QP: The plan to phase-out heating oil

Posted on by

The prime minister and all other leaders were present, albeit temporarily. Before things got started, Speaker Fergus gave another exhortation to improve their decorum, following a disruption during Members’ Statements. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he talked about the so-called “second carbon tax” that doesn’t exist, and switched to English halfway through to call on the PM to denounce what Gudie Hutchings said on the weekend. Trudeau read a script in French to praise their programme to help people switch to heat pumps, including free pumps for low-income households. Poilievre was fully in English to denounce the so-called “two classes of Canadians” that this heating oil pause created, and demanded the whole price be cut. Trudeau insisted that this was a step toward getting everyone off heating oil and onto heat pumps. Poilievre insisted that this was an attack on national unity, to which Trudeau denounced this as disinformation, and pointed out that most people get more in a rebate than they pay in carbon prices. Poilievre then misquoted the PBO on the costs of the carbon price, and mischaracterised what Trudeau said about the heating oil pause, to which Trudeau tried to more emphatically insist that they wanted to get free heat pumps to low-income households in provinces where they have an agreement. Poilievre insisted that he wanted to get rid of the price for all people in all places, and wanted it paused until the next election so it could be put to the public. Trudeau insisted that the Conservatives have lost three elections in a row on denying climate change and that the Liberals would show them that once again.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wanted a concession on reducing immigration targets, given that it was the subject of the Bloc’s Supply Day motion. Trudeau launched into a paean about how great and necessary immigration is for the country. Blanchet demanded support for their motion, and Trudeau talked about how they engage with stakeholder, and indicated their support for the motion (which is surprisingly considering that the motion is entirely concern trolling).

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he demanded the government remove the GST on all home heating—a programme that is largely unworkable and disproportionately benefits the wealthy. Trudeau talked about how years ago they agreed to phase out coal, and now they are doing the same with heating oil. Singh repeated the question in French, and got much the same response. 

Round two, and Andrew Scheer tried to call out Dan Vandal for not protecting people on the prairies from the carbon price (Wilkinson: This pause is about addressing a key affordability issue while reducing emissions; Eighty percent of people get more back than they pay in carbon prices ), Adam Chambers tried to play rhetorical games in demanding the carbon price be cut (Guilbeault: We have reduced emissions below 2005 levels; Noormhamed: The Governor said the price only increases inflation by 0.15 percent and that cutting it would only have a temporary effect), and Luc Berthold tried to needle the Bloc about supporting carbon prices (Guilbeault: You have no plan for climate change; at least four Québec members of your caucus supported climate pricing in the past but are now shifting like weather vanes). 

Christine Normandin demanded documentation on Quebec being consulted about immigration levels (Miller: The agreement with Quebec on immigration goes back to 1991; Intake capacities are taken into account, and the province is consulted constantly), and Stéphane Bergeron insisted that if new targets are announced tomorrow it wouldn’t have been done with proper consultation—showing that he just read a script and didn’t listen to past answers (Miller: You should listen to what I said).

Lianne Rood demanded an exemption on carbon prices in Ontario (Boissonnault: We have always take a regional approach to economic development, and look at investments we made in your region; Wilkinson: We are addressing affordability while fighting climate change), and Joël Godin claimed that Quebec was somehow paying for the heating oil pause (Guilbeault: You worked for the Charest government who was taking climate action, but now you’re shifting like a weather vane; Duclos: You accompanied me to a town affected by climate change and now you’re pretending it doesn’t exist).

Jenny Kwan demanded that existing application applications for Gazans be extended for extended family members (Joly: We are putting pressure on Egypt, Israel and Qatar to ensure Canadians are brought back safely), and Matthew Green appeared by video to decry the government not bringing in anti-scab legislation fast enough (Fisher: We have wrapped up consultations, and legislation will be tabled by the end of the year).

Round three questions on the fictional “second carbon tax” and the “pause” on heating oil (Wilkinson: The focus is on addressing affordability challenges, and the investment in heat pumps will save people money while polluting less; You are opposing clean energy jobs in your province; You don’t believe in climate change; Guilbeault: Offshore wind could be a boon for Atlantic Canadians but you stand against it; Boissonnault: We have always responded to region needs and put in support for Alberta and Saskatchewan for carbon capture; We cut child poverty thanks to the CCB that you voted against; You’ve been working with the premier of Alberta who is axing support for renewables and is threatening pensions), on extending the CEBA loans (Valdez: We listened and extended the deadline; Guilbeault: We eliminated subsidies on fossil fuels and went further than other G20 countries), a plan to cut the federal subsidy for civil servants in the North (Vandal: I am working with Treasury Board on this), and demanding a non-profit acquisition fund for housing (Fragiskatos: The idea merits further consideration).

Overall, it was a fairly dull day, which is not unexpected when you simply ask the same thing over and over and over again, with varying degrees of mendacity along the way. The government still hasn’t figured out the best way to sell the home eating oil “pause,” but Trudeau made a valiant effort in selling this as a phase-out of home heating oil across the country, but I’m not sure how successful it really was. Nevertheless, there was a sense that Jonathan Wilkinson was the one being made to stand up and eat shit for most of those 45 minutes because of the way this has been rolled out, compounded with what Gudie Hutchings said over the weekend. The only positive was Taleeb Noormohamed correcting the record about what the Bank of Canada actually said about the carbon price’s effect on inflation (because this government has a seeming inability to do that as a matter of course), and I am kind of enjoying Steven Guilbeault going after the Quebec Conservative MPs who were former members of the Charest government, including some ministers, who voted to put carbon pricing in place in the province, and calling them out for acting like weathervanes because their current leader doesn’t care about climate change.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Anita Anand for an eggplant jacket over a white collared shirt and black slacks, and to Dan Mazier for a dark grey suit over a white shirt with a pink tie. Style citations go out to Alain Therrien for a dark navy jacket over a light blue shirt, dark blue tie and blue jeans, and to Shelby Kramp-Neuman for a white and beige sweater-dress with black sleeves over black leggings. Dishonourable mention goes out to Brenda Shanahan for a black suit over a yellow top with black spots.