Mr. Speaker, MMT is the only available gasoline additive in Canada that can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by as much as 20 per cent. These emissions cause urban smog.
A ban on MMT would have the effect of adding one million cars to Canadian roads by the year 2000. MMT lets Canadian refiners
use less intensive refining which also cuts down on other types of emissions that hurt the environment. In Saint John which has the biggest oil refinery in Canada this is important.
The environment minister with Bill C-94 wants to remove MMT from Canadian gas because she says it will harmonize Canada's standards with the U.S. where MMT is not used. She has also stated that automakers claim that MMT harms their onboard diagnostic systems. Independent studies and American courts have said that there is no such link. Within weeks MMT will be used in U.S. refineries.
I ask the minister to stop Bill C-94 as Canada's gasoline standards would no longer be-