Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of World Meteorological Day it is timely to refer to new scientific evidence provided by the Meteorological Service of Canada which points to the further thinning of the ozone layer in the decades ahead because of climate change.
In fact, greenhouse gas emissions causing ozone thinning are now three times more potent than 40 years ago. Ozone depletion has health implications for humans and according to the medical profession could lead up to a 10% annual increase of skin cancers which now strike almost 60,000 people in Canada every year.
Given the serious consequences resulting from ozone depletion, the government has an additional reason for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and for calling on reluctant provincial governments to do the same for the sake of protecting public health.