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House Hansard - 297

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 10, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 297 - Apr/10/24
Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson (Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Lib.)
  • Apr/10/24 2:48:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to my hon. colleague across the House, who is from the great province of Saskatchewan, that she have a conversation with Dr. Brett Dolter at the University of Regina, who has said that eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back, and it is those who live on modest incomes who do the best on a net-benefit basis. It is an affordability program, but it is also a program to address the climate crisis that imperils the future of our children. That these folks have zero plan to address the issue and do not seem to care at all about it is reckless and irresponsible.
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Context: House Hansard - 297 - Apr/10/24
Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity, Lib.)
  • Apr/10/24 6:18:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad that for the first time, and for as long as I have been paying attention to federal politics, Conservatives are talking about poverty elimination. It is good that we are actually looking at strategies to help people with their bills. While the member was talking, I went on the Food Banks Canada website. They have provided an Alberta checkpoint. It is like a report card, which they have provided, with policy recommendations, a whole bunch of rankings and letter grades for various things. I read all of the policy recommendations. I have met with Food Banks Canada. I meet with all of the poverty elimination and food security experts across the country on a frequent basis because poverty elimination is a top concern for my government, our government and for me personally. I grew up in community housing, and I believe that poverty is something that we can tackle together. None of the policy recommendations from the Alberta report card on the Food Banks Canada website mention the price on pollution. It does not mention the carbon tax because pollution pricing does not contribute to the financial difficulties that Canadians are experiencing. That is something that has been repeated over and over again by over 200 economists in Canada. They wrote a letter, which basically called out Conservative misinformation and the criticisms that the party has put forth over the last two years, since the member for Carleton has been the leader of the Conservative Party. I have said this a number of times in the House. All of those Conservative members ran on a price on pollution that was very similar to ours, except instead of getting rebates, such as the Canada carbon rebate, it would have been deposited into some type of loyalty account that they could use to spend on specific items. A lot of people called the proposal, “the more you burn, the more you earn”. It was widely refuted by environmental organizations and groups as a half measure in lowering our emissions. The price on pollution sends money back to eight out of 10 Canadian families, and that includes Albertans. The report card on poverty reduction from Food Banks Canada, specifically under its Alberta section, lists all of the things that the Alberta government could be doing. It calls out, as a contributing factor, the Alberta government for changing the previous NDP policy on the Alberta child benefit. The Alberta government has not adequately kept up with inflation with respect to minimum wage. It has not built any affordable housing. The report card makes some very good recommendations on things such as better basic income programs, similar to the Canada child benefit, which we modernized and made tax-free. We are continually being told by the Conservatives, as the only party in the House of Commons saying this, that the price on pollution in Canada is what is causing the financial difficulties Canadians are facing. This is absolutely false. It is not true. These Conservatives can repeat their slogans all they want. When hundreds of Canadian Ph.D.s and economists write a letter to say that it is nonsense, that it is garbage and they should stop saying it because it is untrue, I wish the Conservatives would take heed. Now, it is important to recognize why the Conservatives are on this campaign. It is clear now. It is actually a cover-up campaign. It is because the Premier of Alberta, Danielle Smith, on April 1 increased the price of gas in the province of Alberta by 4¢. This is the exact same day that the price on pollution went up a little bit, and the Canada carbon rebate went up to accommodate that. She increased it by more than the price on pollution. It seems that the Conservative members, particularly those from Alberta, would like to cover that up and hide it from public knowledge. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation called them out and said that, if they are going to throw stones, to get out of their glass house. The Conservatives from Saskatchewan are in the exact same situation. Both of those premiers have done nothing for affordability in those provinces.
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