- Member of Parliament
- Deputy whip of the New Democratic Party
- NDP
- Victoria
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 61%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $127,392.53
- Government Page
- Jan/29/24 8:38:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe the member is genuinely sincere in his desire to do more, and I agree that the Conservatives' climate denial is beyond disheartening, but Canadians do not want to have to choose between denial and delay. They do not want to have to choose between bad and worse. The reality is we are in a climate emergency. We do not have time for Liberal excuses. We do not have time for Liberal broken promises. We definitely do not have time for a government that caters to oil and gas interests. Our planet is burning.
When will the government stop disappointing Canadians, stop giving breaks to its rich friends and stop listening to oil and gas CEOs who are raking in record profits and unreal bonuses while polluting our planet, and instead start treating this like the emergency that it is, close the loopholes and bring in a hard cap on emissions?
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- Jan/29/24 8:31:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by wishing the parliamentary secretary a very happy birthday.
In the past few years, Canadians have witnessed record-breaking temperatures, extreme weather events, forest fires and flooding. People have been evacuated from their homes and whole towns have been wiped out, yet under the Liberal government, big oil and gas are polluting more than ever.
A recent report shows how these oil giants are significantly under-reporting their emissions. In fact, emissions from the oil sands are potentially 6,300% higher than what is reported by the industry. Scientists have confirmed what indigenous communities from northern Alberta have been saying for decades. These massive corporations are threatening their health, threatening their livelihoods and poisoning their land. This is making people sick.
Oil and gas companies are pumping out carbon emissions at shockingly high rates, and the government can and should make these companies use some of their record-breaking profits to clean up their mess. Oil and gas CEOs are giving themselves raises, being rewarded with obscene bonuses, and making millions of dollars a year, while Canadians are struggling just to get by. They are worried about how they are going to pay rent and worried about how they are going to make their mortgage payments.
At the same time, Canadians are facing record-breaking temperatures, the worst wildfire season on record and devastating weather events. We are in a climate emergency, so why does the Liberal government refuse to hold oil and gas giants accountable?
After dragging their feet and having to be pushed to finally deliver a cap on emissions for the oil and gas sector, the Liberals announced a watered-down cap, full of loopholes, that had oil and gas lobbyists' fingerprints all over it. The oil and gas sector makes up the biggest portion of Canada’s emissions, and environmental experts have said that Canada must have a hard cap on oil and gas emissions if we have any hope of meeting our climate targets.
The Liberals have set a target of reducing Canada’s overall emissions by 42%, but they are giving their friends in oil and gas a break. Not only did they give oil and gas a lower target, but they have included the option for companies to buy offsets and essentially buy their way out of the cap. They admit their plan will only reduce oil and gas emission by about 20%. This means every other sector and everyday Canadians will have to pick up the slack.
The Liberals are making life harder for people, workers and families. Can the member explain to me why they are making life easier for oil and gas CEOs?
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- Jan/29/24 3:11:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried about the climate and they expect their government to take action.
People are struggling to pay their bills, yet oil and gas CEOs are polluting our planet while raking in record profits and bonuses. In some cases, they have upped their own salaries by 75%.
For far too long, the Liberal government has been stacking the deck in favour of billionaires at the expense of Canadian workers and the environment.
Will the Liberals rein in these obscene bonuses by making oil and gas CEOs pay what they owe?
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- Nov/8/23 7:20:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, if the member wants an example of saying one thing but doing another, he just needs to look in the mirror, because today the NDP put forward a motion with respect to heat pumps, and the Liberals voted with the Conservatives. The motion included an excess profit tax on oil and gas companies. It is a measure that would hold rich CEOs accountable. Unfortunately, the current Liberal government does not have the courage to stand up to oil and gas lobbies. In fact, the Liberals invited them into crafting their climate policies.
I am concerned that the member does not understand the urgency of the crisis we are facing and the urgency of ensuring that the oil and gas sector reduce its emissions. We needed an emissions cap years ago. I did not hear a date. When will the government get serious about holding the oil and gas giants accountable, and implement a cap on emissions?
