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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 282

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 282 - Feb/14/24
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/14/24 3:00:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does not even understand the consequences of the cuts he is proposing left, right and centre. He proposes to take away the carbon price rebate, the Canada carbon rebate, from millions of Canadian families across the country. The Canada carbon rebate is going to be there to continue to deliver more money to eight out of 10 Canadian families, in four cheques, over the course of the year. That puts cash in their pockets while we fight climate change. We are seeing a reduction in emissions that Canada is leading on. We are also moving forward on growing the economy and supporting Canadians.
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Context: House Hansard - 282 - Feb/14/24
Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)
  • Feb/14/24 7:47:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when I asked the question of the Prime Minister in November, it was very specific to the impact the carbon tax is having on the price of food. The parliamentary secretary just let something slip that runs completely contrary to the narrative the Liberals propagate on a daily basis and even the announcement they made today with their so-called carbon tax rebrand, which is this: She said that it is a feature of the carbon tax to raise prices on the things the government does not want. What does that translate to? It translates to higher costs for Canadians to be able to afford such things as groceries and other essentials at the grocery store. This relates to higher costs on the transportation of the goods we need, which are essential to our economy. It translates to higher costs for farmers and producers. The problem with the Liberal narrative on the carbon tax is that it is doing what it was designed to do, which is to raise prices; however, it does not lower emissions. That has been proven very clearly. Earlier today, I referred to a tragic example I had heard of a food bank in Flagstaff County. Lynn sent me an email. I know Lynn, and I appreciate her community volunteerism and activism. She talked about how food bank clients are lying about where they live and how many people are in their home. Why would this happen? One would think that lying is a bad thing, but they are lying out of desperation, because they are hungry. In this small-town food bank in a rural county in Alberta, because of the price of food, there are Canadians who are forced into a position where they are lying. They know that it could mean that they would be banned from the very food bank they need. It is a tragic consequence of the policies of the member, the ministers and the Prime Minister. Of course, we should not leave out of the conversation the lackeys in the NDP who are propping up the corruption, the high prices, the inflation and the carbon tax. There is a part of this conversation in addition to higher prices being a feature, not a flaw, of the carbon tax: the fact that emissions are not a part of the conversation, even though they claim, time and time again, it is, when their own numbers say that it is not. It is this: How high is it going to go? In 2015, the Liberals, the Prime Minister and many of those who were elected, ran on a platform promising that the price of the carbon tax would never be more than $50 a tonne. They said that was the maximum; it would never be any higher, and we could take that to the bank. That ended up to be the furthest thing from the truth. It was revealed not four years later that their actual plan was $170 a tonne, and they covered it up. They were not honest with Canadians. Here is the very clear question I would ask in a follow-up to the cost of living crisis that so many Canadians are facing. For more than half of Canadians, the indirect and direct costs of the carbon tax are leaving them with less money in their pockets, because the government is taking it away from them. I hope the parliamentary secretary listens and responds directly: Will the government follow the direction of certain international entities and activists that are calling on it to raise the carbon tax even higher? We hear that it could be as high as $1,000 a tonne. Do the Liberals plan for that carbon tax to go higher, which will raise the cost on everything? I would like a clear answer, please.
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