SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 293 - Mar/21/24

Mr. Terry Dowdall (Simcoe—Grey, CPC)

Mar/21/24 12:44:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years, we all know that mortgages have doubled and rent has doubled. The only place in Canada where the does it seem to be the case is in the member of Kingston and the Islands' head, where our leader seems to live free. In listening to his speech, a lot of it, if it was not about our leader, was about himself and how wonderful he was doing. However, what I hear from residents is the exact opposite. Maybe the member and a lot of the Liberal elites are doing fantastic, but I am hearing the opposite. In fact, I have a copy of gas bill that came in today from a farmer in my riding. The cost of the gas supplied was $407.85 and the carbon price on that was $428.04. We are talking about a carbon price. We are talking about Canadians. Why are we not focusing on that instead of the leader, because he succeeded? The reality is that we have to realize that after a period of time—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/21/24 12:44:33 p.m.
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We have to give time for the hon. member to answer and to give other members time.

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Mr. Terry Dowdall

Mar/21/24 12:45:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, why are they not speaking to the issue that all Canadians are talking about, which is the cost of living. That is why we need this election, so people have the opportunity to get back to having the Canadian dream?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Lib.)

Mar/21/24 12:45:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are and have brought in many measures to the House to help people, particularly those who are struggling with those increased costs. The member challenges us and asks questions about this. However, then he goes ahead and routinely votes against measures, like he will do tonight. He will likely be a member of the only political party here tonight that votes against the estimates. In case he did not know, we are voting on the estimates tonight, which is an opportunity for him to show his support for Canadians and get the supports to them. Members can be against the government, they can be critical of the government, they can challenge the government, but they can still support Canadians by voting in favour of very important measures for them. When the member gets up and challenges me on my ability to do my job to support Canadians, we will see where his votes go tonight when it comes to voting on the estimate items.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Mar/21/24 12:46:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it was funny for me to listen to my colleague across the way talking about Conservative scandals. It is like they are in competition. The Conservatives are not even elected yet and they have Jenni Byrne already caught up in the scandals as a lobbyist. However, I want to get to a really important question, because this is a total mockery of the House. I know that an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen was brought up as well as whether the member for Carleton had ever had a job. I am not sure if he has ever made an ice cream cone or if he has ever actually had a job, but does he really understand the struggle that people are having across Canada right now in trying to pay the bills when his whole privilege has been paid by taxpayer dollars?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Mar/21/24 12:47:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not know about working at Dairy Queen. I worked at Famous Players throughout high school, popping popcorn. I am not sure what the comparison is or if that measures up to working at Dairy Queen. However, when the member started off this conversation, she talked about what the Conservatives were already getting themselves into. As I indicated today, not only did we all know a couple of months ago about Jenni Byrne being a lobbyist, but we are now finding out today that the day after the Leader of the Opposition became leader, she set up another company without her name on it. When people would book an appointment with that company, they were redirected to Jenni Byrnes and Associates. Not only were the Conservatives fully aware, but they were worried about the look it would give the Conservative Party if their campaign manager was a lobbyist, so they tried to hide it. They proactively tried to hide the fact that Jenni Byrne was a lobbyist. They know she is working with Loblaw to drive prices up by lobbying governments to get out of the way. We will not stand for that.

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Ms. Christine Normandin (Saint-Jean, BQ)

