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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Feb/6/24 3:07:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I said this in English, and I am pleased to say it in French. We put out figures on carbon pricing just before the holidays. Carbon pricing will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% to 30% by 2030. We have already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 30 million tonnes. There is still a lot of work to be done because the Conservatives spent 10 years doing nothing to fight pollution and climate change. Thanks to our programs, our actions and the actions of Canadians, we are starting to tackle this problem. The last thing we need is for the Conservatives to come back and wreck everything.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault

Feb/6/24 3:03:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, do members want to know the truth? Climate change is real. That is the truth. Do they want to know the truth? Climate change is impacting Canadians all over the country, including farmers from coast to coast. Do they want to know the truth about climate change? It is costing Canadians billions of dollars. That is the truth about climate change. Our party is working. We are reducing emissions. We are helping Canadians with affordability. That is the truth.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Feb/6/24 3:03:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the falsehoods that we hear from the Conservative Party on the issue of climate change and carbon pricing has not been seen before in the history of our country. First, the Conservatives believe that climate change does not exist. That is simply not true. They say that our plan is not working. Our plan has allowed us to reduce— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Feb/6/24 3:01:38 p.m.
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Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, what the member is saying is simply not true. Just before Christmas, we put out a study by Environment and Climate Change Canada that shows that carbon pricing will be responsible for between 20% and 30% of our greenhouse gas emissions between 2019 and 2030. On the issue of carbon pricing and climate change, we have no lessons to take from the Conservative Party, whose official position today, as Alberta is suffering from droughts, as there are unforeseen storms in eastern Canada and atmospheric rivers in B.C., is still that climate change simply does not exist.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 3:00:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, sadly, what my colleague is saying in the House is again false. Since we took office, wind power production in Canada has increased by 60%. The GM, Stellantis, Volkswagen and Northvolt projects are all projects that the Conservative Party opposes. They also oppose battery manufacturing in Quebec and the investments in Ontario. We are here to create a sustainable economy for generations of Canadians while fighting climate change, unlike the Conservatives, who have no plan for the economy, no plan for fighting climate change, and no plan for affordability.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:58:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct my colleague. What he said is inaccurate. Carbon pricing works, and the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development confirmed it this morning at the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. I invite my colleague to take a look at the transcript of that meeting. Not only does carbon pricing work, it is responsible for 30% of emissions reductions. That is the equivalent of taking 11 million vehicles off our roads. Our plan is working. We are on track to meet our targets. There is still work to be done, but it is certainly not the Conservative Party that will get us there.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:46:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would invite my colleague to actually watch the proceedings from the environment committee this morning where the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said that not only was carbon pricing working, but it was responsible for 30% of the emissions we have seen in Canada since we took office. Nothing would have happened under the Conservative Party. It has no plan to fight climate change. It has no plan to develop the economy. It has no plan for renewable energy, for clean electricity, for electrification of transportation. That is why Canada is lagging so far behind other countries. We are playing catch-up, but thanks to all our efforts, we are getting there, no thanks to the Conservative Party.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault

Nov/9/23 2:39:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are getting there. We are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets. Do members know what is worse than not even trying? It is not even being willing to admit that climate change exists. Last week, the Leader of the Opposition was asked in a scrum, right over there, whether he would meet the Paris targets. He was like a deer in front of headlights. He could not even answer the question. He would not even answer the question. On this side of the House, we are doing everything we can to achieve our 2030 targets, as opposed to the Conservative Party that wants to bring us back to the Stone Age.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:35:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it quite ironic that the member campaigned for the leadership of his party on a carbon taxing platform. Now, all of a sudden, it does not work and he does not believe in it. This morning, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was at the environment committee. He said that pollution pricing not only is working, but it is also responsible for up to 30% of emissions reduced in Canada since 2019. The Conservatives do not want to talk about climate change, because they do not want to talk about the fact that they are buddying up with their friends in the big oil companies. God forbid that we would do anything to affect their profits. We want to fight climate change, and we want to help Canadians in the process.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:33:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am quite pleased to reply to my hon. colleague, through you, that I am proud to be part of a government that not only believes in climate change, but that has been fighting to put measures in place for eight years. It is working. We have gone from a more than 12% increase in greenhouse gases to 8% below 2005 levels. I am certainly not thanking the Conservative Party, because it did not do anything for 10 years. Our plan is working. We are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets. I agree with the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development that there is still work to be done. That is why Canadians must continue to support us so that we can make progress in the fight against climate change and not let the Conservatives take us back to the Stone Age.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:32:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour and dignity to stand behind the promises we made to Canadians in the last election. We promised to continue putting a price on pollution. That is what we are doing. The Conservative Party made the same promise, but now it is reneging. We promised to institute a clean fuel standard. That is what we did. The Conservative Party made the same promise, but now it is reneging. I do not see why Canadians should believe anything the Conservative Party says. It cannot be trusted on the environment, it cannot be trusted on the economy, and it cannot be trusted on affordability.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:25:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, what the Leader of the Opposition is saying is still factually incorrect. We have not missed any of our targets. The only target we have is for 2030. Canada has missed many targets because, for 10 years, the Conservative Party did nothing to fight climate change. It did nothing to support clean energy. It did nothing to support the electrification of transportation. It did nothing on adaptation. That is why Canada has been missing our targets. With the current government and Prime Minister, we will meet our targets. We are at 85% of our 2030 target already.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/9/23 2:24:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition is saying in the House is factually incorrect. The facts are as follows: We have had the best performance in greenhouse gas reductions since 2019. We have a plan that has been applauded by environmental organizations, research organizations and municipalities. Even the oil companies have applauded our climate plan. This morning, at the environment committee, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development said that not only is pollution pricing working, but it is responsible for 30% of the emissions reduced in Canada since 2019.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/7/23 3:15:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am a Liberal and proud socialist, but this reminds me of when Prime Minister Harper talked about the fight against climate change as a socialist plot. That is what the Conservative Party thinks. Here it is. We have it again. Conservatives do not believe that climate change is an issue. They do not believe we should do anything about it. They oppose the electrification of transportation. They oppose deals such as Volkswagen, Stellantis and Northvolt. They oppose offshore wind development in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. They have no plan to fight climate change. They have no plan for the economy. They have no plan for the future of Canada.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/7/23 2:57:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, after asking what my former Greenpeace colleagues thought of my work, my hon. colleague changed his mind and asked what Equiterre thinks. I have here for him a quote from Équiterre about our climate change action plan: “this is the first time that we have such a detailed strategy to reach a target that we have set.” Would my colleague like a quote from the David Suzuki Foundation? “This plan has a better chance of success than any of Canada’s previous climate plans.” Would he like a quote from Greenpeace? “The government’s new plan marks the first time that the oil and gas sector is being asked to significantly reduce emissions”. We have been looking for positive comments about the Conservatives' plan. I have not found any.

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Hon. Steven Guilbeault (Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.)

Nov/7/23 2:49:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is true that there is a coalition in the House: There is the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, the Green Party and the New Democratic Party, who all believe that climate change is an existential challenge. The one party in the House that does not believe it is the Conservative Party. There are four parties in the House who think we should do something to fight climate change, that we should put a price on pollution, that we should encourage clean technology and the electrification of transportation. There is one party in the House who does not believe in any of that and that is the official opposition, the Conservative Party of Canada.

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