Colin Carrie

[Energy Safety and Security Act, March 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague started by dealing with some of the misinformation he heard in some of the speeches today. In my community of Oshawa we have many people who are employed in the nuclear sector, for example, which has been proven to be a very safe form of electricity generation.

We hear the NDP's job-killing policies and the fearmongering that goes along with issues such as pipelines and their talk today about Fukushima and the nuclear sector. Why does he think the NDP members have to rely on fearmongering in their speeches and debates?

[Health, March 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are not going to take any lessons from the Liberal Party that cut $25 billion out of transfers to the provinces and territories when they needed it most.

This is our government, and it is committed to the quality health care system that we have. We are putting forward record funding of $40 billion by the end of the decade, and it will provide stability and predictability to the system.

Canadians know that when it comes to health care, this is the party that is committed to the health care system in Canada.

[Health, March 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government will never balance our books on the backs of the provinces and the territories like the Liberals did. They cut $25 billion out of transfers.

Since we have formed government, health care transfers have increased by almost 50%. The opposition needs to stop opposing our budgets, which provide record health funding to the provinces and support nearly 1,300 health researchers across this great country.

[Health, March 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to a strong, publicly funded health care system, guided by the Canada Health Act. Our government is following through on our commitment to provide the highest recorded health transfer dollars in Canadian history to the provinces and territories. This record funding will reach $40 billion by the end of the decade and will provide stability and predictability in our system.

We are focused on working with the provinces and territories on innovative solutions to ensure that our health care system is sustainable and delivering the care that Canadians need.

The opposition needs to get serious on this issue, stop opposing our budgets, and deliver these record health transfer dollars.

[The Environment, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I provided concrete examples of how our government has and will continue to work with its partners to advance conservation in the interests of all Canadians and the Canadian environment.

We have done this in the past by funding effective programs and projects and building on what works. We will continue to do so in the future by expanding on recent announcements and making new ones.

[The Environment, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague will be happy with the answer because no government in Canadian history has done more on the conservation front than this Conservative government. We have clearly demonstrated our commitment to conservation through enforcing existing laws, delivering new initiatives, undertaking research on and monitoring of wildlife, and continuing to fund and improve the partnerships and programs that have been proven to deliver results.

I would like to take this opportunity to list just a few of our accomplishments.

Since being elected in 2006, our government has created two national marine conservation areas, three marine protected areas, three national wildlife areas, two national parks, and one national historic site.

I know the member opposite will be interested to know that our government has significantly accelerated our progress on species recovery planning. In the last three years we have published recovery strategies and management plans for 141 species. This remarkable figure demonstrates our commitment to the protection of species at risk and that we are achieving real results.

Moreover, our government has improved the enforcement of Canada's wildlife laws and has increased the rate of hiring and is training more enforcement officers. These measures have increased our capacity to take action against ivory smugglers and people who illegally import exotic reptiles, for example.

Since 2006, our government has funded co-operative projects that deliver real results for communities and species at risk. Through the habitat stewardship program the government has supported over 2,100 projects across Canada.

Furthermore, as mentioned in our response to the commissioner's report, we are taking action to support conservation and protection of habitats and ecologically sensitive lands. The total area of new lands that we have protected since 2006 is equal to an area twice the size of Vancouver Island. This provides real conservation benefits for Canadians. It is really historic.

While I am up, I would like to ask the member opposite a question. He sits here every day and asks the government to do more for conservation. The good news for him is that in budget 2014 our government not only announced almost $400 million in new money for Parks Canada, but also its intention to create a national conservation plan. It also announced important money for groups such as Earth Rangers.

My question to the him is this. Will he start to walk the talk and stop voting against money for conservation and protecting Canada's environment?

[The Environment, February 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear. We will not be supporting that bill. The government already has tools in place to inform decision making in support of sustainable development. These include strategic environmental assessment, or SEA, and regulatory impact analysis.

SEA is used to identify and assess the environmental effects of federal policy, plans, and program proposals, and must explicitly address their effects on the goals and targets of the federal sustainability development strategy. Most regulations of significance require the publication of regulatory impact analysis statements, or RIAS. The RIAS summarizes the results of cost-benefit analysis, outlining the potential positive and negative economic environmental and social impacts on Canadians, businesses, and governments.

All that is to say that our government has the tools in place to ensure transparency and openness when it comes to environmental decision making, and we have implemented it all without creating a massive, new, and redundant bureaucracy, which the NDP would like to do.

[The Environment, February 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his questions about Bill C-481.

Our government is committed to enhancing the transparency and accountability of environmental decision-making. The fact is that it is our government that created the Federal Sustainable Development Act, which serves as evidence to this commitment.

That being said, we do not see any reason to support the bill from the member opposite, which is calling for a massive new bureaucracy that would provide no new benefit to taxpayers. Rather than a meaningful enhancement of transparency and accountability, the bill would add a layer of red tape that is redundant and unnecessary in light of the actions that our government is already taking and the effective tools that are already in place.

The entire bill perfectly demonstrates the wasteful policies of the NDP. Rather than finding problems that need solutions, it instead wants to increase the burden on Canadian families through higher taxes by coming up with a solution when there are no problems. In fact, I think everyone should be a little concerned at the growing slate of evidence that the NDP does not have a plan for Canada, other than to increase taxes on hard-working Canadians.

That being said, I would like to take the opportunity now to provide an update on the significant progress being made in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Act.

In 2010, our government tabled Canada's first federal sustainability development strategy, or FSDS. For the first time, Canadians had a comprehensive picture of actions across government that contribute to environmental sustainability. Since that time, much has happened.

Since 2011, departments and agencies have produced annual departmental sustainable development strategies that are integrated into their core planning and reporting processes and that contribute to the overarching federal strategy.

Our government has also demonstrated its commitment to measurement, monitoring and reporting, by issuing two progress reports with an expanded suite of environmental sustainability indicators.

The 2012 progress report was tabled in Parliament in February 2013. Fulfilling the requirement to update the FSDS every three years, the 2013-16 FSDS was tabled in Parliament in November 2013.

For that reason, we will not support the NDP in its never-ending crusade to find new ways to waste taxpayers' money. Instead, we will continue to enhance the transparency and accountability of environmental decision-making through our current legislation.

[Ukraine, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today Canada and the free world watch in shock and disbelief at the tragic events taking place in Ukraine. Ukrainian Canadians from all over Canada, including in my home riding of Oshawa, stand in solidarity with people facing violence and intimidation at the hands of their own government.

Canada and Ukraine share common bonds. Ukrainians played a pivotal role in shaping our great nation, especially in my home riding of Oshawa. Canada was the first western nation to recognize Ukrainian independence in 1991.

Ukrainians remember all too well their anti-democratic Soviet past, and they have no desire to go back down that road. Ukrainians have made it known that they want to stand with the western democratic free world.

I call on the Ukrainian government to end the violence and intimidation and to respect the democratic rights of its citizens.

[Intergovernmental Relations, February 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government has indeed invested record amounts in protecting heritage sites and in commemorating the War of 1812. Through Canada's economic action plan, it has been this Conservative government that has undertaken many initiatives to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. These include infrastructure and capital improvements to a number of historic sites across Canada associated with the War of 1812, such as Fort Malden, Fort Chambly, Queenston Heights, and the St. Andrews Blockhouse, as well as significant legacy projects at Fort Mississauga and Fort York.

These investments in heritage conservation are an effective way of ensuring the long-term legacy of the War of 1812. However, it is a shame that the opposition continues to vote against our efforts to invest in commemorating Canada's rich history.