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- Nov/8/23 7:12:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the climate crisis is here. Thousands of Canadians were evacuated from their homes in the worst wildfire season on record. Hundreds died in heat domes. Extreme weather is only getting more frequent and more severe.
If we want to have any hope of meeting our climate targets, we must implement a strong emissions cap on the oil and gas industry. In Canada, despite accounting for just 5% of Canada's economy, oil and gas is responsible for over a quarter of Canada's emissions, more than any other sector.
Despite the greenwashing that we hear from industry lobbyists, from their friends in the Liberal Party and from corporate-controlled Conservatives, oil and gas emissions are increasing year after year. The oil and gas sector's expansion has gone unchecked in Canada, and there have been no limits on how much pollution they are allowed to create.
A strong cap on emissions would be that limit. The Liberals promised to deliver a cap on emissions but, instead, they continue to delay and disappoint. It is time to hold the oil and gas sector accountable for the fact that they are fuelling the climate crisis. It is not like they cannot afford it. Oil executives are raking in record profits, while everyday Canadians are struggling to make ends meet.
If the Liberals wanted to stop pretending to be a climate leader and instead take real climate action, they would stop listening to oil and gas CEOs and implement a hard cap on emissions, one without the loopholes and delays that the oil and gas lobbyists are pushing for.
A hard cap would be aligned with the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. It needs to be enforceable, and a hard cap on absolute levels of emissions; no loopholes and relief valves that let companies off the hook. This means emissions reductions would need to happen within the sector, not through purchasing offsets for reductions elsewhere. Companies should only receive credit for proven reductions, not hypothetical reductions based on speculative technologies.
A strong emissions cap needs to include strong enforcement measures. Penalties and fines have to be significant enough that they actually deter or change behaviour rather than simply allowing companies to internalize small fines as the cost of doing business and continuing with business as usual.
We need to look at compliance mechanisms that are not financial, things like mandated production cuts or the use of the criminal powers under CEPA. It also must uphold indigenous rights. We need to ensure that the rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples continue to be upheld within the emissions cap, including securing indigenous peoples' free, prior and informed consent for energy development in their territory.
The Liberal government needs to get serious about prioritizing our health and our future over the profits of rich CEOs. We cannot afford a weak emissions cap that does not hold the oil and gas industry accountable.
My question to the member is this. When will the government stop delaying and start keeping some of its climate promises? When will we see a cap on emissions?
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- Oct/3/23 3:55:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, young kids are going to experience the worst impacts of the climate crisis, inheriting the mess made by governments today. The Canadian Climate Institute just released a report showing Canada's emissions are going up when we desperately need them to go down. The Liberals like to talk about climate change, but they have been dragging their feet on capping oil and gas emissions, prioritizing the profits of rich CEOs over our children's future.
Can the minister explain to kids who are watching why, eight years in, on the government's watch, Canada's emissions are still going up?
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- Mar/29/23 7:06:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member. I enjoy working with him on the environment committee in Parliament.
The member brought up the oil and gas emissions cap, and I want to briefly touch on that.
We know that the Liberals have been dragging their feet on this, and that the oil and gas companies have been aggressively lobbying for delays, loopholes and more subsidies. Therefore, we need a strong oil and gas emissions cap if we have any hope of reducing our emissions.
However, the member did not answer my question, and so I will give him another opportunity. Why not force these rich oil and gas companies, which are making more money than God, to pay to reduce their own emissions?
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- Mar/29/23 6:59:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the climate crisis is more urgent than ever, with deadly heat waves, summers of smoke and wildfires, extreme flooding and hurricanes. These events are happening now, and they are only getting more frequent and more severe. While the Liberals say they believe in climate change, they are unwilling to take the action needed at the scale and with the urgency that matches the crisis we are in.
In this week's budget, New Democrats were able to successfully push the government to invest billions into clean energy, sustainable jobs and green infrastructure, but I was very disappointed that there was no concrete action on eliminating fossil fuel subsidies in Canada. We have heard promise after promise, but instead the government is headed in the opposite direction, with more handouts to profitable oil and gas companies, ostensibly to provide them with financial help to reduce their emissions. Why would the government not regulate this? Why not make them reduce their emissions and pay for it themselves?
