Mr. Speaker, I have a more general question for my colleague. I am speaking English because I will be reading part of an article that I have in front of me right now.
I hope the member will agree with me that the better interests of Canadians do not only reside in the economy factor but also in the environmental factors: the respect of our own values and our own principles in our economic relationships with other countries.
In the article, it states:
During the 2008 campaign, [the Prime Minister] promised to ban the export of raw bitumen to countries with weaker emissions targets.
[The Prime Minister] said the federal government had the constitutional authority to enforce a ban. And the Prime Minister acknowledged that such a ban could impact exports to Asia.
Later this year, after the 2011 campaign, the Minister of Natural Resources said, “Our 2008 platform commitment remains in effect”.
Is that promise still in effect or will we be selling a Canadian company to a Chinese company when we know China has weaker emissions targets than we have?