, slogans will not help farmers. On this side of the House, we have always believed that supporting farmers is important, and that is why we have invested 25% more in the agricultural budget. This is something that the leader of the official opposition cut while he was sitting at the cabinet table.
Maybe the hon. member should have a conversation with the leader of the official opposition, because I have not yet seen an agricultural policy from the Conservative Party of Canada.
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- Feb/9/24 11:42:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Kelowna is in housing hell. Rents have doubled and mortgage payments have tripled. Tent cities and long lineups at food banks are now commonplace. The housing minister touts investing millions in Kelowna through his housing accelerator fund, or HAF.
Can the minister please share specifically how many homes in Kelowna, funded by last October's announcement, will start construction this year, or has he been too preoccupied with polls, press releases and photo ops to the point where he is too clever by HAF?
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- Feb/9/24 11:43:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member will come with me to 651 Cambridge Avenue in Kelowna to see a 75-unit construction. There has been $4.6 million invested in the city of Kelowna, which he voted against.
We are getting housing built in this country. Time and time again, the Conservatives pretend, during this hour of the day in question period, to care about housing, but when it comes to voting on funding, they are absent. They vote against funding, and they have promised that, when they form government, they will cut all funds and raise taxes on builders.
We are going to get the job done. We are serious about housing.
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- Feb/9/24 11:43:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they cannot give a number because they did not require it.
Kelowna's HAF action plan only refers to “investments in affordable housing such as land acquisition, investments in housing-related infrastructure such as sewer and water, and investments in community-related infrastructure that supports housing such as sidewalks, bridges and bike lanes”.
Does the parliamentary secretary understand that this joke of a program funds sewers and bike lanes, but does not require the construction of a single home? Is he comfortable with the fact that the only housing from this $30 million might be a bridge for someone to sleep under?
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- Feb/9/24 11:44:32 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to get up to talk again about Kelowna, which is getting $31.5 million for 20,000 homes over the next 10 years. How did the member vote? He voted against it. Time and time again, the Conservatives stand in this place and vote against getting housing built in this country. We know there is a supply crisis in this country on housing. The Conservatives do not want to build a single house. It is unfortunate how unserious they are about this crisis.
We are ready to get the job done; we are getting the job done.
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- Feb/9/24 11:45:19 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in just two days, Belleville has seen 23 drug poisonings. It has declared a state of emergency. The mayor says that emergency services and funding are stretched too thin. The toxic drug crisis keeps getting worse, while the Liberals take a patchwork approach. Then there are Conservatives, who spread harmful disinformation instead of offering real solutions. There are 42,000 people who have died since 2016. We need a coordinated, compassionate and integrated response.
When will the minister finally declare the toxic drug crisis a national public health emergency?
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- Feb/9/24 11:45:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, our hearts go out to the people of Belleville impacted by this crisis and their loved ones. We agree with the mayor that this is horrible. The Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has spoken with Mayor Ellis to discuss how we can work together alongside the Government of Ontario, guided by our compassionate and comprehensive approach. People who use substances, their families and their communities need us to use every tool at our disposal.
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- Feb/9/24 11:46:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a year ago, a tailings pond at Imperial Oil's Kearl site in northern Alberta overflowed. It spilled 5.3 million litres of cancer-causing toxins into the environment. Even worse, it was shown that the pond had been leaking for years and is still leaking. Both Imperial Oil and the Alberta Energy Regulator knew, but they did not tell the community.
What has the government done to hold Imperial Oil or the AER accountable for this disaster? It has done nothing. When will the minister do his job and make sure the land and water that Albertans depend upon is finally protected?
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