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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 293

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 293 - Mar/21/24
Mr. Richard Bragdon (Tobique—Mactaquac, CPC)
  • Mar/21/24 1:24:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise in the people's House to address my colleagues here on a subject of great importance that we have discussed many times. There is a good reason for it being discussed, which is that it is on the minds of Canadians every day when they fill up their cars, every day when they pay their heat bills and every day they go get groceries. They are looking at the soaring cost of living that is affecting their bottom line at the end of every week and every month. The burden that is upon Canadians cannot and must not be overlooked by their representatives who stand in the House. I cannot help but commence my thoughts by reflecting on an ancient writing that I read recently. There seems to be some resonance with it. There was once a nation that got into some trouble. It was in a period of great difficulty. Its people were suffering under all kinds of different circumstances and surrounded by different foes, and threats were emerging from different places. It said they came to a place called the Valley of Achor, and in the Valley of Achor, there was a promise of a door of hope. What I like about this is that even in the midst of pain and in the midst of adversity, we still have hope. Hope is that thing that has a way of rising to the top in times of adversity. Canadians, even though they are frustrated, they are weary, they are overtaxed and they are burdened, are looking ahead with hope in this season, saying, “We have an opportunity to change course.” The frustration that remains is that they just cannot take advantage of that opportunity fast enough. Canadians want to express how they are feeling. They want to have a say in what is happening in their country. They want to be able to have their voices heard as it relates to the level of taxation they are under. They are asking, and I hear it regularly, how soon they can go to the polls, how soon they can get an election so that we can change direction in this country. I think it would behoove the members of this House to respond to that cry by voting in favour of our non-confidence motion and heading to the polls to give Canadians an opportunity to make a choice. After eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians are suffering. Seven out of 10 provinces and 70% of Canadians agree, including our nation's finest military, as I just witnessed last week while visiting a local food bank, are stating very clearly that what we are seeing is duress and financial pressure on everyday households as more and more Canadians are struggling to make ends meet as a result of the carbon tax. The government has led us to record food bank usage. We are seeing tent cities pop up all over our country at levels we have never seen before. Single moms are choosing between heating their homes and feeding their families. Seniors are lying awake at night, worrying about how they can pay the bills that are coming when their expenses continue to rise but their income is fixed. I see it on the face of parents who wonder how they will ever afford post-secondary education for their children when they cannot even meet the month-to-month needs of their household, let alone put away savings for their children's education. I see it on the brows of working families and Canadian workers from coast to coast to coast. They are working harder and harder every day and making less and less at the end of the day. The frustration is mounting, the anger is growing, and they need an outlet. They want to express and have their voices heard. The best way to let them have their voices heard is by allowing them to express the direction they want our country to take as it pertains to this level of taxation at a ballot box. Let us allow them to do that by granting them the election they so desperately want. Dr. Thomas Sowell, a renowned economist, has stated: The welfare state is the oldest con game in the world. First you take people’s money away quietly and then you give some of it back to them flamboyantly. It is amazing how that is reminiscent of what we are facing right now. The Liberals are taking more and more of our money, yet when they give back a portion of what they take, they celebrate it like they are doing some great favour to the Canadian citizen. A person works hard and gets $10 in one hand, and all of a sudden the Prime Minister and his government come along and grab that $10 bill out of that person's hands that they worked so hard for, run it through the bureaucratic spin cycle machine, do grand announcements, proclaim the government is going to roll back the tides, heal the oceans and bring temperatures down, and then, at the end of the day, come back to the person, put a $5 bill in their hand and want them to celebrate what a great favour they did for them. The person has fallen behind; they have spent money, and they have nothing to show for it but a grandiose virtue signal, big announcements and less money in their pocket to take care of their family's needs and family's priorities. It is time Canadians had the opportunity to express what kind of Canada they want in the future and what direction they want to go in. I think it is time we heard what they are saying. The carbon tax is the most expensive virtue signal in the history of our planet as it relates to environmentalism. We are spending more and achieving less. We cannot point to results. In fact, recently, not that long ago, we had Canada's environment commissioner give a report to the committee. I had the opportunity to be on that committee that day, and I asked the commissioner a question. I asked the commissioner to please tell Canadians how much carbon had been reduced in Canada's atmosphere as a result of the implementation of the carbon tax, which has been in some jurisdictions in this country now for over 15 years. To that, the commissioner replied that we have no such metric, so the landmark, signature piece of legislation on the environment that this government has produced can show no tangible results to average Canadians as to its effectiveness. I would challenge this government to reconsider immediately its plan to continue down this road, let alone augment the carbon tax by 23% on April 1. It is a failed strategy and a failed approach, and there is no means by which we can prove its effectiveness. It is time to change course, and the best way for Canadians to have a say in the direction of this country and the course we want to take is to allow them to choose the approach they want the government they choose to take. I think that choice will be very clear for Canadians when that time comes, and hopefully it comes sooner rather than later. These measures are not working. In fact, if they were, why is it that our ranking among nations on climate change has slipped and fallen from 57th to 63? We are falling behind. It is not working, so it is time to change course. However, rather than listen to the Canadian people, the Prime Minister is doubling, tripling and quadrupling down on this failed policy. The great Sir Winston Churchill once said, “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” It does not work. It is a failed strategy and a failed approach, and we need to get better at doing things that actually work. What actually works is to continue down the road of better technology, better extraction practices and better energy development, in which Canada has some of the best practices in the world. We need to stand up for our Canadian producers and our Canadian energy providers, get on their side and talk about the news that is Canada's energy, rather than talking it down and punishing our citizens for using the things they need every day. We need to stand on the side of Canadians and say, “No, this is enough.” We are going to change the approach, and we are going to make sure we get to the other side. Before I wrap up my remarks, I am sharing my time with the member for Lethbridge, and she will be sharing in just a moment. I will conclude with this. When I visited that food bank just a week ago with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha, and when the food bank directors looked at us and told us that right now up to 50 military families who are current and active members of the military are utilizing the food bank's services, something hit me, and it hit me hard. This is unacceptable in a country like Canada, and it needs to change. It came back to me what the veterans said to the Prime Minister just a few short years ago. They told the Prime Minister they had given their best for him and to this country, and they had sacrificed so much. This was from a wounded vet, who continued to say that in veterans' time of need, the government has not been there the way they needed it to be. Do members know what the Prime Minister's response was? He said veterans were “asking for more than we are able to give right now”. Canadians are telling the Prime Minister and the government that they are asking more from them than they can give right now. They want a break. They need relief and they need it now. Let us have this non-confidence vote and—
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