Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. It's good to see you back in the chair again. We're glad to have you back.
On that note, I'd also like to welcome back Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Bigras, whom we missed on the Alberta oil sands trip.
I'd like to begin where Mr. Scarpaleggia actually began, which was arguing that the Liberal delay in action on climate change was based on Russia's ratification in 2004. I have to admit that I'm having trouble buying this Liberal hot air. I don't find any excuse for Liberal inaction.
As I recall from the 1993 Liberal red book, there was a commitment to 20% reduction below 1988 levels in greenhouse gases. That was four years of inaction before Kyoto was even signed. Obviously when they signed the Kyoto Protocol they knew when the reporting period was to begin.
I'm not the only one, I think, who has some amount of skepticism about Liberal inaction. I think the previous commissioners of the environment found that as well.
For example, the 2000 report talked about the “persistent problems” the federal Liberal government of the time was having in its “management of key issues like climate change”.
According to the 2005 report, again referring to the Liberal government of the time, “When it comes to protecting the environment, bold announcements are made and then often forgotten as soon as the confetti hits the ground. The federal government seems to have trouble crossing the finish line.”
I actually think they had trouble getting across the starting line, Mr. Chair, such that even the current Liberal leader had to admit that the Liberals didn't get it done. He said that in 2006, that the Liberal Party had gotten into a mess on the environment.