Parliamentary Speeches
946 speeches by Adam van Koeverden — Page 10 of 19
Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by reminding the hon. member for Calgary Centre that the Supreme Court of Canada's opinion on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act confirmed that there is no doubt that Parliament can enact impact assessment legislation, so this government will stay in its lane and continue the 50-year-long tradition of assessments to support the environment and the…
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Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court of Canada's opinion on the constitutionality of the Impact Assessment Act upheld the federal government's role in enacting federal environmental assessment legislation, while clarifying federal jurisdiction. The government will carefully and quickly work to introduce targeted and meaningful amendments that are in line with the court's opinion, while continuing existi…
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Mr. Speaker, again, I repeat that there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec. Not only do the Conservatives still not have a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent climate change, but they also have no vision on how to adapt to the effects of climate change. That is not just irresponsible; it is incompetent.
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Mr. Speaker, if there was ever any doubt, the leader of the Conservatives has made it perfectly clear for Canadians that the Conservatives have no plan to fight climate change. They want to take Canada backward on climate action. The Conservatives all ran on a promise in 2021 to price carbon, but when they ditched Erin O'Toole, they ditched any progressive values they once had and the words “clima…
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Mr. Speaker, it is 2023, and if someone does not have a plan to fight climate change and protect the environment, then they do not have a plan for the economy or for affordability either. It is very clear that the Conservative plan is just to cut funding for social services, such as the Canada child benefit, seniors funding and the dental benefit, which has just recently surpassed helping 200,000 …
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Mr. Speaker, I really have to reiterate that there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec. The Conservatives' campaign platform included a clean fuel standard that was almost identical to the one our government put forward. Now they are against it. On top of being hypocritical, that attitude shows they cannot be trusted to keep their word on climate action.
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Mr. Speaker, I live in a rural riding as well. I meet with farmers, and some farmers even as recently as this morning. The hypocrisy from the Conservative side is getting a bit difficult to stomach. It is ironic and in fact disappointing to see this from members like the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis and the member for Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, who used to be Liberal provincial minist…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec. It is false to claim otherwise. Canadians are concerned about the cost of living, climate change and the impact of natural disasters on our health and our economy. That is why we have put in place a pollution pricing system that addresses those kinds of concerns.
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Mr. Speaker, I often wear running shoes around the Hill and today is no different. Today, I'm sporting my kicks with ParticipACTION for their “sneak it in” campaign. Everyone knows that being physically active is important for our physical, mental and social well-being, but for some people it can be more challenging to access some of those opportunities. I am thrilled that our government is suppor…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question and his work on this very important subject. Systemic reform and a change of culture in sport are absolutely essential. Our sports system does not do enough to protect our children or to hold the leaders of sports organizations to account. It is important to realize that, right now, there is a lot of work to be done.
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Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for his question. We have started working on a safe sport framework for Canada. It will include implementing safe sport requirements such as the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner and the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport. Canada is a leader in fighting for a safer sport system in Canada.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to be in the House tonight for an adjournment debate with my hon. colleague. I agree with the member that the unfettered marketing of opioids to people in the United States and in Canada has led to extreme amounts of harm. Our government is here to ensure that we achieve accountability with Purdue Pharma. We are currently working with provinces and territories on the…
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Again, Madam Speaker, I look forward to discussing this in person upon the return of my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. Indeed, the federal government is making Canada's largest-ever investment in protecting the nation's sources of all fresh water, which includes the Great Lakes. Commitments recently announced by the government during U.S. President Biden's visit includes some of the ove…
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Madam Speaker, I will say this again. We are all entitled to our own opinions but not our own facts. This is not a Liberal-NDP approach to solving the addictions epidemic by helping people who are suffering from addiction. It is an evidence-based response. It is one that is internationally recognized by all stakeholders. I would encourage the member to perhaps schedule a meeting with Moms Stop the…
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Madam Speaker, I sincerely look forward to the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands' return to the House. I hope that my friend is doing well. I hope that she is recovering and feeling good. I look forward to having this discussion, hopefully, in person when she returns to the House of Commons. I would like to focus the first half of my answer on the greenbelt. It is a moment to celebrate. It is a mome…
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Mr. Speaker, the violence in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel has left many Canadians in deep pain and in a state of trauma. Our neighbours in Milton have shared how the violence and bloodshed have caused them immeasurable pain, fear and heartbreak. Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and anti-Semitism are on the rise in Canada and that is a direct result of the violence in the Middle East. This is compl…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec because the Province of Quebec is a leader in the fight against climate change. Second, Canadians are worried about the cost of living, but they are also worried about climate change and the impact of natural disasters on our health and our economy. We put a price on pollution to address those two concerns.
