Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleagues that three elections have taken place in Canada since 2015, and the environment was central to discussions and debates across the country each time. We won all three elections. They may not be pleased about that. What we are going to see in the House tomorrow is that the House has no confidence in the Leader of the Opposition. The House does not tr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to read an extract from a report that came out today from the Insurance Bureau of Canada. It states, “Summer of 2024...ranks as the most-destructive season in Canadian history for insured losses due to severe weather. In only two months, July and August, this summer eclipsed the worst year on record and has pushed the 2024 year-to-date tally to over $7.7 billion” in sever…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague opposite, but unfortunately, almost everything he said is untrue. Greenhouse gas emissions are the lowest they have been in 25 years. This is the first time in the history of the country that emissions have dropped while the economy is firing on all cylinders. The last time emissions were this low, O.J. Simpson was before the courts and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Conservative Party and its leader are not there to protect Canadians. They are there to protect the interests of their friends, like oil executives who attended a special event for the Leader of the Opposition. I can assure everyone that oil executives do not come to my fundraiser. However, what the Conservatives want to do is take away something. In his riding…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I think tomorrow's vote in the House will actually reveal that the House does not have confidence in the Leader of the Opposition. He has nothing to offer the people of Quebec, whether in terms of the environment, the economy or jobs. He has nothing to offer—zero, niet.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the fight against climate change, which the Conservatives refuse to talk about, or the issue of air quality, water quality or conservation, the Conservatives are pretty much the only ones who do not get it. Workers, unions, businesses, regional governments and experts all understand that there can be no future in forestry if we do not protect our forest ecosystem prop…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, interest rates are down. Inflation is down. Gas prices are down, and pollution is down. Pollution levels are at their lowest in 25 years. What we have achieved is the equivalent of removing 69 million cars from our roads, which means less pollution for Canadians and for our kids, all across the country. We are fighting for climate change. We are fighting for Canadians. We are fighting…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, as usual, all that the Conservatives have to offer are empty slogans. That is why we presented a $468‑million offer the Government of Quebec so that we could work together on reaching an agreement. I wanted us to negotiate an agreement with the Government of Quebec from the start. Unfortunately, the Conservative Party has nothing to offer anyone on this issue.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we held consultations with hundreds of people over the summer: workers, people from the regions, experts, industry representatives, environmental groups and first nations. The order is being developed, and there is a very simple way for us not to have to impose our order. The Quebec government must, as it has promised, present a plan for protecting caribou habitat. It is quite simple.…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and, if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, (a) on the day the House begins the debate on the second reading motion of Bill C-76, An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act, one member of each recogni…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, setting aside the fact that both the Parliamentary Budget Officer and 300 economists have said that eight out of 10 Canadians get more money than they pay in carbon pricing, we have a report today from the independent organization, the Climate Institute, which shows that emissions were down again in Canada in 2023. The report also shows that, without our plan, emissions would be 41% h…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote the member for Edmonton Strathcona. In June 2024, she said, “economists, journalists and members of Parliament have made it very clear that the carbon tax is not what is responsible for the cost of food increasing so much.” I can also quote the member for Victoria, who said, “the PBO has put out a number of reports that confirm...that 80% of Canadians get more mo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague that, in 2013, the Harper government used the same emergency order to protect a species. It was not radical then, but suddenly it is radical now because we are the ones using it. It is hogwash. I met the workers too. They came to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Experts, environmentalists, the first nations and work…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
moved for leave to introduce Bill C‑76, An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in 2021, Environment and Climate Change Canada, ECCC, and nine indigenous communities established the Crown-indigenous working group for potential oil sands mining effluent regulations, CIWG. The CIWG is exploring options to manage the buildup of oil sands mine water in tailings ponds located in the Athabasca oil sands region. One of the options under consideration is regulations that…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, information on the GDP, or gross domestic product, impact estimates of the clean fuel regulations for 2030 is included in the regulatory impact analysis statement, published along with the regulations in 2022 at https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2022/2022-07-06/html/sor-dors140-eng.html. To evaluate the direct impact of the regulations, as well as the effect of relative price changes…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have a news flash. We had a carbon tax election in 2021, and the Conservative Party had a platform that said that they would put in place carbon pricing in this country. Maybe they just have to go to look back at their own platform. Again this morning, the Parliamentary Budget Officer was in committee saying that eight out of 10 Canadian families, where carbon pricing applies, get m…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for the question. