Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Parkdale—High Park for sharing his time with me.
I am going to take part in this evening's debate first and foremost as the representative of a riding whose constituents follow climate change issues very closely. I believe that it is my duty to share their concerns with the House. I will try to reconcile the fact that it is urgent to take note of the UN report and to do everything we can, as a government and a country, to address climate change, and the need to consider all points of view because we live in a democratic society.
I am rather shocked to hear people denying climate change. I really thought we were beyond that. Climate change has been scientifically proven. It is real. We are no longer at the stage where we are looking for scientific evidence. We are at the stage where we need to agree on how we are going to stop global warming, which is turning out to be much more serious than we thought. Unfortunately, as we all know, it is impossible to reverse it.
This summer, the effects of climate change were blatantly obvious. We had a very hot summer, particularly in eastern Canada. It was a very dry summer that caused problems for our farmers. It was very nice for those who like the heat and spending time in the pool, but it was a major challenge for those who grow the food we eat all year long.
Today, in question period, I was shocked to hear an opposition member complain about the early snowfall in Alberta and Saskatchewan that is jeopardizing cereal crops and then turn around and call for the elimination of the carbon tax. How is it that the opposition does not understand that the early snowfall in Alberta and Saskatchewan is caused by uncontrollable global warming? Right now, there is no way to help farmers deal with these impossible-to-predict weather conditions.
How can they be so inconsistent on the same issue? How can they ask to eliminate the carbon tax and then ask the government to help farmers deal with the early snowfall caused by climate change? That is very inconsistent.
Our government is implementing a plan. It is not immediate since it is almost impossible to implement this type of change in a society like ours overnight. However, for the past three years, the minister and the entire government have been making an incredible effort to transform the Canadian economy.
After 10 years of neglect, we have to invest in green energy, public transit, and green infrastructure across the country. I see it in my riding where we received a major investment from the federal government to build an electric train that will connect us not only to the Island of Montreal, but also to the airport. These are the types of initiatives that might help us stop global warming.
I think that the goal of this emergency debate is to exchange ideas and talk about how to control global warming. Our Conservative colleagues talked a lot about the price on pollution. Can we agree that it would be one of the ways to stop global warming? There are plenty of other ideas.
I heard one this morning that seemed a bit far-fetched. Someone suggested the idea of going back to the rationing that was done during the wars, especially the Second World War, which helped control the consumption of energy, food, and everything. That necessarily decreases production. Is that a solution? It is not for me to say, but that was one of the alternative solutions I heard this morning.
I think that our government is truly determined, not only to achieve, but to exceed the Paris Agreement objectives. We will work very hard to do that, but as a country we really have to find the will to do that. It takes will from everyone. We have to educate our constituents on the effort and sacrifices that are needed. We are going to have to make sacrifices to meet this deadline. Twelve years is nothing in the history of humanity. In 12 years, my grandchildren will not even be adults. It is really for them, for their future that we must make every possible effort to at least achieve these objectives, if not exceed them.
As a government we are making an effort to reduce emissions in all sectors of Canada's economy. For example, we put a price on pollution. We are accelerating the phase-out of coal power. We will develop clean-fuel standards to use more efficient fuels. As I said earlier, we made historic investments in green infrastructure and public transportation. We adopted regulations to reduce methane emissions caused by oil and gas combustion by 40% to 45% by 2025, and I could go on. We truly want all Canadians to be involved in the transition to a cleaner, greener and, most importantly, more sustainable, economy. I think that Canadians expect us to work with them.
We can ask Canadians to stop using plastic bags or to decrease energy consumption, but as elected officials, as a government, as parliamentarians, we also have to set an example in our legislation and in the kinds of policies we support. I believe that the purpose of today's debate is to talk about, discuss, and highlight how urgently we need a consistent Canada-wide policy.
I will stop there. I am sure that my colleagues will have questions, but I do not want to talk for the sake of talking.
