Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, Canadians are starting to recognize what the Conservative Party is all about. It was really highlighted last week when, en masse, they voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement, using carbon pricing as a wedge against it, suggesting that it was because the agreement mentions carbon pricing. It is worth noting that the agreement does not insist that either country have a …
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I first have to, unfortunately, correct the record on a couple of things. Back in 2015, Canada was trending to exceed 2005 emission levels by 10%, but by 2030, we will have effectively bent the emissions curve. We had a lot of work to do, since the previous Conservative government under Stephen Harper comple…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on a $66.7-million funding agreement that our government made with the City of Edmonton earlier this year to guarantee over 2,000 new and refurbished affordable housing units. That could not have been possible without the fantastic leadership of their amazing mayor, Amarjeet Sohi. Despite the fact that I have never heard the member stand up …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers are betrayed by the Conservatives. My apologies for the misstep.
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Mr. Speaker, who knows a thing or two about farming and climate change? It is the farmers who work in the breadbasket of the world, Ukrainian farmers. Who asked Canadian parliamentarians to vote for the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement? Ukrainian farmers did, and so did the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and President Zelenskyy himself. Ukrainian farmers are betrayed by this federal government. Th…
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Mr. Speaker, the agri-food sector is affected probably more than any other sector by climate change. In a year when we saw increased floods, more frequent storms, soil erosion, sporadic and unpredictable rainfall, and fires across this country that devastated rural communities, driving people out of their homes and causing destruction, it is really disappointing that the Conservatives still do not…
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Mr. Speaker, it is refreshing to talk about how we fight climate change and not whether we fight climate change, constantly debating with the Conservatives whether climate change even exists. I agree with the leader of the NDP. Establishing a cap on oil and gas emissions is one of the key commitments of the government's emissions reduction plan. Canada's oil and gas companies have proven repeatedl…
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing radical in the House is the leader of the Conservative Party's constant climate denial. As I just mentioned, the Conservatives are trying to use climate denial in an attempt to justify their shameful vote against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement yesterday. However, I have news for the Conservatives, Ukraine already prices carbon, along with other European countri…
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Mr. Speaker, we would think that after two decades working here, having had no other job before that, I might add, the member opposite, the leader of the Conservative Party, would know that the Senate is independent of this place. There was a time when Canadians could look to the Conservatives for leadership on climate action, back when Brian Mulroney led the fight against climate change and when …
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Mr. Speaker, we would think that after two decades in this place, the member opposite might know that the Senate is independent of this place. However, there was a time when Canadians could look to Conservatives for a little bit of leadership on fighting climate change. Brian Mulroney was—
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is the first time I get the chance to say, “Welcome back to the House” to my friend and colleague. It is good to see her happy and healthy and standing in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is so much better with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands here; I have to say that. It is great to be in a conversation where we talk about how we fight climate change and not whether w…
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Madam Speaker, this Trump-style, Republican brand of politics that the member is bringing to this House is unwelcomed by members from almost all parties. It is a shame that there are still remnants of the Canadian Alliance Party in this House. There is absolutely no space in this House for this kind of overblown conspiracy theory. This is the third time in as many weeks that I have heard a member …
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Madam Speaker, I will not for a second apologize for stating the facts and the truth in the House of Commons, which are fully ratified by Canadian media sources. I have them all in front of me here. One does not have to go very far to find the conspiracy theories that the member has been peddling for over two decades in the House of Commons. I have one here where she did backflips to attempt to ap…
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Madam Speaker, I am glad the member opposite acknowledged that this plan to change the way we price carbon with respect to home heating oil is specific to the product and not the region, which is what we have been saying. It is a national program. I know that there are many Albertans and many folks who live in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia who still use home heating oil to heat their…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, it is National Child Day. The theme for 2023 is “#EveryChildEveryRight.” I am proud to be co-hosting a reception today with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, or UNICEF, to bring more attention to children's rights, particularly those impacted by war, poverty and disease. Last week, I hosted 23 high school students from Milton in my office to voice their conce…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and colleague for advancing this legislation. As I have discussed with him, Halton has deep roots in the horse industry. We have Woodbine Racetrack. The first-ever Liberal MP for Halton, John White, was a horse owner and his horse won the 1860 Queen's Plate. We have lots of horse advocates and plenty of horses in Milton. I have heard from a lot of my co…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to answer this question. To my friend and colleague from Calgary Shepard I say dziękuję bardzo. I know he is a member of Polish heritage. I spent lots of time in Poland and I love the country very much. I used to race over there on Lake Malta. It is nice. Before I start my speech, I would like to correct the record, if I could. I believe the member oppos…
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Madam Speaker, our government has been there to support Canadians. I want to point out that when colleagues opposite suggest certain people are paying more for certain things, it really does a disservice to the debate and the quality of the conversations we have in this House. I want to point out that the quintile of Canadians who might receive less back in the climate action incentive than they p…
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Madam Speaker, I do not want to avoid answering the question, but the member just called into question whether or not I can be honest in this chamber, and I think that goes against parliamentary procedure. That was unparliamentary language, and I would ask him to stand and apologize.