U.S. President Biden's budget eliminates billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies, and he has talked about how these companies are making “more money than God”. In contrast, the Liberals think the Canadian taxpayer should be helping out these rich oil and gas CEOs.
A report earlier this month by Canada's spy agency, CSIS, warned that the climate crisis poses a profound national security risk. This confirms what scientists have been saying for decades. It also confirms what many indigenous communities have been warning us about: the melting of Arctic ice and permafrost, rising sea levels for coastal communities. These changes will threaten the Inuit, Métis and first nations ways of being and ways of life, many of which have been in place since time immemorial.
Droughts, flooding and extreme weather in Canada and around the world will mean decreasing food supplies, which means increasing costs for groceries. CSIS highlights the likely increase in violent extremism because of the climate crisis, as well as migration we have never experienced before, with millions of climate refugees, people who will be displaced due to climate disasters and famine, or simply fleeing areas that are too hot to live in.
Our world is changing rapidly and people are scared. They are scared for themselves, for their children and for their grandchildren.
The world’s top climate scientists have made it crystal clear that we must reduce our emissions now. Given the urgency, scale and gravity of the crisis we are in, why would the government continue to hand out billions of dollars to the profitable oil and gas industry? These companies are making record profits. They made more money last year than they have ever made before. Why would the government not force these companies, which are fuelling the climate crisis, to pay to clean up their own pollution?
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- Mar/23/23 7:20:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even without the orphaned well cleanup, there are billions of dollars being handed out to profitable oil and gas companies every year. The member did not answer my question about why the government is doing the oil and gas lobby's dirty work. Perhaps, since I have the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader here, I will ask another question on another topic.
The recent allegations about foreign interference are incredibly serious. They further erode confidence in our electoral systems, and the Liberals, today, voted against a public inquiry. They do not seem to see the damage they are doing to individuals and also to communities that are at risk of being stigmatized. We need a transparent, independent public inquiry. At this point, it is the only way to get to the bottom of this.
Will the member commit to pushing for a transparent, independent public inquiry?
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- Mar/23/23 7:14:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are at a critical moment. This week, the IPCC issued a final report, a final warning. It says, in no uncertain terms, that we must act now or it will be too late.
One of the report's authors noted, “The message in terms of urgency...is stop burning fossil fuels as fast as humanly possible.” They explain that we are at a crisis point, not because we are lacking some important technology or some important information but because “the sense of urgency has been lacking in the places where the important decisions are made”.
In Canada, that place where important decisions are made is here, in the House of Commons. The government lacks the urgency. It lacks the commitment and it lacks the courage to take the action we need.
The Liberals say they are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, yet they continue to subsidize the fossil fuel industry. They are handing over billions of dollars to rich oil and gas executives.
I continue to call on the government to end subsidies to oil and gas, and instead invest those billions into clean energy, into climate solutions.
In the United States, the Biden administration has committed to spending $60 billion on clean energy manufacturing. This goes directly into building solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. These are proven solutions.
Climate scientists agree that renewable energies are the best tools we have for reducing our emissions, yet the Liberals are instead giving massive tax breaks to oil and gas companies for unproven technologies that keep the fantasy of increasing oil and gas production alive.
The reality is that the current carbon capture projects in Canada capture only less than 1% of our emissions. The Liberals say that carbon capture technology is one of the many solutions they will use when it comes to fighting the climate crisis, but it happens to be the oil and gas industry's favourite solution. The Liberals' friends at McKinsey have published multiple articles touting CCS as a low-risk piece of the decarbonization puzzle, but according to the IPCC, carbon capture is one of the most expensive and least effective tools.
In fact, the report names wind and solar energy as the most effective solutions for reducing our emissions. If we want to meet our 2030 targets, there is a logical way forward: invest our tax dollars in renewable energy and make the oil and gas industry pay for its own carbon capture and storage.
Experts are already warning that the Liberals' tax credit on carbon capture and storage will be a fossil fuel subsidy, more handouts to an industry making record-breaking profits.
