Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise again to speak to Bill C-94, the manganese based fuel additives act.
We have heard all kinds of arguments for and against the legislation now before the House but it is clear there are still misconceptions on the other side.
I will focus on the crucial reasons we seek to ban the use of manganese based fuel additives in Canada. We are doing this
because it is good for the environment, good for Canadian consumers and good for Canadian business and workers.
The ban benefits the environment by supporting the latest development in technology for reducing emissions from motor vehicles. That is significant because vehicles are still the largest single factor contributing to air pollution. In recent decades we have seen major improvements made by vehicle manufacturers and fuel producers. These have certainly lowered the amounts of pollutants released by individual vehicles.
During the same time the number of cars and trucks on the road has grown considerably. As a result, gasoline and diesel powered vehicles are still responsible for 60 per cent of the carbon monoxide emissions in Canada. They are responsible for 35 per cent of the nitrogen oxide emissions. They are responsible for 25 per cent of the hydrocarbon emissions and they are responsible for 20 per cent of the carbon dioxide emissions. Given those numbers we must make every effort to lower vehicle emissions for the sake of air quality in Canada.
Certainly we have seen progress since the 1970s. One decisive step was the phase out of lead from Canadian gasoline starting in 1977. Another has been the improvement in fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. Still another has been the introduction of emissions control equipment.
Now we are in the midst of taking another major step, the introduction into our cars and trucks of onboard diagnostic systems. These systems are designed to monitor the performance of pollution control systems in our cars, in particular to monitor the catalyst, and to alert the driver to malfunctions in those emission control systems.
In essence a properly functioning onboard diagnostic system is a built in inspection and maintenance tool. As we know, inspection and maintenance of a vehicle can greatly reduce vehicle emissions. For proof of this we need only look at programs that require vehicles to be emissions tested from time to time.
For example, the Vancouver area has the air care inspection and maintenance program which is conducted on an annual basis. In the tested fleet of cars the programmers reduced hydrocarbon emissions by 20 per cent, carbon monoxide emissions by 24 per cent, nitrogen oxide emissions by 2.7 per cent and fuel consumption by 5 per cent. That is a municipal, metropolitan emissions monitoring system.
The new onboard diagnostic systems which we will have in our vehicles could allow all Canadians to benefit from such emissions reductions. As I said, they are built in emissions monitoring systems. However, there is one obstacle to this: the continued presence of MMT, an octane enhancer currently used in unleaded gasoline.
The automotive industry is convinced that MMT adversely affects the sophisticated new onboard diagnostic systems. It affects the effectiveness with which those systems can monitor the emissions and warn us when emissions are increasing.
This is not an isolated statement or an assertion on my part but the conclusion of Ford, Chrysler, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Volvo, Saab, Lada, Jaguar, Land Rover and Hyundai.
General Motors is a major employer in my riding of Peterborough, employing approximately 8,000 people. General Motors employees are concerned that the investment in the new modern onboard diagnostic systems in the 1996 models not be wasted.
The list of supporters I have just cited includes virtually all of Canada's automakers and importers and all of their workers. When they speak with such unanimity, we need to listen to their message carefully. Their opinion is based on hundreds of thousands of vehicles running millions and millions of kilometres on MMT gasoline in Canada, not on 48 vehicles running a few million kilometres in the United States. This opinion is based on the experience of the producers and users of the vehicles of an entire nation, not of a few cars selected by the EPA in the United States.
Suppose the efficiency of the catalyst in our vehicles' pollution control system is reduced by 50 per cent due to abnormal wear or a manufacturing deficiency. The catalyst is one of the key controls of emissions by our vehicles. The result of this reduction of 50 per cent in its efficiency would be a twofold increase in emissions compared with a properly functioning vehicle.
However, at the present time drivers would be unaware of the increase in pollutants as a result of the decline in efficiency of the catalyst in their cars. They would be unaware of the increase of pollutants if MMT interferes with the proper functioning of onboard diagnostic systems, the systems which monitor emissions from vehicle.
