44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 19, 2024 10:00AM
- Mar/19/24 10:43:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians agree with the common-sense Conservative consensus that is building across the country. They know it is common sense.
We cannot tax the farmer who grows the food, tax the trucker who ships the food and then tax the stores that sell the food. When they all get no rebate, they pass that cost onto the consumer. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has said the carbon tax is adding to inflation. Nobody believes this when the rebates do not even cover the first carbon tax, and it is on its way up to 61¢ a litre. We cannot add that cost to farmers, to truckers and to businesses.
Liberals even tax the big bad polluting snowplows, the private and public snowplows. They are putting a carbon tax on clearing snow in this country. They are carbon taxing everything and it is driving costs up. We cannot go and add all these costs and taxes on and just expect it to evaporate. It is driving up inflation. It is driving up the cost of doing business and the cost of living. It is just common sense.
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- Mar/19/24 11:09:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again the Conservatives are saying the quiet part out loud, which is that they deny the existence of climate change, an existential threat to humanity. They come back time and time again with slogans. I have said before that their only environmental plan is to recycle slogans in this place. They represent ridings across the country, ridings that are in drought, or that have suffered from fires, floods and hurricanes, which have been exacerbated by climate change. What do they do? They heckle, mock, and deny. They offer no plan for the future and mislead Canadians on what is actually increasing prices.
The major increase that Canadians are suffering from, especially on food, is with respect to climate change. I have asked a number of Conservative members over the course of the last couple of years to explain to me why prices for food in the United States have increased at the same rate they have increased in Canada. They have increased at the same rate, even though there is not a national price on pollution in the United States.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
Mr. Chris Bittle: Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are still heckling me. They cannot even accept the evidence before them that it is climate change. They cannot accept it from the farmers in their own ridings. I have seen it in Niagara with vine loss.
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- Mar/19/24 11:19:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, the rebate is not mentioned, which covers the things he is talking about. Farmers are exempt. Farm diesel is exempt from the price on pollution.
We can incentivize car companies, for example. The auto industry is one of the most innovative in the world when it comes to greening up. We have much more fuel-efficient vehicles precisely because of initiatives by government and regulation in terms of making cars less polluting.
I know that they would like to throw that away, but I honestly believe that the member, who comes from a province that has suffered from the severe impacts of climate change, wants to see action rather than saying that we do not care, which seems to be where the Conservative Party is right now.
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- Mar/19/24 1:56:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I ask the member opposite, and all the members who ask this question, if they have visited a farm lately. The 2023 food price report estimated that the carbon tax will cost a typical 5,000-acre farm $150,000 by 2030. Anybody who visits a farm knows that farmers are the stewards of this land. They are the most innovative, the most creative and the most environmentally friendly. They have all the technology. They know what to do with the land because they are the stewards of the land.
My question back to them was what was going to happen when there were no farms because they cannot do this. To answer the question, I would rely on farmers and their technology, innovation and connection to the land to actually help the environment, and not on a tax that punishes Canadians.
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- Mar/19/24 1:59:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadian farmers and ranchers are responsible stewards of the land and are united in their goal of feeding Canadians and the world. They are also on the front lines of climate change, often dealing with its devastating effects, including droughts, floods and wildfires.
The severe droughts of 2021 resulted in a 27% decline in Canadian grain production. The drought of 2023 is projected to lower the grain harvest by 6.5%, with the Prairies being especially hard hit. This year is shaping up to be a continuation of this trend. An overwhelming majority of Canadians, including farmers, are rightfully concerned about the impacts of climate change and we hear them.
While Conservatives continue to deny the reality of climate change and the role it plays in driving up food prices, we are helping the agri-food industry adapt to climate change through the Canadian agricultural partnership, the AgriRecovery framework and the national adaptation strategy.
We will always be there for farmers.
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- Mar/19/24 2:09:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to proudly celebrate our Canadian cattle industry, the ranchers and beef producers across the country who help raise quality product for our tables and tables around the world.
This week, representatives are in Ottawa for the annual CCA reception. I think about champions at home in Kings—Hants, folks such as Dean and Catherine Manning, the Oulton Family and Ryan Knowles with the Hants County Meat Company. I appreciate all the work they do in our communities, and locally, to provide great product.
However, as a young parliamentarian, I also want to recognize the work of the Canadian Cattle Youth Council, whose members I had the chance to meet with yesterday: Kimberly Landsdale, Charlene Yungblut, Scott Gerbrandt and Patrick Sullivan. I would like to thank them for the work they do to help support youth farmers across the country and all our representatives who are here in Ottawa today.
