This is the full statement from MP Lapointe regarding Andrew Scheer’s stop in Sudbury today.

 I have some advice for Andrew Scheer. Before coming to Sudbury, he should do his homework first.

People living in Sudbury, and across northern Ontario, who heat their homes with oil are receiving the same three-year pause on the carbon home heating levy as those living in the Atlantic region.

And if Mr. Scheer can do a stopover in Toronto while he’s touring our province, he should ask his Conservative pal Doug Ford to step up for the people of northern Ontario and give people a rebate on the cost of heat pumps, just like other provinces are doing.

And while Andrew is chatting it up with Doug, can he ask him when he’ll finish the four-laning of Highway 69?

There are good reasons why our government made the decision to pause the levy on home oil heating.

1. The cost to heat with oil is significantly higher than other heat sources such as propane and natural gas. In fact, in some regions, it’s four times more expensive.

2. Oil is the dirtiest form of home heating. It produces more greenhouse gasses than both natural gas and propane. And that’s not good for our planet and our children’s future.

3. People who heat with oil are largely in the lower income bracket. They want to switch their heating source but can’t afford it. Our government is helping them do just that with the three-year pause and the heat pump rebate.

This means we are giving people short term solutions and relief during the time it may take to implement the long-term measure of replacing their home heating oil with a heat pump.

The Conservative Party don’t want to just cut the tax on heating fuels, they want to get rid of the pollution tax permanently. They don’t have a plan to fight climate change and secure a resilient future for our children and future generations. Instead, they want to recklessly axe Canada’s climate plan and targets.

Canadians know we need to meet our climate targets. We cannot accept devastating floods and wildfires as a new normal. Ignoring climate science is not an option.

Canada is working towards a clean energy transition. We know critical minerals are a big part of that transition. There is no net-zero future without critical minerals. But Pierre Poilievre, Andrew Scheer and all the Conservative MPs voted AGAINST Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy, which included a $3.9 Billion investment.

For Sudbury, Poilievre is a danger to our economy and the future of our workers. Poilievre says critical minerals are a waste of time. That means Conservatives won’t invest in Sudbury and that’s NOT acceptable to me.

Sudbury does not deserve Conservative politicians, especially a failed leadership politician from Saskatchewan, who shows up during a Parliamentary work week, on your tax dollars, to sell Sudbury on Poilievre’s election campaign.

What Sudbury deserves is an MP who is working hard on their behalf in Ottawa. I’m here today doing that work.