The member opposite mentioned the case of sparkplugs. There are real indications that the use of fuel containing MMT causes sparkplug failures. GM Canada, the automotive corporation which is closest to my riding, reports that sparkplug failures for one particular Canadian model are 17 times higher than a comparable U.S. model. Again this is not some laboratory experiment, not some engines running on a bench in a factory or a few vehicles driving around California being monitored by technicians. This is the opinion of one of the major Canadian automobile producers. It is one of the largest employers in the country.
As I mentioned in my previous speech on this legislation, the federal government gave the petroleum and automotive industries
a considerable period of time to get together to sort out this problem. I suggest the federal government has now waited long enough for the fuel producers and the automakers to resolve this dispute between themselves. If we do not act now the federal government's vehicle emissions reduction program will be in jeopardy. We risk missing out on major reductions in smog, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
The time has come to make a decision. Bill C-94 is a decision in favour of Canada's environment.
Members will note the bill helps the environment by improving onboard diagnostic systems and the efficiency of our vehicles. We do not base our argument on environmental improvements simply on the reduction in emissions of MMT. We base them on the affect of MMT on the emission monitoring systems in new models of cars and trucks.
Therefore Bill C-94 is the decision in favour of the environment. It is also a decision in favour of Canadian consumers because it ensures they will have access to state of the art emission reduction technologies. Unless we act now we could face a situation in which automakers will be forced to turn off the onboard diagnostic systems in new models because of the damage MMT causes.
In fact, one manufacturer is already bringing models off the assembly line with the onboard diagnostic systems partially disconnected. Some manufacturers are no longer prepared to pay the substantial warranty costs for damage caused to pollution control equipment. In the end, it is we, the Canadian motorists, who have to pay more to have our cars maintained because of this kind of industry action. The government will not allow the buck to be passed to the Canadian consumer. For their sake we need to move now and pass Bill C-94.
Solving the MMT issue signals the government's desire to ensure that Canadians have access to fuel formulations that will not impede the performance of the vehicle emission control systems. We know that this is only a small step in the process of reducing vehicle pollution.
The petroleum industry needs to keep making improvements in the composition and properties of the fuels that automobile engines burn. The auto industry needs to keep making improvements in vehicle emissions control technologies such as those offered through the onboard diagnostic systems that I have just been discussing.
The government, for its share, must act now to reduce pollution by vehicles. Very recently in Whitehorse the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment which includes our own minister of the environment and sustainable development endorsed a report on cleaner vehicles and fuels. The report calls for reducing pollution from automobiles by means of tougher national for vehicle emissions and fuels.
It also calls for actions to improve fuel efficiency and to promote advanced technology as well as vehicles running on alternative fuels. Further, the CCM report recognizes the importance of inspection and maintenance programs to ensure that emission control systems are in good working order. I have addressed that matter and the way MMT relates to it.
By acting on the report Canada will have a new program for low emission vehicles no later than the year 2001 with an earlier phase-in, in harmony with the United States if feasible. There will be new standards for cleaner gasoline and diesel fuel. The result should be significant health benefits.
This Whitehorse report was prepared through a consultation process involving representatives from industry, environmental groups and other stakeholders. What we are doing here today will help achieve the aims of that report. We need to act now. We cannot, as the member opposite keeps suggesting, afford to wait or delay.
In the past year we have heard a great deal about a much wider atmospheric issue, that of global warning triggered by the greenhouse effect. Scientists have concluded we cannot wait for hard and fast proof that human activities are causing an unprecedented climb in global temperatures because by the time we have the proof, we will be overtaken by climate change of possibly catastrophic dimensions. Instead we need to act now on the precautionary principle. There is sufficient evidence to indicate a danger and action now will be beneficial in any case.
The actions we should take to avoid a possible climate changes are actions which we should be taking anyway to make this planet a healthier place to live.
Of course, and I accept the member's arguments on this point, MMT use in gasoline is not specifically a global warming issue but the same principle applies. There is plenty of evidence to show the danger MMT presents and if we eliminate its use now there are sure to be benefits to Canada's environment, Canadian consumers, Canadian industry and workers.
That is why Bill C-94 makes such eminent sense. That is why I am going to support this legislation and why I urge all members of the House to support it.