Mr. Speaker, having listened to the argument just made by the member for Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia, I have to deal with the point he makes in relation to crown corporations. He says he does not want to interfere with the operations of crown corporations in implementing this measure.
I have to remind the hon. member for Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia that crown corporations are created by acts of Parliament. They express the will of the elected representatives and of the elected government.
Budgets of the crown corporations are scrutinized every year by committees of Parliament. They undergo therefore very close examination on the part of the political arm. Therefore there is nothing wrong in also asking crown corporations to adopt a measure that is economically and environmentally sound.
I begin to wonder whether the Reform Party is interested in economy and environmentally sound measures. I know for sure the member for Comox-Alberni is a very good environmentalist. I know also his colleague, the member for New Westminster-Burnaby, is a very fine environmentalist and has proven that on a number of occasions.
Now the moment of truth has come for the Reform Party to show its true colours and to demonstrate where it really stands. As has been underlined on several occasions in this debate, the measure proposed in Bill S-7 to switch the use of fuels from fossil to alternative fuels just emerging in the marketplace would save the government $7 million in consumption and in maintenance terms.
That is not a minor feature considering the interest expressed by the Reform Party on reducing government expenditures. Here is a golden opportunity for the hon. member to demonstrate to his constituents and to the House that he means what he says. I hope he is not using crown corporations as an excuse for not supporting the bill because that would be a very sad matter.
The member for Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia also made a plea for the marketplace to take care of this matter. We all know new technologies, new usages and new fuels when they appear on the market need some help. That is the intent of the bill before us.
Why is the bill before us? This is an important consideration. It relates to economic savings and we have gone over that a moment ago. We have a responsibility in relation to the trend in climate change. I am glad to learn the member for Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia is a scientist. He must know the scientific community warned about the serious trends in climate change and climate warming. These are caused mostly because of our dependence on fossil fuels.
It would seem only logical, in the public interest and desirable that the government seek fuels less damaging in terms of climate change.
In the case of the fuels proposed in this bill we have an alternative approach that will cut in half the so-called greenhouse gases, helping the momentum in climate change which has attracted the attention of a number of international bodies and of a number of leading scientists in Canada .
Therefore it seems to me the Reform Party is at crossroads. I am sure it will want to demonstrate to Parliament and to the public that it means what it says, that it is really concerned as it claims at times with economic measures and environmental objectives.
The bill is well known because of interventions made by previous speakers. It demonstrates the time has come for us as a society, as consumers, to move away wherever possible and as rapidly as we can from our dependence on fossil fuels.
We are internationally committed to the stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2000, taking the year 1990 as a base. At the rate we are at now we will reach the year 2000 with a minus 13 deficit; in other words, we are badly behind schedule.
In addition to that, in "Creating Opportunity" in 1993 we made a pledge to Canadian electors that we would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2005 by 20 per cent. This measure is helping to move us in that direction and it seems every member of Parliament has a great opportunity to demonstrate we are taking to heart the public interest and that we want to take every opportunity to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.