Environment Committee on June 21st, 2011

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Good morning.

My name is Megan Leslie. I am the member for Halifax. My goal is to bring justice in our communities, be it environmental, social or economic justice.

My background is law. I have worked a lot on the intersection of poverty and environment as that relates to law and have experience working on energy efficiency or demand-side management program design in Nova Scotia.

I was a part of the creation of Canada's first arm's-length, ratepayer-funded, demand-side management agency. If you know what that is, you are a member of a small group of people.

I very much look forward to being on this committee with everybody.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Thank you.

Mr. Hyer.

[Bruce Hyer, NDP, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Wow. This is quite the makeup so far. I am quite impressed.

I was elected in 2008 in the Thunder Bay—Superior North riding. I am a biologist and a forester, and a scientist in caribou and boreal ecology. I am a former regulator for the State of Connecticut. I was a senior environmental analyst for the State of Connecticut a long, long time ago. Until I got elected, I was a consultant in a variety of ecotourism, forestry, and biology issues.

I still own two small businesses, one of which is three wilderness lodges. One is accessible by VIA Rail, one by float plane, and one you can drive to. You're all invited, individually or collectively. I think we should have some meetings there. Let me know.

[Voices]

Hear, hear.

[Bruce Hyer, NDP, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I'm really pleased to be an associate to our critic Megan on environment and have been named associate critic for biodiversity and national parks, which really pleases me. I hope we will make real gains, as a subset of this committee, on fresh water, salt water, and Arctic protected areas this year. I am encouraged by some of what I'm hearing on the other side about that.

I also believe that every single person here believes in the environment, cares for the environment, and will debate vigorously how we achieve these ends. I am really looking forward to it.

Thanks very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Thank you, Mr. Hyer.

Ms. Liu.

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Good afternoon. My name is Laurin Liu and I am the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, Quebec. This riding includes the cities of Saint-Eustache, Deux-Montagnes, Boisbriand and Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac.

As you can tell from the name of my riding, it also borders a river.

I might add that in the name of intergenerational equity I also have a personal stake in this issue, so I very much look forward to working with you.

I also have the honour of serving as the deputy environment critic for the NDP.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Thank you.

Madam St-Denis.

[Lise St-Denis, NDP, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Good afternoon. My name is Lise St-Denis. I am the new member for Saint-Maurice—Champlain. I have just been elected. I am particularly interested in climate change because its effects are becoming more and more serious. It doesn't seem like much, but the rivers in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec are bursting their banks. It is definitely because of the temperature. Though the climate has something to do with it, climate change probably plays a role too. This is something that interests me a great deal.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Thank you.

Ms. Duncan.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's so interesting to hear what everybody has done. I'm really looking forward to being on this committee and working with everyone.

The environment was my life. I taught environment at university for many years. I also taught infectious disease. I taught in a business school how business could be good to the environment and to human health. I also spent a lot of time in the Arctic.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

Thank you.

I've had the great pleasure of working with some of you since 2004. I began with the justice committee, and as of 2006 was with the environment committee.

I'm very optimistic about this committee being so rich in experience and qualifications. If we work together it will be amazing what can be accomplished.

In the last Parliament I went to Taiwan and was on a delegation with Ms. Duncan. We had a wonderful time experiencing Taiwan, but on the side, also talking about the environment. I mentioned to her that it would be wonderful to work together in the environment committee, and here we are.

I encourage each of you to meet with one another. Go out for coffee with each other. As we work together it could be quite amazing what we could accomplish.

Yes, there will be different positions from the different parties, but even In today's meeting we have listened to one another and adjusted what was being proposed. So we can continue to work together.

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Centre-North, AB]

I move to adjourn.

[The Chair, Conservative, Mark Warawa]

We have a motion to adjourn and it's non-debatable.

(Motion agreed to)

The meeting is adjourned.