Mar/21/24 12:49:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals are boasting about doing something about climate change, but only a few days or weeks ago, their former minister, Catherine McKenna, said that the oil and gas lobbyists had pushed to get tax credits for carbon capture, which should never have happened. That is scandalous. That is $12.5 billion being sent to the oil companies so they can take care of the energy transition themselves. It is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. I would like to know if the Liberals really are proud of their success in terms of the energy transition. Who is right: them or Catherine McKenna?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Mar/21/24 12:50:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I cannot speak to the exact details that the former environment minister was speaking to, but I can say that I do not support subsidizing the oil and gas sector. I know that we phased-out direct subsidies. I also know that there are other things that, unfortunately, we have to take care of, such as abandoned orphan oil wells. I find it amazing that the Premier of Alberta suddenly wants to get people to pay up front for the disposal of solar panels and wind turbines down the road. However, for some reason, if people dig an oil well, they do not have to worry about this, that society will deal with it later. Unfortunately, we do have to participate in that, because companies gone by did not have to deal with them. We will do the right thing for society and the right thing for our environment. However, to the member's point about direct and indirect subsidies or whatever it is, I encourage Bloc members to bring forward an opposition motion on removing any subsidies to the oil and gas sector. I will personally vote in favour of that.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Mar/21/24 12:51:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Kingston and the Islands for that commitment. I would like to shift the conversation in this place. I will have a question at the end of question period, and there is no real spoiler alert, most people will be gone by the time I ask it, but I want the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands to know about it and to help me sell this idea in his caucus. We need a serious conversation that is science-based. In question period, I am going to ask about convening, when we get back after Easter, a committee of the whole in this place, where we bring in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientific experts, and raise a conversation that does not involve rhyming slogans competing with each other, but is actually based on facing the facts of the perilous situation we face and discussing real solutions. Would the hon. member support that?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Mar/21/24 12:52:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an absolutely fabulous idea, notwithstanding the fact that I do not know how it would work within the procedural rules of the House. I certainly support the initiative. I would like to see that. I would definitely participate, if we are successful with something like that. I am not sure if the no-sense Conservatives would be there, but I would hope they would participate as well.

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Hon. John McKay (Scarborough—Guildwood, Lib.)

Mar/21/24 12:52:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's comments on Jenni Byrne's proactive non-disclosure. I would like the member to talk about the short-term memory loss of the Conservative Party. Members will recollect that about this time last year, in April, May, June, Ottawa was covered in smoke. There is a clear cause for that. The member knows that in Halifax there have been hurricanes; in Fort McMurray, fires; in British Columbia, flooding; all of which has one cause, all of which need to be addressed. The Conservatives seem to have short-term memory loss on all of those issues. I would interested in the member talking about the point of this.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Mar/21/24 12:53:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, all we are saying is that when we contribute something that is directly impacting climate change, when C02 is produced and it goes into the atmosphere, it is warming our planet whether the Conservative who is heckling me believes it or not. I am sure the member for Dufferin—Caledon is one of the climate deniers. It is a reality. All we are saying is that we need to put a price on it, just like we put a price on garbage, just like we put a price on any other pollutant. We know that in a market-driven system, pricing something changes behaviour. It baffles me that the only political party in the Canadian House of Commons that does not understand this is the political party that somehow touts itself as being the smartest in the room when it comes to economic models and economic activity, the party that suggests that it knows better than anybody else, but cannot even understand a simple practice like pricing pollution

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Mr. Dane Lloyd (Sturgeon River—Parkland, CPC)

Mar/21/24 12:54:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon. I am pleased to rise on behalf of my constituents in Sturgeon River—Parkland to declare that we have lost confidence in the Liberal government and the Prime Minister. The member for Kingston and the Islands raised a very interesting point in the Q & A about his government's so-called investments in cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells. I wrote the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance a year ago to beg her to reallocate unspent funds for first nations in my riding and across Alberta, which are begging for the funds to clean up oil wells on first nations lands. The Liberal government did absolutely nothing. It could not even be bothered to respond. In fact, just two weeks ago, members of Treaty Six First Nations had to go out and publicly call on the government to provide this funding, and it did not. The government does not have a good record on oil and gas cleanup. In the past eight years, the cost of living crisis has reached new heights, thanks to the government's economic mismanagement. Unfortunately, it is working-class Canadians who are expected to pay the price for Liberal incompetence. In fact, the only people who seem to be benefiting under the Liberal government are the high-paid lobbyists that those Liberals seem to have so much trouble with in the House. Under the Liberal government, it is becoming what some have called a “self-licking ice cream cone.” My colleague from the NDP was talking about ice cream cones earlier, and that is exactly what is happening under the Liberal government, a self-licking ice cream cone of government insiders who are petitioning and lobbying for more taxpayer money, just to keep this whole thing going. The Liberal government is all about that. This April's Fools Day, the Prime Minister will play a cruel joke on Canadians by hiking the carbon tax by a whopping 23%. This means that everyday essentials like heating, groceries and gas will cost even more. The Liberals like to talk about their vaunted heat pump program. There is a recent article out of Nova Scotia saying that 2,500 Nova Scotia families are facing record power bills from Nova Scotia Power. What many of those families have in common—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/21/24 12:56:46 p.m.
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I have to interrupt the hon. member. The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Charlie Angus

Mar/21/24 12:56:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think you will find that, if you check the record, claims about self-licking ice cream cones were not made by the New Democrats. We questioned whether the member for Stornoway had actually ever made an ice cream during the time he has claimed to be working at Dairy Queen, but we did not not claim there were self-licking cones.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/21/24 12:57:12 p.m.
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The member is trying to make debate on a subject that is really not in the scope of this debate. The hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland has the floor.

