44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 19, 2024 10:00AM
- Mar/19/24 10:27:28 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is funny that the hon. member is the one who has to twist, turn and pretzel.
We have to hold up the rebate in just the right light, maybe on the second full moon of the month, and if we have it at the right angle, we might find where someone is better off. This is not my opinion. This is from the independent budget watchdog.
I can tell all my colleagues participating in the debate today that the Liberals are going to do this all day. They are going to start talking about only the direct costs of the carbon tax, but we know all the experts' analyses have concluded when we factor in all the costs, that retailers have to raise their prices, that shippers have to raise their prices, that producers have to raise their prices and that companies have to pay out lower wages because they are paying a higher share of the carbon tax. When that is all factored in, Canadians are worse off.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown that 60% of Canadians pay far more than they get back. The fifth quintile, the fourth quintile and the third quintile of middle income-earning groups are hundreds of dollars worse off, even after the rebate program is factored in.
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- Mar/19/24 10:44:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for us, today really feels like Groundhog Day.
It seems like every time there is a Conservative opposition day, it is always about the carbon tax. There are plenty of momentous issues we could be talking about this morning, but we are still talking about the carbon tax. It is so ridiculous.
My Conservative friends and colleagues often talk about the government's inflationary spending. According to the International Monetary Fund, in 2022, the government gave the oil industry $50 billion in direct and indirect spending. Keep in mind that in 2022, the five biggest oil companies made a combined $200 billion in profits. This is in addition to the fact that the Liberal budget plans to spend $80 billion on tax credits for oil companies by 2035. That is not counting the $34 billion that Trans Mountain is going to cost.
Does my colleague think that all this spending is inflationary spending, yes or no?
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- Mar/19/24 11:50:07 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would rather not be misquoted. What I was saying about the $239 per tonne is that that is what the Parliamentary Budget Officer is proposing. It is not the Bloc Québécois that is proposing it, it is the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
What he is saying is that, with the current tax, about eight in 10 Canadian households get more money back than they pay with the tax. That seems clear enough to me.
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- Mar/19/24 1:38:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am bewildered as to why my colleague across the way is fighting against the independently appointed Parliament Budget Officer, the watchdog for this place. In Newfoundland and Labrador, $1,874 is what the average household will pay this year. The rebate will be $1,497, for a net loss to each household of $377.
Is there a new math? I did not think math changed. We could go all the way back to the Greeks; it has stayed the same.
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- Mar/19/24 1:54:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is so hard to rationalize the delusion of Liberal logic and Liberal math. It is so challenging. The argument is that they are going to give a rebate. If they did not take the money, there would be no rebate. People do not have that extra money to give. For an average family in Ontario, it is going to cost just under $1,700 in carbon tax. What they are going to get back is just over $1,100. That is from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. That is math, real math, and that is the reality.
Why are the Liberals trying to gaslight Canadians? Canadians know the truth. They are the ones accessing the food banks, and they are the ones who cannot afford to live because of the Liberals.
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- Mar/19/24 2:18:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have a common‑sense plan to cut taxes, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Meanwhile, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
The Prime Minister and his carbon tax are not worth the cost after eight long years. The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirms that in every single province, Canadians pay far more in taxes than they get back in rebates on a tax that will go up 23%.
Today, common-sense Conservatives are calling for the Prime Minister to grant his caucus a free vote on our motion to spike the hike.
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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 2:28:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after decades of Liberal and Conservative failure, indigenous communities continue to live in overcrowded homes that are in desperate need of repair. The Liberals promised to take a major step toward improving this by 2030, but today's Auditor General report makes it clear that the Liberals will break yet another promise to indigenous people.
Will the Liberal government stop spending millions of dollars on private consultants and make this serious issue a priority in the upcoming budget?
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- Mar/19/24 4:03:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my Conservative colleague, and he made no mention of what the Parliamentary Budget Officer clearly said. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the price on pollution puts money back in the pockets of middle‑class families and the least fortunate. What is more, 80% of the people who pay the tax receive more in compensation than they pay in carbon tax. The tax does not apply in all provinces.
Obviously, the Conservative Party is not saying that. If my colleague is so concerned about the cost of living for people, why did he and his party vote against removing the GST from heating costs? Why did he vote against dental care for seniors? Why did he vote against a school nutrition program for children?
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- Mar/19/24 4:04:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the cost of living is currently on the rise across the country because the NDP has supported so many of the Liberal government's policies.
I do not think he heard what I was saying before, which is that there are families in this country who are paying more in the carbon tax than what they are getting back. According to the data from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in Ontario, the province that I live in, the fiscal and economic net impact on a family is $1,820. I have no reason to not believe the Parliamentary Budget Officer; he is an independent officer of Parliament whose job is to assess this data and give us the information according to the data he assesses. This means the family is paying more than it is getting back in the carbon tax.
The fact is that there are premiers in this country who are now calling on the government to stop the carbon tax, to axe the tax on April 1. They are listening to their constituents, as I am doing, and 81% of my constituents have told me that they do not want this carbon tax to occur. They certainly do not want to pay for future increases that are going to happen under the Liberal government's plan.
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Mr. Speaker, all day long today we have heard that people get more back in the carbon tax than they pay, which is categorically false, as proven by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Conservatives know common sense. If one does not take the tax in the first place, one will not have to give back anything to Canadians.
With respect to Bill C-234, and I am wondering whether my colleague could comment on this, we hear from the Liberals all day long that it is Conservatives who refuse to bring the bill back up for debate. We have brought the bill up six times, and I have had the opportunity to speak to this very important piece of legislation that would give farmers a reprieve from the carbon tax. Taxing farmers and making their inputs more expensive would pass costs along to consumers.
I am just wondering whether my colleague could comment on Bill C-234 and why we need to get the bill passed in its original form.
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- Mar/19/24 5:02:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as to experts, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says the average Ontario family, where the member's riding is, will pay $1,363 for their carbon tax and only get $885 back. That means that, by 2030, a family in his riding will pay a whopping $1,800 for their carbon tax. Eighteen hundred dollars contributes a lot to a family of four. It is not a minimal amount.
It is time to axe the tax and spike the hike.
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