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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 291

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 19, 2024 10:00AM
  • Mar/19/24 2:17:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is exciting news that tax season is here. When Canadians file their taxes, they will receive the Canada carbon rebate. In the provinces where it applies, such as my home province of Ontario, the Canada carbon rebate will put even more money back in the pockets of most Canadians than they pay into the carbon pricing system. Affordability is top of mind in everything our federal government does. With the Canada carbon rebate, we are directly putting money into the bank accounts of Canadian families. Families are counting on these cheques, especially low- and middle-income Canadians, who need it the most. Unfortunately, Conservative MPs want to cut these rebates, which low- and middle-income Canadians rely on, but we will not let them. Canadian families can count on that.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:20:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a family of four in Nova Scotia gets about $824 back in a year for the price on pollution. The Canadian carbon rebate delivers more money into the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians right across the country. The Leader of the Opposition wants to take away those Canada carbon rebate cheques from Canadian families, where eight out of 10 families do better even with the price on pollution. It is a way of fighting climate change, building a safer and more prosperous future and putting more money back into the pockets of Canadians, which is something he wants to take away.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:21:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, the Leader of the Opposition wants to take away the Canada carbon rebate cheques that land in Nova Scotians' mailboxes and in the pockets of families right across the country where the price on pollution is in place, because eight out of 10 of them do better with the price on pollution and the Canada carbon rebate. He wants to take those cheques away from Canadians, and he wants to do far less to fight against the climate change impacts that Canadians are feeling from coast to coast to coast. He has no plan for the future and no money for Canadians.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:22:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, families in Ontario are facing higher prices for groceries and higher costs for rent, and we are delivering a Canada carbon rebate that leaves them better off. Eight out of 10 Canadian families across the country have more money in their pockets with the Canada carbon rebate than the price on pollution costs them. At the same time, the price on pollution is bringing down carbon emissions, preparing a cleaner economy for the future and putting more money back in Canadians' pockets. The Conservatives want to take away the Canada carbon rebate cheques. We are going to continue to support families on affordability and fighting climate change.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:23:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is right from the Parliamentary Budget Officer's numbers. He says $1,674 is the cost to the average Ontario family, and the rebate is only $1,047, so Ontarians are paying more than they get back, just like British Columbians, whose NDP government is administering the federally mandated carbon tax. According to the Vancouver Sun today, the budget presented by the NDP in that province says the carbon tax will raise $9 billion over three years and pay back only $3 billion. That is a nearly $6-billion net carbon tax cost. Will he allow B.C. MPs a free vote?
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  • Mar/19/24 2:30:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the April Fool's Day carbon tax hike of 23% will hit Nova Scotians especially hard. The Prime Minister's tax will cost $1,500 for the average Nova Scotia family, far more than they get back in rebates. That is why Nova Scotia's assembly passed a unanimous motion, with all three parties supporting it, calling for federal MPs from that province to vote with Conservatives to spike the hike. One of those is the MP from Kings—Hants, the chair of the agriculture committee, which has been studying the carbon tax pain for farmers. The question is for the chair of the agriculture committee. Will he vote with us to spike the hike? Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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  • Mar/19/24 2:33:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that parliamentary censorship proves everything one needs to know about this and everything else in the government. I asked a question of the member for Kings—Hants, the chair of the agriculture committee, which is now studying the painful impacts of the carbon tax, and the front bench here shut him down. They told him to sit down and shut up, because they had a better mouthpiece for the PMO who would stand and speak in his stead. The question is for the member for Kings—Hants, the chair of the agriculture committee. His committee is studying how the carbon tax hurts farmers. Will he vote to spike the hike?
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  • Mar/19/24 2:33:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member has qualms about the member for Kings—Hants, I can reassure him that he is a champion for his community. He launched a petition recently to stand up to the Conservative Government of Nova Scotia for changes to the agricultural sector in his community. Every time the Conservatives ask a question about the environment, it is to find out ways they can do less. The member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke has suggested that flooding in the Ottawa River was a result of regulations that were not in place. The member for Cariboo—Prince George has suggested that climate change is not a result of industrial pollution but of more body heat from a growing population. The member for Red Deer—Lacombe visited school kids to say carbon dioxide was plant food. This—
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  • Mar/19/24 2:45:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last year in my riding, Kolk Farms, a local producer, was forced to pay $62,000 just in carbon tax on its natural gas alone. That is $62,000. What the Liberal-NDP government does not understand, because it is so out of touch, is that when Canadians go to the grocery store, they pick up that bill when they buy groceries for their families. Canadians are already struggling. Now, on April 1, they are going to face another increase of 23%. Will the Prime Minister spike the hike and axe the tax?
