Brad Vis

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Madam Speaker, it is a real privilege to rise today on behalf of Mission—Matsqui—Abbotsford to speak to Bill C-269, an act to amend the Income Tax Act with respect to a heat recovery tax credit. Conservatives believe that we need to empower Canadian business, not with handouts but with broad-based taxation measures to give them a leg-up. We have a history in Canada of providing rebates and tax measures for various projects. Here is another great opportunity to give our Canadian companies a competitive edge. I think of my own riding, which is a major food processing hub and a major food production hub in British Columbia. We have many greenhouses. When people are driving down the Abbotsford-Mission highway and it is about 1°C or 2°C out, they can see these greenhouses just humming. They use a lot of heat, so why not convert that heat into electricity? Why not allow for that in our Income Tax Act? Why not allow for a change to our capital cost deduction measures to give these businesses a leg-up? This is a common-sense measure that would provide some incentive for companies to be more efficient. When they are more efficient it causes two things: They make more money, and they do more to protect the environment. These are principles that all Canadians agree on. These are measures that, in the past, the government would have accepted. We hope its members will vote with us today, because this is a common-sense measure to take an incremental step to help our Canadian businesses. Bill C-269 would introduce a non-refundable investment tax credit for equipment that captures waste heat from industrial processes and converts it to electricity. It would correct a gap in existing clean energy incentives, which currently exclude waste-to-heat power, despite its strong environmental and economic benefits. The bottom line is this: It would help Canadian businesses turn wasted energy into clean, emissions-free electricity using infrastructure and technology that already exist. Across Canada’s economy, 30% to 50% of industrial heat is wasted. Technology already exists to convert much of that wasted electricity into better usage. Under the existing technologies, and if this bill is passed, it would recover one-third of lost energy. There would be zero new emissions with the application of Bill C-269, no new fuel and no new system overhaul. The key point I want to stress today is that this would be one of the simplest, fastest and most cost-effective energy opportunities we can take. It is a good-faith proposal that Conservatives are putting forward to provide a solution that would help many businesses in Quebec, Ontario, our manufacturing hubs and the agricultural sector all across Canada. It is a common-sense measure that would spur investment. It would not cost the federal government any money. It would lead to efficiencies in the operation of Canadian businesses. How can we not get behind such a simple measure?