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Mr. Speaker, the agri-food sector has endured more extreme weather events, particularly in the province of the member, such as increasingly severe and frequent storms, soil erosion, erratic and unpredicted rainfall, and higher-than-ever temperatures, including here in Ottawa in the last three days. That all results from climate change. As farmers always do, they have persevered. They have develope…
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Mr. Speaker, what the member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame will not say is that next week, climate action incentive payments will be arriving in the bank accounts of his constituents. He should make sure they know those are coming. If the member really believes in affordability, then he ought to vote for Bill C-56 and the Atlantic accord, which he is standing against. This is not the Conser…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is very important to consider our impact on the environment. That is why our government put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. That is one of the key measures in our emissions reduction plan. Oil and gas companies have shown many times that they are able to innovate and develop other new and competitive technologies.
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Madam Speaker, it is nice to be in the House tonight to talk to my friend and colleague from Kitchener Centre. It is my pleasure to rise today to speak to the importance of democratic reform in Canada. The Government of Canada is committed to strengthening Canada's democratic institutions. Our electoral system, the fundamental rules determining how votes are translated into seats in the House of C…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the follow-up from my colleague. I am capable of coming into the House and having an honest and open conversation without accusing my colleague of being shameful or anything like that. I hope we can carry on forthwith in that regard. I thank my colleague again for voicing the concerns of farmers, who are crucial, as I mentioned in my answer back then. I also live in a r…
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Madam Speaker, we do not need to go back and forth in arguing what our opinions are on this matter; there are actual economists in this country who are measuring these things. The member can go consult that data on how the carbon price impacts food inflation and the cost of groceries. The reality is that it is climate change that is driving food inflation. Any farmer will tell us that climate chan…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my colleague. This crisis is having a tragic and unrelenting toll on Canadians, their families and communities. There are four pillars, recognized internationally, that are necessary for a successful substance use strategy, and they are irrefutable. These pillars are well-established in the medical community. I am not a doctor. The member is not a doct…
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Madam Speaker, it is categorically false that the government has not supported recovery options. That is absolutely not the case. Harm reduction services are a vital part of a comprehensive, compassionate and collaborative public health approach to problematic substance use, which includes prevention, enforcement, treatment and additional social and health supports. I appreciate the invitation fro…
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Madam Speaker, I think most members of the House of Commons have their own strong views on this. This really comes down to how we arrive in our current place of work. Every community is very different. I think of, given the diversity of Canada's landscape, how different a riding like Kitchener Centre is from the Assistant Deputy Speaker's riding on Manitoulin Island, a place that I love to visit, …
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague for his tremendous leadership on this bill. It is important in my riding as well. I have lots of fruit and vegetable growers in Milton, and I want to give them a shout-out because I go to the farmers' market every Saturday in Milton. I love fresh produce, and we want to do everything we can to support them. One of the biggest threats to …
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Madam Speaker, I hope my hon. colleague and friend is doing okay. I can hear in her voice that she is a little under the weather. I wish her a quick recovery. The member underscores it perfectly. I hope she does not mind it if I borrow her earlier idea that if one does not believe in climate change, one might not believe in gravity either. It is so important that we continue to stand up for what i…
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Madam Speaker, that is actually not true. Canada's emissions have fallen, and Canada's emissions per GDP have fallen dramatically, in fact, and it is a result of action by this government. However, there is a lag period as well, because the previous government did almost nothing to fight climate change. It thought it was a big joke. The Harper government referred to the Kyoto protocol as a “social…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the commentary by my colleague from Lakeland in Alberta. I love Alberta and visit often. I always enjoy a warm reception when I am there. There are a couple of things that I take umbrage with in the member's speech, namely, child poverty rates. According to child poverty rates in 2015 when this government took office, Canada was ranked 24th in the OECD and today, thanks…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague's argument is, in fact, doomed to fail. Quebec has had a cap-and-trade program for over a decade. Perhaps that is because, unlike the Conservatives here, Premier Legault's government genuinely believes in fighting climate change. Quebec's food inflation is equivalent to Ontario's, and we are looking to implement real solutions for affordability. The Conservatives have n…
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Mr. Speaker, on a day when we are confronted with climate change denial and actions to bring us back to a Harper era, when Harper called the Kyoto accord a “socialist” regime, it is actually heartening to hear from members in the House who are following through on their commitments from the last election, where we all ran on a commitment to price carbon. I appreciate the question from my colleague…