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  • Mar/19/24 2:46:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the member opposite of the rural top-up coming to the carbon rebate. A family of four in Alberta is going to see $2,160. A family in my riding is going to see $1,430 when they live in a rural area. My friends, we know what it is like. That is why we are there to help people with the carbon rebate. That is why we are there to help with the child care benefit. That is why we are there to help with housing. We are there to help Canadians in rural areas as well.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:51:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be glad to tell them that I was voting non-confidence in the government that needs to be replaced. The government has caused the inflationary crisis through reckless spending, and now it is hiking the carbon tax by 23% on gas, heat and food on April 1. If Liberals really cared about Canadians, especially those who sacrifice so much in service to our country, they would listen to the well over 70% of Canadians who are demanding they get off their back and axe the tax.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:57:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “the survival of our planet is at stake. I cannot ignore this urgent climate challenge and continue to look my two sons in the eyes.” Those are the words of Premier Legault. He is proud that Quebec has its own carbon pricing system. Quebeckers are proud of that. The Conservatives want to eliminate it. We will not let them do that.
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  • Mar/19/24 2:58:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, more and more Quebec families and workers may no longer be able to make ends meet because food is too expensive. Why is food too expensive? Quebec imports food from the rest of Canada. The farmers who grow that food are paying the carbon tax. Food processors are paying the carbon tax. The truckers hauling that food are paying the carbon tax. Guess who ends up paying the bill? Quebec families do. The carbon tax the “Liberal Bloc” wants to drastically increase is also costing Quebeckers dearly. When will they put an end to this madness?
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  • Mar/19/24 3:00:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are a lot of people watching at home who just cannot get over the fact that the disinformation coming from the Conservative side is now limitless. The member who just asked a question voted in favour of carbon pricing in Quebec. She voted to fight climate change. She was part of a government that was a North American leader in the fight against climate change, and now, under pressure from her climate-change-denying leader, she is turning her back on all her principles. That is unacceptable.
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  • Mar/19/24 3:01:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, inflation has already reached devastating levels, resulting in the highest cost of living in 40 years. Can members believe that some Canadians are currently unable to put food on the table? That is shameful, and the Bloc Québécois is proudly supporting a 23% carbon tax increase. It already costs too much to put food on the table, but it is even more costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. Will the government show some compassion and cancel the new carbon tax hike planned for April 1?
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  • Mar/19/24 3:06:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not just small businesses that have been betrayed by the government on the carbon tax. First nations and Métis communities are owed over a billion dollars in promised rebates. In what seems like a sick April Fool's Day joke, remote and rural communities will see the cost of the carbon tax increase by 23% on April 1. This means higher costs to operate schools, band offices and businesses. I will ask again: When will the government spike the hike, axe the tax and give remote, rural, indigenous and Métis communities their money back?
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  • Mar/19/24 3:30:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two years ago this week, the member for Davenport stated that the carbon tax was 100% revenue neutral for the government, yet Finance Canada in the public accounts stated that $670 million from last year alone was kept by the government and not redistributed. In fact, the public accounts actually said a couple of years ago that $100 million was kept for government programming. I wonder if the member would like to correct her statement from two years ago and come forward with the real facts on what the carbon tax is, which is not revenue neutral.
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  • Mar/19/24 3:31:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, climate change is real. We have to take as many steps as possible to move to a low-carbon future and a low-carbon economy. The most efficient and affordable way for us to do is to put a price on pollution, which is also known as a carbon tax. We, as a government, are not keeping any of the money. We are directly giving it back to Canadians, to small businesses and to farmers. That is what we are doing.
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  • Mar/19/24 3:34:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged by that response from the member for Davenport. I hope she will continue to advocate for the government to fund the Canada disability benefit in budget 2024. With respect to this motion and the speech we heard, I am encouraged that she knows the impacts of the climate crisis, but I am discouraged to hear about carbon capture being called a “responsible” investment. She and others need to know that it is completely irresponsible. It is a new way of subsidizing the oil and gas industry to the tune of billions of dollars, and more often than not, it actually emits more carbon than it extracts. Will she commit to doing more research on carbon capture and having good conversations, which I know she has on many other topics in the House, to investigate the real solutions to the climate crisis, recognizing that carbon capture is not one of them?
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  • Mar/19/24 3:46:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us imagine that we are living in a parallel world and that the carbon tax, which Quebec and British Columbia do not pay, has been cancelled. What would the impact be on Canada's international relations and on the markets? Also, who would suffer the consequences? Would it be the poorest or the richest, such as the oil companies, who would benefit the most from abolishing the carbon tax?
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