Uncommons Weekly: September 20th

A look back at the first week back in the house

Parliament is back in session and it’s nuclear winter vs the carbon rebate, Poilievre vs Singh, and election speculation vs reality. Hard to believe it’s only been one week.

As always, send questions and topics you want us to cover at info@beynate.ca and we’ll see you next week.

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Welcome to Uncommons Weekly. Parliament is back in session, and winter is coming.

Nuclear winter that is.

In a bizarre speech to start the parliamentary session, Poilievre told his caucus that the price on pollution will cause mass hunger, malnutrition, and shut down our entire economy.

Yes, it sounds like I’m making that up. I know it sounds like that as I say the words out loud. 

But it’s true. See for yourself.

That’s the leader of the official opposition and possibly/likely Canada’s next prime minister

Now, I know you’re not a sucker. So do me a favour.

The federal price and rebate system applies in most of Canada, everywhere that isn’t BC, Quebec and the Northwest Territories.

If you live in a province or territory where it applies, go log in to your bank account, and look at your deposit for July 15: the line item is the Canada Carbon Rebate. Go look. I received $280. $140 for me, $70 for my spouse, and $35 per kid. 

The next payment is October 15, then January, then April.

The payment is quarterly. Yes, that is times 4. So over $1,000 for a family of four in Ontario.

There’s a 20% increase in the base amount for people in rural areas. And the base amount is even higher in other provinces - because the revenue from the price stays within each province - so the money collected in Alberta doesn’t get redistributed to Ontario, it stays in Alberta, rebated to Albertan families.

 A rural family of four in Alberta, by the way, will receive over $2,100  in the Canada Carbon Rebate this year. 

Now, some people ask: How does it even help if you just pay the money back. 

Well you don’t just get paid back the amount that you pollute. That system wouldn’t work.

No, you get the same rebate no matter what you do, to make it fair. And you pay more or less depending on how much you pollute, meaning businesses and consumers look for ways to pollute less. 

The fact is that most people will be a little better off on a direct cash transfer basis after these 4 rebates. The poorest Canadians will be much better off.

So no, Jagmeet, the price doesn’t put the burden on the backs of working people. 

And no, Skippy, people aren’t sent to the food bank because of a price/rebate system that offers hundreds or thousands of dollars back in people’s pockets at the end of the day. The idea that 25% of kids are going hungry and 2 million people are at the food bank because of the price on pollution is on the same plane of reality as blaming immigrants for eating pets. 

Of course, some people, the people who spend the most on fossil fuels and pollute the most as a result (you know, the people with big cars, big houses), will be a little worse off. But we’re all better off with serious climate action in the long run, given the costs of extreme weather and the costs of our insurance premiums.

If you prefer more costly subsidies or regulations to reduce emissions, then have at it. If you just don’t care about climate change, so be it. If you live in BC, and you want Eby to send the money back in rebates the way the feds do, vote accordingly.

But don’t tell me nuclear winter is coming because of a price/rebate system that ensures the poorest Canadians are better off. 

I much preferred the opposition leader who talked about housing unaffordability and railed against gatekeepers, even if he ignored that those gatekeepers are mostly provincial conservatives. 

Mortgage payments have jumped for millions of people, rent payments are running away from incomes too. And while inflation is now thankfully down to 2% - and while the Bank of Canada is on pace to keep cutting rates throughout the year after 3 rate cuts already so far, the record high inflation of the last few years is still baked into grocery store shelves.

And you want to tell me that nuclear winter is coming because of a price/rebate system that pays me and my family over $1,000 a year, with those rebates rising each year alongside the price on pollution. Okay, and the Jays are going to play in October too. Can’t wait. 

I’m happy to have a carbon tax election if it means this is the nonsense we’re up against.

Of course we’re not going to have an election any time soon. With parliament back, the conservatives immediately tried to jam the Bloc and NDP with a vote of non-confidence in the government.

And it was met rightly with a shrug. 

As I said to the media on my way into caucus, if there’s an issue before the House that seriously divides the NDP, Bloc, and Liberals in a serious way, then we might expect an election. But why in the world would the NDP and Bloc give in to Poilievre’s grandstanding?

And grandstanding is generous. Because it’s actually much nastier than that. 

While the Bloc was the first to dismiss Poilievre’s gimmicky non-confidence vote, Poilievre instead went after the NDP’s Singh, contrary to all rules in the House. 

*Video insert*

"He is a fake, a phony and a fraud. How can anyone ever believe what this sell-out NDP leader says in the future?"

*End of insert*

In response, Singh left his seat in the House, apparently saying “I’m right here bro” 

And I’ve got to be honest, it felt a lot like when Singh confronted the protesters earlier in the week, telling the cowardly hecklers to “say it to my face.”

You could almost imagine Singh getting up in Poilievre’s face to confront him, and Pierre weakly telling him “I don’t know who called you a fraud, it must have been the person behind me.” And you look behind Pierre to see Michael Cooper who looks around at his Conservative colleagues and says  “I just got here, I’ve never met these people, they just wanted a picture with me.”

Now, I want to leave you with three things this week.

First, and unfortunately, we can expect much more of these theatrics over the course of the fall session. Poilievre has shown us there’s little he won’t do or say, however nasty, in order to get ahead. And so it begins.

The government should stay above the fray where it can. Let Poilievre show his nasty side, while we focus on delivering. 

Moving forward with additional reforms to ensure immigration is sustainable.

Contributing to the global effort to address Mpox.

Expanding dental care before Conservatives have a chance to cut a program that has helped hundreds of thousands of people.

Responding to a court striking down Harper’s unconstitutional laws.

Changing mortgage rules to address access to housing. And while these recent changes will help first-time home buyers enter the market, let’s stop overselling fairly marginal changes as the boldest in decades. I hope we see a more serious focus on community housing supply in the coming months. It’s not acceptable for Canada to spend half of the OECD average on social housing, especially in the face of an obvious affordability crisis. 

And with Anand, Leblanc, Freeland, and Carney all now focused on productivity - I have no issue with reducing barriers to internal trade and expanding regulatory sandboxes. But let’s confront the real challenge: we are a country of oligopolies, from airlines, to banks, to grocery stores, to telecoms. We need a consumer rights and protection agenda, and to demand more competition.

Second, with another by-election loss, it’s time for a serious overhaul. Everything I’ve said in the past stands. The need for competence, contrast, a clear agenda and narrative. We also need fresh faces. It’s time for a cabinet shuffle - more Millers and Frasers are just waiting on the bench. It’s September - time to show the fans who’s going to be in the big leagues next year. 

Third, Terry Fox is a Canadian hero. The man dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12 1980, and proceeded to run over 5,000 kilometres before cancer cut his run short on September 1. He inspired so many - helped to raise incredible sums of money in the process - to fight an awful disease.

Convoy supporters may never have understood that many of us were outraged at the way the Terry Fox memorial was disrespected.

And now we see convoy adjacent protesters disrupt a ceremony commemorating Terry Fox at the new location of the Fox monument on Sparks Street in Ottawa.

So let me just say, if you’re going to disrespect Terry Fox, you don’t get to call yourself a god damn patriot.