- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Board of Internal Economy
Deputy House leader of the government
- Liberal
- Kingston and the Islands
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $112,228.33
- Government Page
- 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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- Feb/26/24 2:07:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Coldest Night of the Year events that happened in 190 communities across Canada on Saturday.
Each year, thousands of Canadians walk in February to support local charities that serve people experiencing hurt, hunger and homelessness. My family, my constituency team and my friends walked together to raise money for Lionhearts in Kingston this year.
It was truly heartwarming to see over 150 walkers, 30 teams, hundreds of donors and dozens of volunteers contribute locally. Thanks to their collective efforts, over $70,000 has been raised to date, and that number continues to grow.
I give a huge shout-out to the team at Lionhearts for their outstanding work in what they do, in partnership with other organizations, to support the most vulnerable in our community, and congratulations to all participants for stepping outside of the warmth and comfort of their homes to help charities that serve our communities with compassion every single day.
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- Feb/5/24 3:54:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
The first petition is on behalf of members of my community who are calling the attention of the government to the warning by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that rising temperatures over the next two decades will bring widespread devastation and extreme weather, and that the climate crisis requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Therefore, they call upon the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets Canada has set for a reduction in emissions by 2030.
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- Nov/27/23 3:47:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present what I believe is the 18th petition like this that I have presented. I am not quite as far along as my Conservative colleague across the way.
The petition brings to the government's attention the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's most recent report, which indicates that the next two decades will bring widespread devastation and extreme weather. Petitioners indicate we are certainly feeling this in Canada now with increased flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures, and that addressing the climate crisis requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.
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- Nov/6/23 3:58:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again, I have another petition on the same subject. They keep coming into my office. This petition has to do with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Petitioners identify what is well known in terms of the impacts of climate change in Canada, including flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures. They are quite aware of the Government of Canada's commitment to reducing global warming to 1.5°C. They specifically call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.
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- Nov/2/23 10:37:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I present a petition today on behalf of members of my community who indicate that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned us repeatedly that rising temperatures over the next few decades will bring widespread devastation and extreme weather. They also note that we are certainly feeling the impacts in Canada today, with increased flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures and that addressing this climate crisis requires drastic reduction in greenhouse emissions to limit our global warming to 1.5°C. The petitioners also indicate that the oil and gas sector is the largest and fastest-growing source of emissions, and in 2021, the federal government committed to cap and cut emissions from the oil and gas sector to achieve net zero by 2050.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by by 2030.
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- Oct/27/23 12:22:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of Canadians who are calling to the government's attention the impacts today in Canada from climate change, specifically flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures.
The petitioners highlight the fact that addressing climate change requires a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming. They indicate the government's commitment to cap and trade to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector to achieve net zero by 2050.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emission caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.
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- Oct/25/23 4:53:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of Canadians who are calling to the attention of the government the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has warned repeatedly that rising temperatures over the next two decades will bring widespread devastation and extreme weather.
The petitioners go on to indicate that Canadians are certainly feeling the impacts of flooding, wildfires and extreme temperatures. They recognize that addressing climate change requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C and indicated they are aware that the federal government committed in 2021 to cap and cut emissions from the oil and gas sector to achieve net zero by 2050.
Therefore, the petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic for achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.
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- Oct/23/23 3:38:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of Canadians who bring to the attention of the government the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which sets dire circumstances and indicates the drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Specifically, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to move forward immediately with bold emissions caps for the oil and gas sector that are comprehensive in scope and realistic in achieving the necessary targets that Canada has set to reduce emissions by 2030.
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- Jun/1/23 3:36:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will answer it, and I think I have already answered it to that member and other Conservatives.
The policy changed. It is different now than it was then. Can members see how easy it was for me to directly answer the question? It may have been a position we had at one time, and now the position is different, but we are honest and open with Canadians about that. The question is why that member and other Conservatives will not be honest and open with Canadians about how their position has changed on climate change.
We will note that the member complimented me, in some form I guess, by saying I spoke about nothing. He is a Conservative who comes from a party where 54% of its base says climate change is not real, and he is a Conservative who shares the same side of the aisle as the member for Red Deer—Mountain View, who talked about climate change two days ago as though it were just something that happens every 10,000 years, as though there is nothing to see here. Only a Conservative who shares that space would refer to my dire plea to do something about global warming and climate change as me talking about nothing.
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- Jun/1/23 1:42:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, they are all opposed to pricing pollution because 54% of their base does not even believe in climate change.
I find it interesting that earlier, the member for Calgary Forest Lawn said, in answer to a question, that Conservatives believe in climate change. I almost fell out of my seat and gasped. The member for Abbotsford started to heckle me from the back. The reason why I almost fell out of my seat is because the member for Calgary Forest Lawn probably was not listening when the following was said by the member for Red Deer—Mountain View just two days ago in the House. He said—
An hon. member: Time.