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has indeed received a request for an assessment of the project. That assessment, as is usually the case, is ongoing and the agency will make a recommendation to me in the weeks to come. However, I would like to share something with the House. The leader of the Green Party and I, as …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has a collaborative relationship with the Parliamentary Budget Officer, or PBO. We always have and always will cooperate fully with the PBO’s requests, including by providing all the specific documents and information that respond to the parameters of his requests. Environment and Climate Change Canada, or ECCC, like all departments in the government, routinel…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be back with you for the new session. That said, might I remind my colleague from the Conservative Party that the Government of Quebec has committed since 2016 to presenting a woodland caribou recovery plan in Quebec. We are now in 2024, soon to be 2025, and we have been waiting eight years for the plan. In 2022, the Government of Quebec signed a joint letter with…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if only you knew how many times I met with Quebeckers this summer. They think it is completely ridiculous to talk about a coalition between the Liberal Party of Canada and the Bloc Québécois, even though we are capable of working together. Quebeckers find the idea of such a coalition completely ridiculous. However, we should not be surprised at comments like that coming from the Conse…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), since 1996, only one company has reported undertaking weather modification activities in Canada, Weather Modification Inc., which operates a hail suppression program in Alberta. With regard to (b), annual operations happen between June 1 and September 15 each year. The objective of the cloud seeding operations is to reduce hail damage caused by thunderstorms in cen…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a), figure 5.1 reports emissions from the national inventory report of greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. Cropland emissions are determined using an internationally accepted method, which has been modified to reflect Canadian soils, climate, crops and management practices. It is further adapted based on empirical data collected from research studies acros…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in response to parts (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v), with respect to the protected areas addressed in Bill S-14, an act to amend the Canada National Parks Act, the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, the Rouge National Urban Park Act, and the national parks of Canada fishing regulations, extensive consultation and engagement on the intent to expand or complete the establish…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a), figure 5.1 reports emissions from the national inventory report of greenhouse gas sources and sinks in Canada. Livestock emissions are determined using a standard Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, methodology and consist primarily of methane emissions from livestock production and manure management. The method tracks enteric methane emissions fr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that climate change has already cost Canadians $25 billion in the last 10 years alone. Not five years from now, not 10 years from now, it is already happening. If we do not do anything, it is going to be an extra $35 billion to Canadian taxpayers. What we are doing on this side of the House is we are helping Canadians fight climate change and we are helping Canadians wi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to remind my colleague that I was born and raised in the very beautiful town of La Tuque, just south of Lac‑Saint‑Jean, in the very beautiful riding of my friend, the Minister of Industry. Second, Quebec itself has been promising to present a caribou recovery plan since 2016. In a joint letter between the federal government and the Government of Quebec in 2022, the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, eight out of 10 Canadians do better where the federal system applies. The Conservative Party of Canada, after campaigning to put in place carbon pricing during the last election, has now turned its back on it, just as Conservatives have turned their backs on Canadians. Their only answer to climate change is to ignore it and to let the planet burn. This is immoral. We will not let that…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I said it earlier in English, but for the benefit of my colleague, I will say it in French. Canada just received the 2024 Climate Scorecard award for its performance in the fight against climate change. Between 2019 and now, we have been a top performer in the G7 when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I completely agree with her that more needs to be done. That is why we …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague, who recognizes the importance of combatting climate change. However, I disagree with the premise of her question, since Canada is the only G20 country to have eliminated subsidies for fossil fuels. We did this two years sooner than any of our G20 partners. We even went further by committing to also eliminating public subsidies from Crown corporations for fos…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would invite the member to update his speaking notes, which date back many months. We just received, in fact, the Climate Scorecard 2024 Government Climate Leadership Award for one of the best performances in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction since 2019 in all of the G7 countries, something that has never happened under a Conservative Government of Canada and will never ha…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if anyone in the House ought to resign, it is the member who just spoke. Back in 2021, he campaigned on a promise of putting a price on pollution and introducing a clean fuel standard. What are the Conservatives doing today? They have turned their backs on those promises. They are the ones flip-flopping. They have no plan for the economy. They have no plan for helping Canadians deal w…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I again thank my colleague for her question. I would remind her that last year, for the first time in Canada's history, we adopted a national adaptation strategy. The provinces, territories, indigenous peoples and experts worked together to develop this strategy to help us prepare for the impacts of climate change. In fact, all the provincial, territorial and federal ministers are sch…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, facts are facts. The facts are that eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back from carbon pricing than they pay. It is a fact that climate change is going to cost Canadians $35 billion by 2030. In fact, right now, eastern Canada is seeing