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Madam Speaker, I will say it again: The rebate of $1,360 is what families of four in Saskatchewan receive through the climate action rebate. The member might wave his hands and say that is just hogwash. Two members from Saskatchewan are now waving their hands at me as if $1,360 were irrelevant to their constituents. I think it actually is quite relevant and it is quite a lot of money, money that w…
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Madam Speaker, I can tell that the member opposite cannot explain to his constituents concepts like a market-based instrument or how a revenue-neutral carbon pricing scheme works, because he cannot explain it in the House, and he could not explain it at the doors in 2021 when he ran for the Conservative Party. Therefore, allow me to. Yes, indeed, our carbon pricing plan is revenue-neutral. That me…
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Madam Speaker, this denial is beyond just climate change denial. The member was indeed instructed to take videos off of her YouTube feed, and she did take those videos down. There was one, a particularly disgusting video the member put up, that included an image of the Prime Minister with a noose around his neck. The member opposite can continue to yell and bring into the House news that is not ev…
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Madam Speaker, I do not even know where to start with the only MP who voted against the Paris Agreement. She always has more climate denial and conspiracy theories in this House than I can handle. I would remind the members opposite that they all ran on a similar plan in 2021 to price carbon. In fact, the Tories reprimanded the member of the Conservative caucus over her comments on climate change.…
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Madam Speaker, here we go. Conservatives are pretending as if a carbon tax is going to stop a hurricane in its tracks. That is the type of rhetoric we hear from these Conservatives: How many hurricanes has this carbon tax reduced; how many emissions; how many tonnes of carbon has the tax removed from the environment? Obviously, the members opposite are unwilling to do a bit of reading to inform th…
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Madam Speaker, 2023 saw the worst wildfire season on Canadian record. It was also the hottest and driest year ever on record, leading to hundreds of thousands of Canadians being evacuated from their homes. It is our firm belief that decisive actions need to be taken in order to mitigate these impacts and better protect our environment and communities for generations to come. In the face of that, t…
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Madam Speaker, regardless of how loudly the Conservatives would like to yell at me, climate change is indeed—
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. colleague, although I reject the premise. Climate change is real, and it is having really devastating impacts in Canada. Again this year, communities across our country were severely impacted by catastrophic storms, wildfires and floods. In fact, 2023 has indeed been the hottest year on record.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to speak to this opposition day motion today. As the opposition notes, Canadians across the country are facing more and more dramatic impacts from climate change. They are also struggling with the sharp increases in the cost of living. That is why we have put in place a comprehensive emissions reduction plan, which is the most comprehensive national climate p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with the leader of the NDP that climate change is not some passing fad. It is the crisis of our generation. It is an emergency. I also could not agree more that the Conservative big oil lobby is on display every single day in this House, denying that climate change exists, denying that climate change is human-caused and denying that it is a priority for the go…
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Madam Speaker, the member continues to yell that it is a big conspiracy and it is censorship to tell her to take those videos down. I did not tell her to take those videos down. The Conservative Party told her to take her videos down because they were full of nonsense, misinformation and conspiracy theories about climate lockdowns and about governments that were going to put into place certain res…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I must explain once again that there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec. Canadians are concerned about the cost of living and climate change. Any serious government must have a plan for both. These Conservatives are not worth the risk. That is why we on this side of the House have created a system.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said last week, it would be great if, in the House, we could have debates about how we fight climate change, not whether we fight climate change, because in 2023 it is really not an option. It is an existential threat, and we are living in a climate emergency. Canadians know how important it is to fight climate change, and they know that on this point, the Conservatives have abso…
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Mr. Speaker, there was a time when Canadian Progressive Conservative voters could rely on members of the Conservative caucus for leadership on fighting climate change. In fact, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills staked his entire Conservative leadership campaign on it. He said, “The right way to do it is to price carbon through a revenue-neutral carbon tax”. He staked his entire Conservative l…
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Madam Speaker, it is important. Unfortunately, I have to repeat, myself yet again: There is no federal carbon tax in Quebec, but members from Quebec can contribute to the fight against climate change. Fighting climate change while helping families make ends meet is a winning solution for everyone. A price on pollution is the most effective and affordable approach for Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to reinforce the fact that it is a Canada-wide program, and it is about getting Canadians off home heating oil, not in one region but in all regions, because heating a home with home heating oil is expensive, dirty, unhealthy and the most emissions-intensive way to heat a home. A home heat pump would provide relief economically and on the environmental side as we lower …