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Mr. Dane Lloyd

Mar/21/24 12:57:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, under the Liberal government, the cost of everyday essentials is going up. In fact, even while they talk about their much vaunted heating pump program, we have a recent story from Nova Scotia where families are facing power bills. Families are saying that they need one job just to live and another job just to pay their heating bills. What many, if not most, of these families have in common is that they all have heat pumps. The costs are rising for these families as well. It is not just families that are burning oil and gas or natural gas to heat their heat homes. Electricity and everything else is going up under the Liberal government. In fact, the average family of four will pay $700 more for groceries in 2024 because of the Liberal carbon tax, and it is quite remarkable that, after years of such a stark trend, the Liberal and NDP members refuse to acknowledge the terrible impacts of their carbon tax. With each hike, Canadians are forced to dig deeper into their pockets just to afford to live. This Liberal carbon tax is driving up the cost of everything in this country. The inflation trajectory remains uncertain, and while there is hope that inflation will come down followed by some interest rate cuts, the Liberal government seems intent on quashing that progress with a 23% tax hike on April 1. When the history of this government is written, it will be a story of how out of touch the Prime Minister has become with the challenges of working-class people. The costs of the Prime Minister's annual taxpayer-funded vacations spirals out of control at the same time that prices of the essential goods Canadians need to live are hitting 40,000 feet. It is time for the Prime Minister to admit he is wrong, spike his April 1 tax hike and get rid of this inflationary carbon tax for good. If he is confident Canadians support his carbon tax plan, it is time for him to call an election, give Canadians an opportunity in an electoral referendum and give them a choice as to whether they want this Liberal carbon tax. The Prime Minister claims that the carbon tax will help the environment and help deal with climate change, but if that were the case, then I would think we would have hit at least one of our climate targets by now. In fact, the climate change performance index now ranks Canada as 62nd out of 67 countries, dropping it four places from last year, and after eight years of the Liberal government's failure, it is abundantly clear that its carbon taxes are simply another reason to grab more money from hard-working Canadians. It is not an environment plan; it is a tax plan. Liberals claim that we need a carbon tax or else Canada will be beset by more floods, fires and hurricanes. This is simply not true. Even the Liberals' own environment minister admitted that we may not see an impact from the Liberal carbon tax until 2060. Maybe by 2060 we will see an impact from their carbon tax. A young man like me will be drawing on old age security by the time the Liberal government believes their carbon tax will just maybe have an environmental impact. It is not an environment plan; it is a tax plan. Right now, Canadians are losing their homes. They are losing their vehicles, and they are skipping meals. They cannot wait until 2060 to maybe get a result. We are only a quarter of the way through the year, and food banks are already predicting that they will have an additional one million visits. That is on top of a record-breaking year last year. The government claims to be evidence based. These are damning facts, but the Liberal government is blind to the impact its policies are having on Canadians. It is either that, or they just do not care. Last year, 36% of charities had to turn people away because the charities are running out of resources, and in some cases, the demand for food has become a public safety issue. Last week in Montreal we saw police called in to control crowds at a food bank because hundreds more hungry Canadians showed up than were expected. These are stories reminiscent of the Great Depression, when police were deployed to disperse bread lineups. While Canadians wait in food lineups, Liberals go out to say they do not have it so bad and that those in other countries would be glad to swap places with us. Some Liberals are even saying that Canada is doing great in comparison to Afghanistan. That is setting the bar far too low for Canadians, and it is cold comfort for hungry Canadians today who are waiting in lineups. It is clear that the carbon tax is not only ineffective, but also deeply unfair. Despite the promises of these rebates, the reality is that most Canadian families will end up paying more in taxes than they receive in these so-called rebates. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has been abundantly clear: Canadian families will pay more than what they get back. The average Alberta family I represent will have to pay $911 in additional taxes than they will receive in rebates. The Prime Minister claimed just yesterday in the House that every penny collected is returned to Canadians. It is simply not true. In fact, the Liberals are holding onto more than $2 billion in carbon taxes that they have refused to give back to Canadians. They broke their promises to small businesses, whose carbon tax they collected, but they refused to give back the money they raised from small businesses. That is not to mention the GST, which is charged on top of the carbon tax, a tax on a tax that is raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the Liberal government, and it is not being returned to Canadians. Not only will Canadian families pay more than they get back, but because of the Liberal government's inflationary deficits, our nation's debt has more than doubled, something that the youngest generation of Canadians will have to deal with for decades to come. Also, Canadians who will be renewing variable rate mortgages will find that their mortgages are even bigger than they were before they started paying for it as the cost of their interest piles up faster than the principal they are paying down. It is not just Canadians paying variable rates. Canadians renewing their fixed rate mortgages, for example this fall and next fall, are going to face more than the doubling, and in some cases the tripling, of their interest rate costs. Mortgage delinquencies right now are up by 50%, and polls show that 55% of Canadians who currently do not own a home believe they will never own a home. That is especially true for younger Canadians. Even the average rental price for residential properties was at a record high of $2,192 in January of this year. That is a 10% increase year over year. Canadians cannot afford this. They cannot afford the doubling of housing costs that has occurred over the last eight years. They certainly do not have confidence that the Liberal government, which made this problem happen, has the solutions to fix them. If the Liberal government is good at one thing, it is breaking promises. Its carbon tax is higher than what it was ever supposed to be. It is higher than what it ever ran on. It is certainly not revenue-neutral, as the PBO has proven, and it is not helping Canadians reach their emissions targets. There are 70% of Canadians, and 70% of the provinces, who oppose raising the carbon tax on April 1. The national consensus is clear that Canadians from coast to coast to coast want to spike the hike and axe the tax. Canadians are sick and tired of paying absurd amounts for everyday essentials. My constituents contact me every day with examples of their power bills and what they are paying at the pump. They are outraged at this cost-of-living crisis. They are especially outraged about the increase costs for groceries and home heating, not to mention the increased cost of their mortgages. It is not only young families that are struggling. Seniors, people on fixed incomes, students and those with disabilities are struggling. The NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost. Canadians can see that. They want an election. When will the Prime Minister realize that Canadians no longer have confidence in his government. They want him to axe his inflationary carbon tax. They want an election, and they want a choice. When are the Liberals going to give it to them?