Let us, as parliamentarians, get out and celebrate all that is good for the Canadian cattle industry.
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- Mar/19/24 2:11:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, all over Quebec, farmers are protesting because of the carbon tax and the related drop in their net income. The Bloc Québécois chooses to ignore and even punish them.
Indeed, the Bloc Québécois wants to drastically increase Liberal taxes on gasoline and food. It wants to do so on April 1. This commitment seems like a joke, an April Fool's joke, but unfortunately it is not.
The Union des producteurs agricoles confirmed to me in person last week the devastating impact this 23% increase is going to have on all Canadians, especially on farmers in my region.
Of what use is the Bloc Québécois? It punishes Quebeckers and worsens farmers' already complicated living conditions.
All Canadians hope that the government as well as the Bloc Québécois will cancel this absolutely devastating tax.
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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 2:39:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Kings—Hants, Nova Scotia, are learning they do not have a voice in Parliament, because the member has been silenced. The Prime Minister is terrified that he might stand up and get off script. He knows that the unanimous will of the Nova Scotia Legislature, Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats, was passed in a motion calling all the province's MPs to vote against the hike.
Will the member for Kings—Hants, who is the chair of the agriculture committee, stand up for farmers in his riding and vote with us to spike the hike, yes or no?
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- Mar/19/24 2:39:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Kings—Hants stands up for farmers, stands up for his constituents, stands up for the people of Nova Scotia and stands up for the people of Canada every single day.
On this side of the House, we are incredibly proud to have him as our colleague. One thing he knows is that the people of Kings—Hants do not need cuts. That is all the Conservatives have to offer them or any single Canadian.
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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 3:07:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, $100,000 is not chicken feed. Richard, a farmer in the Shuswap, paid that out in carbon tax to run his farm instead of buying feed to raise chickens and put food on Canadians' tables. Now, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister wants to raise the carbon tax by 23% as part of his plan to quadruple it.
After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will he spike the hike, axe the tax and let farmers grow the food, so that Canadians can afford to put food on the table?
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- Mar/19/24 3:08:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that understands climate change is real and understands the impact it is having on farmers from coast to coast to coast. I have seen first-hand as I have travelled the impact of hurricanes and the impact of drought. All that has a cost on our farmers. I am proud to be part of a government that is fighting climate change so my little granddaughter can say, “Nanny, you tried to make a difference”, because climate change is real and it is impacting everyone.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Tories stood up. They might not like the question, though.
The member for Carleton talks about farmers in Kings—Hants, but he actually stands in their way. He will not allow Bill C-234 to come to the House to be voted on, so I call on the member for Carleton to do that to support farmers.
However, my question is for the minister from Nova Scotia. Can he tell the House, and indeed Nova Scotians, of the work we have done to adjust the federal backstop to support rural Canadians, including the programs we have put in place on affordability around home heating and heat pumps, contrary to those guys across the way?
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Mr. Speaker, there was a lot in that question, and I hope you will give me the proper time to respond.
I am going to ask something of the hon. member. He mentioned the leader of the official opposition in question period today asking questions of the Chair of the committee. This is the proper form to be able to answer those questions.
Let me say this: He talked about farmers in Kings—Hants. I need the member for Regina—Lewvan to walk into his caucus tomorrow and to ask the leader of the official opposition to let Bill C-234 come to a vote. We have an opportunity to help support farmers today. The Conservatives put up six speakers, and they are delaying the passage of a bill that could make a difference for farmers in my riding and indeed across the country. Why is it that they stand in the way of Canadian agriculture and put their partisan interests ahead of farmers in this country?
To answer his question, and to the members of the Nova Scotia assembly who have talked about the fact that they would like to see a pause, I will happily engage with every one of those members to talk about how we could work with Premier Tim Houston and with premiers across the country to be able to put forward not just a plan, but also a plan that meets the federal standard.
That is what the member missed in his question. Yes, Saskatchewan put forward a plan. In fact, it actually adopted a form of carbon pricing at the industrial level. Let us work together with the seven premiers to be able to establish a national cap and trade so that this terrible federal backstop that the Conservatives hate no longer has to be in place.
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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 4:21:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what a good, common-sense question. If one does not tax something, one does not need to give it back. What a way to look at the world.
The fact is that the rebate does not take into account that, just as those farmers have the costs passed on to them, every consumer has the costs passed on to them. Not only is the rebate falling short of what is spent directly in carbon taxes, but the indirect costs are also far higher.
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