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Mr. Speaker, the Canada recovery dividend was a pandemic program, and it was a one-time tax program for banks and life insurance. Since then, we have continued our work to eliminate inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that are encouraging smart government investment, because that is going to increase Canada's global competitiveness. In budget 2023, our government also announced our $120-billion clea…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disgraceful how the Conservatives are using people's financial struggles and pain to reinforce inaction on the environment and climate change. Canadians know how important it is to fight climate change. They know that on this point the Conservatives have absolutely no credibility and no plan for affordability or to fight climate change. If they do not have a plan for the environ…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Setting an emissions cap for the oil and gas sector is one of the key measures in our plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas companies have proven time and time again that they are capable of innovating and developing new, competitive technologies. We will continue to work with the provinces, territories and stakeholders to take act…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague knows the importance of fighting climate change, because wildfires tore through his riding this summer. I agree that when Doug Ford decided to cancel the cap and trade, which created billions in revenues for the Province of Ontario to fund health care, green initiatives and education, it left Ontarians in the lurch. However, the federal backstop program delivers th…
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Madam Speaker, I am here for an honest and open conversation and debate on important issues, and it is common decency to stick around as colleagues answer questions. That is the least we can ask of each other. To get to the core of the question, we are all focused on affordability. It is wrong to conflate fighting climate change with rising affordability costs and the hardships of Canadians and to…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the member for Toronto—Danforth, my co-parliamentary secretary for environment and climate change, as well as natural resources. The opposition is once again tabling a motion that it claims would help Canadians with household costs, but in actuality, it seeks to weaken our efforts on fighting climate change. I will take a few minutes now …
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Madam Speaker, it looks to me like my colleague is trying to pick a fight with the Bloc Québécois today, but I will nonetheless ask him a question. When my colleague ran for election, he pledged to put a price on carbon. Given that Quebec has succeeded in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, as a proud Quebecker, does he not support his province and the environmental plans on which he campaigned…
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Madam Speaker, here is the very problem. The Conservatives want to use the pain of Canadians to drive this notion that fighting climate change is affecting their pocketbooks. If we ask any economist, that is wrong. The member is leaving the room; he apparently does not want to listen to the answer. The reality—
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise on behalf of the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change this evening to talk about our plan to fight climate change and ensure affordability for Canadians. Before I start, I spent the summer in my riding talking with my constituents and asking them how we can help more because things are expensive these days. When I was not meeting with my constituent…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to come into the House and talk about our efforts to fight climate change. Canadians across the country are well aware of the fact that 2023 has been a devastating year with historic wildfires in Canada that have impacted people in the member opposite's riding, all across Alberta and all across Canada in unimaginable ways. However, the member opposite stan…
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Mr. Speaker, the issues raised by my colleague opposite are serious ones, but time and again we see Conservatives abusing adjournment debates, abusing late shows and coming in and talking about issues that are not on the agenda. Tonight, we are talking about climate change and we are talking about carbon pricing. The opposition should know better than to constantly claim that carbon pricing does n…
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Mr. Speaker, as previous speakers have, I would like to thank you for serving in this capacity tonight. It is great to see you in the green chair. I am always glad to have the opportunity to speak about the government's record on housing, and I am excited to talk about our plans for the future, because the current government has prioritized housing since the beginning of its mandate. Indeed, we ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I listened closely and what I just heard following my personal story about co-op housing, which is a form of non-market housing and a form of social housing, is the member opposite refer to that as neo-Marxism. I find that repulsive. We are talking about finding solutions to people's problems and the market to date has not solved those problems. To suggest the government needs to get …
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Mr. Speaker, the concerns raised by my colleague opposite are what we have heard from the Conservatives over and over again. They would like to blame carbon pricing for all of the affordability challenges Canadians are facing. However, it is clear to me that this member has not gone to an economist. The Conservatives have not even looked at the simple math. They have not read the PBO report, which…
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Mr. Speaker, personal attacks on my character and my former career notwithstanding, I do not care. That does not matter. What matters is that we are standing up for Canadians. We are standing up for affordability, and we are fighting climate change, because that is what I heard at the doors in Milton and that is what I heard at the doors in Caledon. I congratulate the member for being elected. I w…
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Mr. Speaker, individuals and families under the federal system receive direct rebate payments. It is not something that any of the Conservatives ever acknowledge. They just talk about how much it costs families. It is important to also acknowledge and be very clear that a family of four in Alberta receives $386 four times a year for a total of $1,544 annually. For 80% of families, that accounts fo…
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Madam Speaker, it has been a good summer, and it is nice to see you back here in the House of Commons. It is also nice to see my friend and colleague from Kitchener Centre. The member from the Green Party is a voice of reason in this House, and I want to thank him for bringing really good ideas forward to this House. I have accepted this new position as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of E…
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Madam Speaker, I know that Conservatives do not like to deal in facts, but I am going to put a few facts on the table and the first one is around affordability. In 2006, when the Conservatives came into office, Canada ranked 17th in the OECD when it came to child poverty, and by the time they left in 2015, Canada ranked 24th. It is a little hard to take them seriously when they talk about poverty.…
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