In a report on fossil fuel subsidies, Canada and Saudi Arabia were named the worst performers, handing out the most money to these companies as they make more profit than they have ever made before.
We have now learned that Saudi Arabia lobbied to elevate the role of carbon removal in the latest UN climate science summary report. We also know that Canada lobbied to emphasize the importance of carbon capture in the last IPCC summary report, which begs the question, why is the Liberal government acting like a petrostate when Canada has a diversified economy?
Why are the Liberals doing the oil and gas lobby's dirty work? Why are they making Canadians pay billions to clean up the oil and gas industry's emissions?
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- Mar/6/23 2:48:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's spy agency has warned us that the climate crisis will threaten national security, critical infrastructure and our food systems, but in the face of this clear and very real threat, we have the Conservatives, who deny that we need to act, and the Liberals, who keep delaying while handing out billions to big polluters. Oil and gas CEOs are laughing as they rake in record profits and scale down their climate commitments.
The climate crisis threatens everything we hold dear. When will this government force big polluters to clean up their act and stop making Canadians pay the price?
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- Feb/10/23 11:46:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, a report released yesterday shows clearly that carbon capture and storage is not an effective net-zero solution, so why did the Liberals plow ahead with this flawed approach, committing $8.6 billion? Well, they were listening to big oil. Here is a hot tip: If the government wants to make good climate policy, stop listening to oil and gas lobbyists, who, by the way, are making record profits while destroying our planet.
Will the Liberals cancel their carbon capture handouts to big oil and instead invest in real climate solutions?
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- Feb/8/23 8:01:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her comments, but she did not answer the question.
All the strongly worded statements about the oil and gas industry needing to come to the plate will not make big oil and gas do the right thing.
It is hard to take any of these Liberal comments seriously when they have been in power for seven years and have increased fossil fuel subsidies year after year.
Oil and gas companies are making record profits while fuelling the climate crisis. The devastating impacts of the climate emergency are costing billions of dollars and communities are struggling. Fighting the climate crisis should not come at the expense of everyday Canadians who are paying record prices at the pump and struggling to make ends meet, all while oil and gas companies are making record profits. They should be paying what they owe. Will the government make them? Will the government implement a windfall profits tax on oil and gas?
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- Feb/8/23 7:52:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by taking a moment to express my heartbreak and condolences to the parents, the day care staff and the children, and to everyone who is impacted by the tragedy in Laval. It is hard to find words to express the depth of loss that these families are facing. We are grieving with them.
Every year, more people across Canada are forced to face the devastating reality of the climate crisis: increasingly severe hurricanes on the east coast, and forest fires, extreme flooding and heat domes on the west coast. We are in a climate emergency, and it is impacting everything that we hold dear. People have lost their homes and their jobs, and hundreds of Canadians have lost their lives.
It has been four years since the government declared a climate emergency, and yet it still refuses to take climate action at the scale or speed required. Why would the Liberal government say it believes there is a climate emergency but then refuse to treat it like an emergency? Why would it continue to hand out billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies? Why would it buy the Trans Mountain pipeline? Why would it approve Bay du Nord? Why is it openly planning to increase oil and gas production?
We are in a climate emergency. These are not the actions of a government responding to an emergency. These are the actions of a government that is captured by the oil and gas lobby.
This past year was the most profitable year ever for the five biggest oil companies. Take that in. Big oil and gas made more profit than they ever have before. While they rake in these record profits, profiting off the backs of Canadians who are struggling just to make ends meet, these companies are also announcing that they are scaling down their climate commitments, lowering their emission reduction targets and walking back their pledges to climate action.
Instead, they are upping their spending on new oil and gas. Just two weeks ago, Canadian oil and gas executives claimed they could not invest any more in clean energy and renewable projects, that they want to but there is no place to invest these billions in. If that is true, why would the federal government give them billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies? These companies are making more money than ever before, and they claim they want to spend it on climate action. Why would the government not require that they pay for their own pollution, regulate them, force them to reduce their emissions, and make big oil and gas put their exorbitant money where their mouth is?
