Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) Committee on Feb. 8th, 2007

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I think when the public accounts are released we will have spent more money than the previous government.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

How much? You're the Minister of the Environment. Tell Canadians how much you have spent.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

We will have spent more money than the previous government.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

How much? Is it $5.8 billion?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

We're not going to spend money on things that don't work.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

You can't answer the question, can you, Minister?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

You are double-counting and counting money over five years.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

You can't answer this question. You're the Minister of the Environment and you can't tell Canadians how much money you've spent in the last year?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

We will spend more money—

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Should we call the Minister of Finance to tell us?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I'm not going to take advice from you on the government. You were the chief adviser to the Prime Minister on the environment, and that's the record. I'm not going to take advice from you, with great respect, Mr. McGuinty.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

I'm just asking a simple question, Minister. Can you tell us how much money you have spent in the last fiscal year? Since you have been in government, how much money have you spent?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

At the end of this fiscal year we will have spent more than the previous fiscal year on climate exchange.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

How much? Give me a number. Give the people of Canada a number.

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

We have been rolling out not insignificant initiatives with respect to energy efficiency, with respect to the transit pass, with respect to public transit, with respect to energy efficiency, with respect to clean power, with respect to research and development. We are coming forward with additional measures, not just in the Department of the Environment but also in transportation and in health.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Minister, you cut $5.6 billion. How much money have you spent?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Very little of that $5.6 billion was ever spent.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Is that what you call phantom programs?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

When you have a program in name and no money spent, yes, I call that a phantom program.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

Is the commercial building incentive program a phantom program, Minister?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

You talk to my colleague, Mr. Lund, and he can give you specifics on that.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

You can't answer the question, can you, Minister?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

I can't give a detailed answer about a Natural Resources Canada program.

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Ottawa South, ON]

You can't even answer how much money your government spent on climate change, can you?

[John Baird, Conservative, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

You can't answer that chart.