Evidence of meeting #37 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was phosphorus.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
Again, I can't comment on that. We haven't checked yet. But I would want to know the will of the members as to whether you want to meet on Thursday, yes or no.
Make a motion, Mr. Bigras, and we'll go from there.
Bloc
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
I have no problem with that, but I do not want to encroach on a motion already passed by the Committee calling for a review of the tar sands issue during the week of June 16. I think it is important to respect what the Committee has expressed in that vote. If it isn't possible to meet Thursday, we could certainly postpone clause-by-clause consideration until we return in September. I have no problem with that, since we have just passed a motion to extend the Committee's study of the bill.
Is the clerk able to confirm that, in accordance with the motion that has just been passed, it would be possible to wait until we come back for clause-by-clause consideration? If the government agrees, that would be perfectly acceptable to me.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
You've heard Mr. Bigras' suggestion. Can I get a response from Mr. Warawa?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
We won't worry about Thursday. We'll carry on with what we're doing on Monday and Wednesday next week. The meeting on Wednesday, as you know, is cancelled. Is everybody in agreement with that?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Mills
Okay, let's carry on until we hear the bells. We'll go to a Liberal member.
Mr. Scarpaleggia.
Liberal
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
Yes. Can I leave now?
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
No, not yet! I have two or three questions for you, Mr. Carignan. At the risk of straying from the central issue, I would like to hear your opinion on the new policy—the new protocol adopted by the Government of Quebec, and specifically the Quebec Ministry of the Environment, for blue-green algal incident reporting. Some people feel there is a lack of transparency; others are saying that it's because the Government of Quebec doesn't want to be alarmist and that the problem is not as serious as people have been made to believe in the past.
Are you prepared to comment on that?
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
Yes. I believe the Government of Quebec made a very wise decision, because it was quite clear that the media had been exaggerating the magnitude of the cyanobacteria problem.
In reality, there are only fifteen or so waterways in Quebec that are seriously affected by cyanobacteria. All of them are waterways that have been impacted by agriculture. There is a cyanobacteria problem in many other lakes as well, and there it is a sign of poor environmental management, even though it is not a very serious problem.
As I was pointing out earlier, there has been only one fatality linked to cyanobacteria in the United States and Canada in the last 50 years. This is not a public health issue; it is an issue related to poor environmental management, particularly as regards unsustainable agriculture.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Thank you.
You seemed to be saying earlier that the exemption in this bill should not necessarily be limited to hospitals and that you are open to the idea of extending it to educational institutions, restaurants, and so on.
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
As a precautionary measure, I believe it should be extended to all institutions where pathogenic contamination could be spread to others. In my own mind, that primarily means hospitals.
Should restaurants be included? I don't know, but my personal opinion is that they should not. Of course, a restaurant patron may not like to see water spots on his wine glass. But people have got to make a choice: do they want sparkling clean glasses or do they want to protect the environment?
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
In hospitals, we are talking about people who are ill, but these days they don't keep patients in hospital for very long, because of budget cuts. It is quite true that public health issues are not necessarily limited to hospitals.
Do you think there is anything we may have missed?
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
No; my only point was that, by getting into a discussion of agriculture and buffer strips, we were getting off today's topic, which is Bill C-469 dealing with phosphorus concentrations in detergents.
We should not just forget about the other issues. However, my view is that those issues have to be resolved one at a time. You will never be able to draft legislation that deals with all sources of phosphorus at the same time. We have to resolve this problem piece by piece. And, phosphorus concentrations in dishwasher detergents are a small piece that we can resolve easily.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Perfect. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
So, can I leave now?
Full Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montréal, As an Individual
Fine. Thank you.
Conservative
Luc Harvey Conservative Louis-Hébert, QC
Mr. Carignan, please don't leave just yet. I do have questions for you, but I would like to address my first question to Ms. Jelley.
Is the soap used in Canada imported or manufactured primarily here in Canada?
Director, Policy, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
It's mostly imported.
Conservative
Director, Policy, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
Yes, it's from the U.S.