a second heat wave before the summer has even started. People are being evacuated in the Northwest Territories. What is the Conservative…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, if anyone should resign in this House, it is the people who are misleading Canadians about the benefit of carbon pricing. There is 25 million tonnes less pollution in this country because of carbon pricing. We have a plan to work with Canadians to help them better prepare to face the impacts of climate change. The Conservatives have nothing: no plans for adaptation, no plan to reduce …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is sad to see the Conservative Party of Canada continue to display its complete ignorance on the issue of climate change. The member should just turn around and speak to the member behind him. She was part of a provincial government in Quebec that introduced a price on pollution long before the federal government did. As he knows full well, or should know by now, the federal price …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a), developing and maintaining good-quality Canada-wide data on how plastic moves through the economy is necessary to transition towards a circular economy in Canada. The federal plastics registry, the registry, will provide critical data that will identify opportunities for the government to take further action to reduce plastic waste and pollution, as well as he…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her question. As she probably saw in the last budget, this year we have again invested extra money to be better prepared for forest fires. By the end of the year, we will have trained more than 1,000 firefighters across the country. We are working with our partners in the provinces, territories and indigenous communities, as well as the interna…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I must correct my colleague. This is not optional. It is an obligation that Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is going to impose on all financial institutions. My colleague is speaking only about the big banks. I am not talking only about the big banks; I am talking about all financial institutions. The two of us agree on one thing…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, not only did we invest additional funding in the most recent budget to increase our capacity to deal with forest fires, but last year we also implemented the first climate change adaptation plan in the history of the country. We worked with all the provincial governments. We are working with municipalities. We are working with indigenous communities to implement measures to help our…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the people who should resign are those who, hundreds of times, have voted against providing Canadians with clean air and clean water and protecting the environment. This is not tens of times but hundreds of times. If anyone should resign in the House, it is those people. Eight out of 10 Canadians are better off because of carbon pricing where the federal program applies. We are help…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. She should know that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is already implementing measures to ensure that all financial institutions in Canada, not just the big banks, disclose their investments in fossil fuels and their exposure to climate change risks. That is already being done, thanks to our government.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, yesterday, we took a major step toward launching Canada's 2030 nature strategy by introducing Bill C-73, the nature accountability act, in the House. Canada is the second country in the world to do so. The bill would hold our government and future governments accountable in making progress on our ambitious nature protection goals. The bill and the strategy provide a coordinated appr…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, this side of the House will take no lessons from people who are incapable of doing even basic math. This is the party that told us a few weeks ago—although it never mentions it now—that if we were to remove all federal taxes on gas over the summer, people in Alberta, for example, could save $1,000. I tried using math, and that failed. I tried using culture, and that failed too. Now …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, that is so ridiculous. First, the data sent to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, at his request, confirms that where the federal price on pollution applies, eight out of 10 families receive more than they pay. Second, it seems like the only thing the Conservatives can calculate is the cost of implementing measures. Of course there are costs, but the Conservatives never talk about th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would agree with my hon. colleague. We think that bank executives should be doing more when it comes to fighting climate change, and putting money where their mouth is, which is why the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is putting in place measures to ensure that the officials at banks and other financial institutions disclose their climate risks. We have also…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we will never hesitate to be there for Canadians, to defend their right to clean water, clean air and a clean environment, unlike the Conservative Party of Canada. The extent of the Conservative Party's ignorance on this issue is beyond the pale. All the member has to do is turn around. If he were to turn around and talk to the member sitting right behind hi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his advocacy for environmental and climate change issues. I would like to remind him that just a few months ago, we signed an historic agreement with all of the B.C. first nations, the Government of B.C. and the federal government: $1 billion for nature protection to help the province achieve the goals we have in Canada to protect at least 30% of our land…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, once again, he has proven just how ignorant the Conservative Party of Canada is when it comes to climate change, since federal carbon pricing does not apply in Quebec. Quebec has a system in place. The Leader of the Opposition simply has to turn around, look three rows behind him and a little to his left. Then he will have the opportunity to talk to someone who voted in favour of carb…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and for his many very relevant answers to questions. I would like to ask him the following question. The claim is that this will cost the Canadian economy $25 million, but that does not take into account the annual benefits of investments made in the fight against climate change. That figure is $25 billion a year now. It also does not take into ac…
Read full speech →