Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment will be attending the seventh meeting of the Montreal protocol which starts on Monday in Vienna.
She will be reinforcing Canada's commitment to an accelerated ozone layer program which has already been endorsed by the Council of Canadian Ministers of the Environment. This means working toward zero discharge of ozone depleting substances. It means phasing out HCFCs by the year 2010. It means continuing to work with Agriculture and Agri-food Canada on methyl bromide. Most important, it means a committed research program into alternatives to ozone depleting substances.