IN THE HOUSE – ‘ Prime minister pours more fuel on the fires of inflation’
(Image: ourcommons.ca
Excerpt from Oral Questions (Question Period) in the House of Commons on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024):
Frank Caputo (Conservative) Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, violent criminals are first, victims second. That is the Prime Minister‘s motto. Sexual psychopaths like Paul Bernardo and Terri-Lynne McClintic get to play tennis and live comfortably in lower-security prisons while victims serve psychological life sentences. This happens because of Bill C-83. The Prime Minister says that everybody in jail should be at the lowest level of security possible.
That begs this question: Why does the Prime Minister prefer criminals over victims?
Dominic LeBlanc (Liberal, Beauséjour-New Brunswick) Minister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows very well that is not the case. He knows that all members of the House should properly be concerned about victims of crime. I think all members of the House should also be judicious with respect to continually repeating in the House the names of Canada’s most heinous criminals. We think, on this side, that is also disrespectful to victims.
Heinous criminals remain in federal prisons where they belong, and our government will always stand up for victims, including by not repeating over and over again in the House the names of heinous criminals.
Frank Caputo Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will say a name: Tori Stafford. One of her relatives wrote to me about what the minister said just yesterday. He said something similarly insensitive. If he were to read the note I got, I think he would be on his feet withdrawing.
The NDP-Liberals want to give a temporary tax trick, while permanently raising the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. Here is the choice: The NDP-Liberals want to remove the GST on a few things and Conservatives want to axe the carbon tax on everything permanently.
Will the Prime Minister call a carbon tax election so we can axe the tax?
Arif Virani (Liberal, Parkdale-High Park, Ontario) Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, today is a tremendous day in the House of Commons. Why is it? It is because we are giving a tax break to Canadians so they can buy essential things like groceries, snacks, kids’ clothing, kids’ boots and diapers, all tax-free. It means the same, starting on December 14, for buying beer or wine to enjoy with one’s friends or family. Going to a restaurant and grabbing some takeout will also be tax-free for the holidays.
The best question that the Conservative member can ask his leader is whether this time he will be unmuzzled and unleashed to actually vote for an affordability measure in the chamber.
Frank Caputo Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Speaker, this is nothing more than the arsonist pouring more inflationary fuel on the fire. Just this past May, the Prime Minister said that if we send out more cash, “inflation goes up by exactly that amount”.
Here is our common-sense solution: Axe the tax for everyone forever, which means cheaper gas, groceries, home heating and everything that is shipped. That is a Christmas present everybody wants.
Will the NDP-Liberals call an election so we can axe the tax?
Arif Virani Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear the member opposite talking about Christmas, because that is what we should be talking about: having a festive season. His leader, unfortunately, was talking about trickery. I thought he was still stuck in Halloween mode.
Here we are talking about the festive season and what we are going to do to make it better for Canadians. We are going to ensure that the toys they buy their children are GST-free. We are going to ensure that the Christmas tree they put up in their home to gather around is also tax-free. That is something I think every member of the chamber should get behind.
However, to date we have no idea whether Conservatives will actually support an affordability measure that helps Canadians for Christmas. Will they?
Source: OpenParliament.ca
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Mr. Caputo states “The NDP-Liberals want to give a temporary tax trick, while permanently raising the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. Here is the choice: The NDP-Liberals want to remove the GST on a few things and Conservatives want to axe the carbon tax on everything permanently”
The debate in the House of Commons about the rebate is just ‘smoke and mirrors’ which ignores the real culprit driving inflation, which are demand pull post Covid 19 and exchange rates. People most affected are wage earners who spend most of their income on necessaries (food, shelter and clothing). For most people the pain is much bigger than the few bucks they have us arguing about.
What this comment ignores about the Carbon Tax is costs or externalities that are not passed on by producers to the end user in the price of pollution of the product that they sell.
The atmosphere, in fact, is a global public good, protecting it benefits accrue to all, so making private bargaining solutions and internalizing the costs in production is unfeasible.
There are few mechanisms to compel those who benefit from GHG-emitting activity to internalize these costs and risks to reflect the cost of the end product.
These costs include higher health care costs; and forgone production opportunities, for example when pollution harms activities such as tourism there is less money in the city budget which is made up by fees, taxes, licences and the like. The like being a property tax hike.
In short, when externalities are negative, private costs of the polluter, are lower and not internalized than social costs caused by the polluter are spread over the taxpayer.
Yes, axing the Carbon Tax may lead to innovation which benefits all of us but in the end is the benefit amount equivalent to the cost of the harm to society as the whole?
Looking at atmospheric accumulation of greenhouse gases from human activity has been identified as a major cause of global warming. Carbon tax is intended to protect clean air, clean water, biodiversity, and protection of fauna and flora. These are things that we own collectively so what value do we place on this? Mr. Caputo’s, Mr. Trudeau’s or Mr. Sing’s values or do we use a collective action plan since the cost is born by all of us?
Although there is room for market-based corrective solutions, government intervention is often required to ensure that benefits and costs are fully internalized. The only way to deal with this is through government policy and Carbon Tax is one such policy.
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