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Madam Speaker, our vision is to move Canadians who currently use home heating oil, which is the most carbon-intensive, the least healthy and the most expensive way to heat a home, onto an efficient heat pump. I know for a fact that there are a lot of constituents in New Brunswick who still use home heating oil, but the premier of New Brunswick still has not signed on to our heat pump program. I am…
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Madam Speaker, after a year in which Canadians have experienced record hurricanes and destruction from other natural disasters such as wild fires, the Conservatives still cannot say the words “climate change”. They cannot acknowledge that climate change is impacting our economy, our livelihoods and, in many cases, our very lives. We need to step up and fight climate change. It is time we stopped d…
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Madam Speaker, pricing carbon is a market-based solution. I know the member for Calgary Centre is an economist, and he is a smart guy. We have spent some time in the House debating such issues, but a market-based instrument is not a controversial one. We are talking about the most expensive, the dirtiest and the most emissions-intensive way to heat a home. We need to get Canadians off that product…
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Madam Speaker, I will accept that the member for Calgary Centre probably has zero constituents who use home heating oil. That is not true across the whole province. There are Albertans who use home heating oil and are not on propane or natural gas. The difference between propane and natural gas and home heating oil is that home heating oil is way more expensive, way more emissions-intensive and le…
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Madam Speaker, there are Canadians in every province and territory who use home heating oil to heat their homes. It is the most expensive way to heat one's home, and it is the dirtiest way to heat one's home. It is the most emissions-intensive way to heat a home, and it is also the least healthy way to heat a home. Our Canada-wide program will get Canadians off home heating oil and using a heat pu…
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Madam Speaker, my friend and colleague, the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes knows that he ran on a platform to price carbon in the last election. He promised his constituents that he cared about climate change. As I said before, it would be great if we could spend some time in this House debating how we fight climate change, not if we fight climate change. Not onl…
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Madam Speaker, all of the Conservatives, including that member, ran on a platform that included a plan to price carbon. They also ran on a plan with a clean fuel standard almost identical to what was proposed by our government. Now, that member has many constituents who use home-heating oil, and that is bad for our air quality, it raises emissions, it is the dirtiest and it is the most expensive w…
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Madam Speaker, I think it is important to point out, since the question came from a member from British Columbia, that British Columbia does not have a federal carbon tax, it uses its own, and it is actually a leading province on fighting climate change. Conservatives keep claiming that pollution pricing is driving up inflation, and that is just false. This is about moving away from the dirtiest w…
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Madam Speaker, fighting climate change while helping families with their affordability challenges is a dual priority, and a serious plan needs to have both. Our government is standing up to take action on the environment in a way that directly helps Canadians. The recent changes are about home-heating oil, the dirtiest way to heat one's home. As a rural member of Parliament, a lot of my neighbours…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Madam Speaker, I proudly grew up at the Chautauqua Co-op. It was a vibrant community built with federal funding from Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal housing strategy back in the eighties. We do not have enough public non-market housing in Canada, and that is a real problem, so I am proud of the government for investing over $1.5 billion in non-market housing solutions going forward. However, this…
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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, 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, I will just reiterate what a refreshing debate this has been to participate in. I sincerely wish we could be having conversations in this House about how to fight climate change, not about whether to fight climate change, as with the Conservatives. Climate change is an existential threat. We are in an emergency, and the debate from the Conservatives over whether we should do the bare …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I rise to correct the record on something we hear quite consistently from the Conservative side, which is that eight out of 10 families in Canada do not get more back from the carbon pricing system that we have put in place. It is in fact the case that many families do get more money back. Also, I want to address one thing that we never really talk about, which is who those families…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the importance of universal connectivity and the importance of putting wireless spectrum to use to achieve that objective. I am also pleased to speak about the steps that our government is already taking to see that Canadians from coast to coast to coast benefit from affordable high-speed Internet and cellphone service. When I was elected four years ago, over …
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