During the debate, we asked the New Democratic Party to tell us how much this would cost. They didn't answer our question. Now, they are calling for emissions to be cut by 25% compared to 1990 levels, but they have forgotten that absolutely nothing was done between 1997 and 2005. I'm not trying to blame the Liberals. They are no dumber, or smarter, than anyone else. They encountered a problem and fell behind by ten years. To make up for that, major reduction targets were set. There is even talk of cutting current emission levels by 52%. I see this as hypocritical.
Cutting emission levels by 20% by 2020 is not only the highest target set by any G8 country, but the highest set by any world country. This is the highest target in the world, in terms of an absolute reduction in GHG emissions. Yet, here we have a call to raise the target to at least twice the identified level. According to this table, costs would represent 19% of Canada's GDP. For Quebec, these costs would be about 8%. However, for the other provinces, they would represent 37%. In the case of Alberta, the figure is 51%. These numbers also need to be taken into consideration.
This is the only study that we have. I do not think it should be given priority consideration. It may contain some errors. It was submitted to us by a witness. It is the only study that focuses on the economic side of things. To my Ontario friends, I say that for Ontario, this would represent 23% of the GDP. A cost of 5% already means a major recession. With 23%, we can multiply the effects times five.
People may not want to hear this, but this is the reality. Have my Liberal friends actually read this document? Is there another study out there that refutes these claims? We have not seen it. We requested a copy, but we didn't get one. Now we're being told that we are the ones who are wrong and who are not listening. We raised this question before Christmas and we have yet to receive an answer. We've given the opposition three months to respond, but to no avail. Now, we're being told that we are at fault for not going along. One day soon, we will need to set partisan politics aside and get down to the business of finding real solutions.
The 20% target identified by the government is already the most difficult target to achieve of all G8 and world countries. To raise this target to more than twice the identified level in an attempt to comply with standards, while at the same time forgetting that we need to make up for the eleven years we have lagged behind, well, that is serious business. We cannot make up for lost time in the blink of an eye.
I've done some studies. Take the transportation industry, for example. How many years does it take to replace the inventory of vehicles? Studies show that this takes about eight years in Canada. They are claiming that this process will be cost-neutral.
It's ridiculous to suggest that a change which will affect the entire population and industry will not have any major negative effects.