Instead, the government decided to give the oil and gas sector billions more for carbon capture technology. Not only is carbon capture an unproven technology, which according to the IPCC, according to the world's top climate scientists, is one of the costliest and least effective options out there, but this $2.6-billion carbon capture tax credit is money that the government could have invested in renewable technology that is readily available, that is proven. The government could have excluded oil and gas companies from this handout. It could have forced these companies to pay for their own carbon capture projects.
Instead, the Liberals keep footing the bill for the oil and gas industry. What that actually means is that the Liberals are making Canadians foot the bill. Among the G20 countries, Canada has the worst track record when it comes to public financing of the oil and gas sector. These are choices about how we spend our public money. Profitable oil and gas companies should be paying to clean up their own pollution.
If the Liberals truly believe that we are in a climate emergency, they could implement a windfall profits tax on oil and gas companies. Other countries have done it. We could use that money to invest in climate solutions, in making life more affordable for Canadians, in making communities more climate-resilient.
Why is the government so focused on protecting the profits of big oil and gas instead of protecting Canadians and our communities from the climate crisis?
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- Dec/1/22 2:47:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are living with more frequent and extreme weather events that have left Canadians devastated. While people are dealing with the impacts of the climate crisis and trying to keep up with rising costs, the biggest polluters are getting even richer.
Like the NDP, 350 Canada, Leadnow and Greenpeace are calling on the Liberals to tax the excess profits of oil and gas so they pay their fair share. When will the minister stop defending the interests of the oil and gas industry and start making them pay what they owe?
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- Nov/16/22 2:52:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people are worried about the climate crisis, especially since Canada just received embarrassingly low marks for climate action at COP27, scoring 58 out of 63 countries. Only Russia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Iran ranked lower.
While people are losing their jobs, homes and lives during heat waves, flooding and forest fires, the Liberals keep handing out subsidies to big oil, breaking climate target after climate target.
When will the Liberals own up to their climate failure and stop giving away billions to big oil and gas?
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- Oct/31/22 2:45:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this weekend, the environment minister criticized oil and gas companies for paying out huge profits to their shareholders instead of taking climate action, but it is hard to believe the minister's fake outrage when the Liberals are still handing out billions of dollars to big oil, all while these corporations rake in record profits.
The minister will not put a windfall tax on these excess profits to invest in climate action and make life more affordable. Will the minister finally stand up to big oil by making them pay what they owe?
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- Sep/29/22 4:59:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech. I was interested to learn that he used to teach economics.
I apologize, but I will have to stop for a moment because I can hear the interpretation in my earpiece.
As the member mentioned, many economists have said that broad-based tax cuts would lead to inflation. People are frustrated about having to pay more for their rent and their groceries while rich CEOs rake in huge profits.
Would my colleague agree that a better strategy would be to tax companies that increase the prices that Canadians pay at the grocery store and at the pumps?
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- Sep/27/22 2:49:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, big oil has been making record profits off the backs of Canadians who are struggling, all while refusing to clean up its climate mess. The environment minister said he is not opposed to a windfall tax, but he is waiting to see if big oil will invest in climate action on its own. Instead, it is paying out huge dividends to its shareholders and bonuses to its rich CEOs. If the minister is waiting for big oil to do the right thing he is going to be waiting a long time. Time is running out for our planet.
Will the Liberals tackle corporate greed, implement a windfall tax and make big oil pay its fair share?
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- Sep/27/22 11:50:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think we could ask anyone in my riding of Victoria or in Vancouver or Toronto whether the Liberals have been addressing the housing crisis, and they would say no.
However, on fossil fuel subsidies, there is a commitment to end inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, but I am extremely disappointed that the government refuses to end all fossil fuel subsidies. The government wants to continue to hand out billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies under the guise of carbon capture and storage, which means that it is handing over our taxpayer dollars to an unproven technology, one that the IPCC has said is actually years out. Instead of targeting it to companies that are doing the right thing and trying to take carbon out of the air, the government is actually giving it to oil and gas companies to use.
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