I’d like to take a moment to offer clarity and acknowledge the concerns that I have heard from constituents in my riding.
Affordability is top of mind for many based on the feedback I have received. Please know I do hear you, I have been and will continue to deliver for you and champion your concerns with my parliamentary colleagues.
This message is echoed by so many Canadians, and the added complexity for those living in rural areas like Nickel Belt. It is undeniable that we have colder winters and that our communities are spread further apart than many. We recognize as a government this can sometimes make it difficult to make greener money-saving choices due to upfront costs. That is why the Greener Home Grant was launched to help financially support Canadians to access more energy-efficient options for their homes – from heat pumps to new window-sealing and much more.
There has been a recent campaign launched by Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative party, and his team, spreading outright lies concerning some changes made to carbon pricing — namely related to the portion on home heating.
He is pushing fear and false information, from denying the science of climate change to misrepresenting details about many government policies and his own record. I have said it before, I do not choose to play political games for personal gain at the expense of people’s emotions and I am very disappointed that the Conservatives have made fear-mongering and disinformation their playbook.
Here are some facts to help clear the air and dispel falsehoods:
Residents with a household income under $121,000 who heat their homes with oil in Ontario are eligible for support from the Federal government of up to $10,000 to acquire a heat pump- not just Atlantic Canada.
Currently, the Provincial Conservative Government in Ontario has not come to the table, but if a co-agreement was signed, residents could receive another $5,000, essentially making heat pumps free.
Heat pump technology is continually improving, and many cold European countries have successfully been heating their homes with them for decades. When temperatures dip below cold thresholds, heat pumps do not stop working – they just continue to work effectively at 100-per-cent efficiency, rather than their normal 200-per-cent efficiency
An average family of four in Ontario receives nearly $976, a couple $732, and a single individual $488, all broken down into four quarterly payments provided by the Climate Action Incentive Payments.
Additionally, the rural supplement of the Climate Action Incentive payment is being doubled for rural Canadians. This means eligible people will receive an additional 10 per cent, bumping them up to a 20-per-cent rebate.
Temporarily suspending the fuel charge on homes heated with oil across Canada. Home heating oil is up to four times as expensive as natural gas or electricity, and has been impacted by global inflationary pressures such as Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and supply constraints from OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia.
The combination of support for heat pumps with pausing pricing on home heating oil will help Canadians who use oil heat to swap their expensive furnaces for energy and cost-effective heat pumps, helping to eventually phase out home heating oil in Canada.
Poilievre likes to claim that much of the increased cost of living is due to the revenue-neutral carbon price (which he calls a carbon tax). He blames inflation and the high cost of food on the carbon price. This is patently false. Poilievre’s big lie about the carbon price is exactly that, a lie. The reality is that Canadians are paying more for energy commodities, some have seen an increase nearing 75 per cent since 2021. This is due to global conflicts, shortages, and other external factors. The Federal Government does not regulate fuel commodities.
When Poilievre says he would “axe the tax”, what he’s really taking an axe to is our planet’s future and to axe the rebates that provide 8/10 families with more than they pay. Since becoming leader of the Conservative party over a year ago, Poilievre has refused to even acknowledge climate change and fails to present any semblance of a climate plan.
As communities across this country were burned by wildfires this summer, Poilievre poured fuel on the fire by spreading disinformation and directing his party to vote against important climate investments. While Canadians were losing their homes to devastating floods, Poilievre failed to rise and quell the concerns with even an attempt at a climate plan.
No one likes taxes, which is why the federal price is revenue-neutral. What the Conservatives fail to tell you is that the cost of inaction on climate change is significantly greater than climate action and all of the jobs and economic activity associated with taking action.
Over the past five decades, the costs of weather-related disasters like floods, storms, and wildfires in Canada have risen. Between 2010 and 2019, insured losses for catastrophic weather events totalled over $18 billion, and the number of catastrophic events was over three times higher than in the 1980s.
When you put a price on something, there will be less of it. By pricing pollution, Canadian innovators have taken the initiative to innovate low-carbon alternatives in every sector from transportation to agriculture and industry. This can include things like electric cars and buses to swapping coal furnaces for steelmaking with electric arc technology.
These changes make our industries more attractive to investment, and therefore more competitive in the long term, securing sustainable jobs for workers for generations to come. This also means that our communities do not have to bear the costs of local pollution to our air and waters.
By taking action, we can lead world in the multi-billion-dollar economic opportunity presented by a cleaner and more prosperous economy. In our own community, this looks like leadership in critical minerals and the bioeconomy, along with investing to support Indigenous climate action solutions.
Ultimately, protecting the environment while also tackling national affordability challenges is possible and necessary – which is why we have made great strides in both. Here are just a few examples of those achievements:
Affordability:
Making housing more affordable by building more homes, cracking down on speculation, and banning foreign investment.
Made $10-a-day childcare a reality for all Canadians families and created hundreds of thousands of new high-quality and affordable childcare spaces.
Introduced the new Canada Child Benefit, which gives more money to the families who need it most — lifting nearly 435,000 kids out of poverty.
Lowered the small business tax rate from 11% to 9% to make it easier for Canadians to start and grow the company of their dreams.
$73.97 billion in federal funding over 10 years for Ontario, including $8.413 billion for a new bilateral agreement focusing on the four shared health care priorities.
Introduced the Canada Dental Benefit to help lower dental costs for eligible children under 12 years old.
The Government of Canada has permanently eliminated the accumulation of interest on all Canada Student Loans including loans currently being repaid.
Environment:
Banned the use of single-use plastics.
Delivered billions of dollars in investments in the battery economy, from EV plants to processing facilities to critical minerals mines.
Doubled down to attract investments and jobs in manufacturing zero emissions vehicles in Canada through the $8 billion Net Zero Accelerator.
Planted millions of trees, towards our target of planting 2 billion trees while supporting other nature-based climate solutions.
Launched the Canada Greener Homes Initiative which helps homeowners save money, creates new jobs across Canada for tradespeople, technicians and energy advisors in the fight climate change.
History has shown that Conservative governments abandon rural Canadians. As someone born and raised in Nickel Belt, I have a deep appreciation for the natural beauty we are surrounded by and the amazing people who live here and I wholeheartedly believe we can both protect the environment which is an instrumental piece to protecting the health of residents while also supporting our economy with measures that create good jobs and drive down costs.
Marc Serré is the Liberal MP for Nickel Belt, and parliamentary secretary to the minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
