Mr. Speaker, approved by parliament in 1988, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act aims at protecting the health of Canadians by preventing pollution through national standards and their enforcement.
The act follows the traditional pattern of federal-provincial relations in which the federal government takes the lead role. A province can implement the act but it must do so at an equal or higher standard.
The act is now being revised in committee. It has become clear that the federal government is best situated to set national standards and to enforce them. We live in times of greater internationalization of environmental policies. We therefore need a strong federal role in standards setting so as to better protect the public from toxic substances and their effects on human health.