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Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)

Mar/21/24 1:04:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a fact that emissions are starting to decrease, but they would decrease faster if it were not for the oil and gas sector, the sector that is predominant in the member's province and the sector his party is tied to at the hip. There is no carbon tax. It is a price on carbon. Who said that? The Supreme Court said that. In its ruling on the Greenhouse Gas Pricing Pollution Act, it said, “there is ample evidence that the fuel and excess emission charges imposed by Parts 1 and 2 of the GGPPA have a regulatory purpose.... [They] cannot be characterized as taxes; rather, they are regulatory charges whose purpose is to advance the GGPPA’s regulatory purpose by altering behaviour.” Why is the member contradicting the Supreme Court of Canada?

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Mr. Dane Lloyd

Mar/21/24 1:05:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, most Canadians do not have a legal background, but I think every Canadian can see through the weasel words between carbon pricing and carbon taxes. Everyone knows that it is a carbon tax. They are paying it at the pumps. They are paying it when they go to the grocery store. They are paying it when they heat their homes. What the carbon tax is meant to do is, essentially, shrink the economy. The government says emissions are starting to come down because it is bringing our economy down. It is our resource sector that has powered our dollar and our GDP, and for the first time in modern history, Canadians' GDP per capita is going down. It is the worst record since the Great Depression.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Mar/21/24 1:06:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague just talked a bit about weasel words when he addressed the Liberal member. I would be a little cautious about him using that language right now. Today, in the House, for the umpteenth time, the Conservatives are using their opposition day to bring forward a motion they know very well will not pass. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition has said time and time again that this is going to be a confidence motion. Does the member understand that all opposition day motions, regardless of which party brings them forward, are non-binding? The Leader of the Opposition does not get to claim whether something is confidence or not. I sit in this place, watching the Conservatives' theatrics and watching them do their thing. I know that some of them know what they are talking about, but are the vast majority of Conservatives misguiding Canadians, or are they misguided themselves? It is one or the other.

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