Marcel Lussier

[Quebec Waste Reduction Week, October 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, October 14 to 21 is Quebec Waste Reduction Week in all areas of Quebec.

Action RE-buts, the official organizer of the week, is strongly urging the people of Quebec to participate in this major event and to think seriously, both collectively and individually, about how we produce waste and, more importantly, how we can reduce waste.

Basically, this week serves as a good opportunity to assess how we are managing in terms of reducing, reusing, recycling and composting, in an attempt to make small changes to our everyday actions. This could mean taking the time to re-evaluate our consumption needs, our use of packaging, how we dispose of electrical appliances and all products, and encouraging creative recycling.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all Quebeckers to get involved in Quebec Waste Reduction Week.

[Nobel Peace Prize, October 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, the general council of the Bloc Québécois paid tribute to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their fight against climate change.

I would like to quote Al Gore:

—as long as our civilization as a whole continues to have a mindset that promotes the domination and exploitation of the natural world solely for short-term profit, the devastation will continue. I am convinced that we must choose one course of action unequivocally: we must make saving the environment the backbone of our civilization. And it is time to think about how that can be accomplished.

It is to be hoped that this great conviction will further this cause with the international community and the Conservative government. The Bloc Québécois continues to nurture that hope.

[Phoenix Environmental Awards, June 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on May 31, the Phoenix environmental awards were given out in the Quebec National Assembly's red room for the first time.

Created in 1998, the Phoenix environmental awards focus on people and organizations in Quebec whose actions respect the environment. Projects that took place in whole or in part during the year preceding the awards ceremony are eligible for awards.

Fourteen Phoenix prizes in six categories are given out each year to individuals, institutions or associations in Quebec that demonstrate a commitment to environmental protection. Among other things, the Phoenix environmental awards are meant to encourage the protection of natural places, like Gatineau Park, for future generations.

I would like to highlight the fact that thanks to initiatives like the Phoenix awards, organizations are being rewarded for their work and their commitment to the environment.

[Nuclear Energy, June 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources claims that nuclear energy is a clean energy source, even though managing nuclear waste continues to pose a problem. Rather curiously, the minister claims that there is a renewed interest in nuclear energy.

Will the minister admit that the only ones to actually express such an interest are the western oil companies, and no one else?

[Nuclear Energy, June 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Natural Resources is constantly reassuring us and presenting nuclear energy as a clean energy, even though he knows that managing nuclear waste will cost billions of dollars.

Will the minister admit that, by insisting that nuclear energy is a clean energy, his real aim is to give the advantage to western oil companies?

[The Environment, June 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says he is optimistic, despite this new report. Since the Conservatives came to power, their strategy has been to extend the deadlines as much as possible. Action on the international stage is the same as action here in Canada: the deadlines are being extended.

Instead of waiting for India and China, why not improve the government's green plan with a view to reaching the Kyoto targets?

[The Environment, June 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, despite the flowery rhetoric and solemn commitments that amount to nothing at all, the Prime Minister is so unwilling to establish binding targets that he is already referring to a future meeting that will be held in Bali next December, which will be another step towards adopting binding targets.

Will this government admit that the Prime Minister's approach to the environment looks more like an attempt to pass the buck, rather than a genuine desire to achieve concrete, measurable results?

[Canada Elections Act, June 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska for his excellent speech. I particularly encourage the initiative that he suggested about opening polling stations in schools. My concern is hearing from all the statistics that he provided that the turnout rate among youth is the lowest. I would like to get his view about the proposal to give the right to vote at 16 and if we would anticipate a 16% turnout for these young people. What does he think about this?

[Shawn McCaughey, May 31st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I want to pay tribute to Captain Shawn McCaughey, a 31-year-old resident of Candiac in Montérégie, who lost his life when his plane crashed while the Snowbirds were training for a show in Montana.

Captain McCaughey learned to fly when he was studying physical geography at Concordia University in Montreal, and his dream was to one day fly a CF-18 fighter.

I have expressed my sincere sympathies and the condolences of the Bloc Québécois to his parents, Mr. McCaughey and Ms. Veilleux, who live in my riding, Brossard—La Prairie, and to his fiancée, Claudia Gaudreault, of Chicoutimi.

[Canada Elections Act, May 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Joliette, for his excellent presentation. I would like to ask him two questions.

With regard to the list of electors, does the member for Joliette believe that it is reliable?

Second, can voters still register at the last minute if, for example, they move a few weeks before an election? If they bring proof of residence, can they go to the advance poll or to the polling station on the day of the election? Does the new law change that?