Mr. Mark Gerretsen: I have 20 minutes, so buckle up.
Madam Speaker, the member for Red Deer—Mountain View said:
I mention that because it has been 60 years of catastrophic snake oil salesmen predicting different things that could happen. They have predicted how, in 10 years' time, we are going to have cities flooded, how we are going to have all these issues and how animals are going to go extinct. We hear that all the time.
Every once in a while, I go to Drumheller. I take a look at a sign above the canyon there saying that, 10,000 years ago, we were under a kilometre of ice. If one wanted to talk to the Laurentian elites, Montreal actually had two kilometres of ice over top of it at that time.
This is where it gets really good and I hope the member for Abbotsford is listening. He also said:
In the 1960s, we were talking about global climate cooling, and we had everybody scared then as well. In the 1970s, we spoke about acid rain and concerns existing around that. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was all about global climate warming. In the year 2000, it was Y2K. Since global warming and global cooling did not seem to match what was happening in reality, we now simply talk about climate change. When we think about the environment, we think about the things that have to be done.
He late continued:
Things change; the climate changes. That is how we got our rivers. I know I deal with the effects of climate change right now when I have to go out into my field and pick rocks, because that is how they got there. These are the sorts of things we have to realize. Things do change.
That was his Conservative colleague speaking in the House, the member for Red Deer—Mountain View, just two days ago.
I apologize to the members for Abbotsford and Calgary Forest Lawn for almost falling out of my seat when I heard the member for Calgary Forest Lawn say that Conservatives believe in climate change. Now there might be a really interesting caveat there that they are neglecting to mention as to whether they believe that humans have caused climate change. The member for Red Deer—Mountain View clearly told the House that it has been changing. He just says that it is okay because it is just part of the cycles of earth and nature.
The question is whether they believe that humans have caused it. I think that is where there is going to be a problem, with the grassroots, as the member for Sarnia—Lambton referenced, as 54% of them said at the last Conservative convention that they do not believe in climate change.
Imagine that in a political party in the 21st century, in the year 2023, when we have fires raging on the east coast and we have fires in Alberta. We are literally witnessing the impacts of climate change on a daily basis in this country, and they are still throwing their hands up in the air saying that none of that is true, we did not cause climate change and this is all normal, folks. Nothing to see here.
Again, I apologize profusely to the member for Abbotsford if I offended him when I almost fell out of my seat after listening to the rich rhetoric coming from the member for Calgary Forest Lawn.
Nonetheless, what I find really interesting, which has been said a couple of times in the House today, if not more than that, is the number of times Conservatives have brought forward a motion on our price on pollution. Do colleagues know how many times they have brought forward this motion since this Parliament was formed a year and a half ago?
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Twice.
Mr. Mark Gerretsen: Twice? No, it is more than twice.
Mr. Warren Steinley: Eight, or 10?
Mr. Mark Gerretsen: Madam Speaker, I understand that even my Conservative colleague across the way cannot even keep track, but guess what. It is more than eight.
Mr. Warren Steinley: I said 10.
Mr. Mark Gerretsen: Madam Speaker, this is the 10th time Conservatives have brought forward a motion about pricing pollution. It is a motion that has been defeated in the House not nine times but 10. Do members know who has voted against it? Every political party except the Conservative Party has voted against it.
I often think to myself, from time to time, because of the growing similarities between the Conservatives and the Bloc members, that we have the Bloc-Conservative coalition here. They say the NDP-Liberal coalition. We can start saying the Bloc-Conservative coalition. However, not even their coalition buddies in the Bloc will agree with them on this issue. Even the Bloc Québécois members, as right wing as they have become in recent months, if not years, believe that climate change is real and that we have to price pollution.
It is a very basic, fundamental concept that, if we want to change market behaviour, we put a price on something. This is economics 101. This is the fundamental rule people are taught about supply and demand and affecting market decisions, in an introductory course to economics. However, somehow, the political party in the House of Commons, the only party that cannot understand that, also happens to be the party that purports itself to be the saviours of the economy. The only party in the House of Commons that somehow understands how an economy works is also the only party that disagrees with countless numbers, hundreds and thousands, of economists who say that this is the way to do it. The Conservatives disagree with the basic fundamental principles of how an economy works, but somehow they like to build up this image that they are the ones who know what is best for the economy.
I should make it very clear that, although I am talking about Conservatives right now in the current context, I am really speaking about these particular Conservatives. These particular Conservatives are even further to the right than the Conservatives with whom I was elected in 2015. Members will remember that it was only a year and a half ago that all of the members of Parliament who are Conservatives ran on a platform that actually said that they wanted to price pollution.
I have here with me, in both official languages, the plan. It is called “The Man with the Plan”. This is the Conservative Party platform from 2021, which is something I am sure all Conservatives are very proud of because they ran on it.
Madam Speaker, I do have it in both official languages, so with your indulgence, I would seek unanimous consent from the House to table, in both official languages, the Conservative platform. Could I have unanimous consent?
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