Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to take part in this historic throne speech debate.
This is my first foray in the House of Commons debate as minister of Canada's environment. I am proud to bear this responsibility. I am equally proud to stand before the House and reinforce this government's direction. A government stands or falls on its record. In this regard, the Liberal government stands and stands tall.
I have listened to opposition members with some degree of interest, and some of their criticism may be valid. However, taking it in total, they act a bit like grasshoppers on a Sunday morning. They fill the air with a lot of noise but all they are looking at is the one single blade of grass in front of them. If they could just get a little higher and have a wider perspective they might see the whole meadow because it is a big meadow.
The priorities before us in the throne speech are straightforward. We intend to build on our accomplishments of creating jobs and growth over the last two and a half years, provide additional security for Canadians and continue to modernize this federation to ensure national unity and national prosperity.
As the speech from the throne confirmed, the environment has a big role to play in all three of these priorities. Sometimes the Canadian environment's profile slips, hidden for a while behind media generated fog on other issues. However, I can assure hon. members that it is constantly in the public's mind and it is consistently at the very front of the public's mind.
Not many months ago a major research study indicated that the so-called elites of our country, senior mandarins, senior politicians, senior media and senior captains of industry, the opinion shapers, ranked the environment 10th on the list of 22 issues. Yet in that same study the general public, people we are accountable to, placed the environment as the second most important issue in their minds. One good reason Canadians feel so strongly and passionately about their environment is it is at the very core of Canadian identity.
Our environment is linked to national unity with bonds of Canadian granite. Our environment is part of our national imagination in the same way that black spruce is part of the forest. After all, does it not pervade our literature like a prairie wind and a call of the wild? Do we not have a maple leaf on our flag that we salute and defend? Do we not have birds and animals on our coinage? Do we not sing songs about four strong winds, about the Canadian Rockies and our Atlantic and Pacific heritage? You bet we do, and so we should.
Our natural heritage, whether it is in the Nahanni River of the Northwest Territories, the wild shores of the Labrador coast or the glaciers of our rugged Rocky Mountains, is not only part of our very being and shapes who we are, but it is also a major draw for international tourists and a major reason why immigrants come to Canada to invest, work and live.
Let us also not forget that our Canadian natural heritage is also important to the world. For example, 20 per cent of the world's fresh water supply is located in Canada. I might add that 18 per cent is in the Canadian Great Lakes alone.
I want to contribute to the preservation and improvement of this heritage. I am committed to it and I am proud of this commitment. We will cultivate security and fairness in our environment, thereby reinforcing our national pride.
As the throne speech stressed, we will speak in the national interest with a strong voice at home and abroad to protect both our environment and the health of Canadians. Because environmental security is a goal of Canadians, the House will soon debate a revitalized Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA. It will change the emphasis of government from reacting to the toxins and pollution at the outflow of the pipe to preventing the pollution at the front end.
We also know this can succeed only if there is a partnership between governments and their citizens. That is why the legislation will allow citizens, not just their governments, to start action in our courts in order to clean up their environment. This legislation will not only help defend our environment and the health of our fellow citizens, but it will be an example of how this government keeps its word.
In the red book we promised to focus on preventing pollution at its source. CEPA will do this. We said that the winning industries of tomorrow will integrate environmental and economic efficiencies and CEPA will help make this a reality. We predicted that in the years ahead stricter environmental standards will be propelled by a number of international environmental, moral and market forces, and CEPA will help Canada respond to those very forces.
The House will also see an endangered species protection act. This too will be part of our environmental security thrust. This is important legislation and we need to get it right. We need to establish with the provinces a strong national framework within which endangered species may seek their legitimate protection. I have already received some important input from the committee, from environmental groups as well as industry and I anticipate hearing more before finally proceeding.
Although our watchwords are co-operation and partnership, we know that Canadians expect their national government to speak out and act on the issue of the environment which ultimately may affect their health. These are issues which do not respect political boundaries or lines drawn on a map. We intend to meet their expectations.
When we talk of partnerships we must also stress and recognize the role played by the provinces and the territories. We should never, therefore, fall into the trap of playing politics with our ecosystems.
After all, as federal and provincial ministers, we are the managers of an environmental heritage that we will pass on to future generations.
I already had discussions with my provincial counterparts and we all agree that we face an enormous task. As we know, progress has been made during the past few years, because all levels of government responded to the wishes of the people. They put the environment at the top of their priorities and they worked together as partners.
I am pragmatist and I will bring a pragmatic approach to working with my fellow colleagues from the provinces and territories.
However, this co-operation does not mean giving away the store which is the message I get from some of my hon. friends across the aisle. It means ensuring there are no gaps in our joint pursuit of environmental protection. We intend therefore to strengthen those partnerships and those processes in order to achieve that goal.
We can point to a number of examples of how partnerships have already produced significant and successful results. Look at the work that has been done between the province of Quebec and the federal government to clean up the St. Lawrence and protect the habitat of the beluga whale.
Look at the partnership approach to the successful recovery programs for the return of the peregrine falcon to southern Canada. These magnificent birds have disappeared from southern Canada but are now raised through a federal provincial recovery project at a federal facility in Wainwright, Alberta, then released to the other provinces across the nation. Our work, together with the provinces and the territories, is really like a measured journey; we do it one step at a time.
At the same time our environmental work cannot be allowed to start and finish in our own backyard. Just as environmental security does not fit tightly and neatly into municipal and provincial boundaries, it also refuses to be defined by national borders. Consequently the environment is an integral part of our foreign policy and we will continue to show leadership abroad on such issues as climate change, biodiversity and ozone depletion. On this issue we truly are all in the same boat.
We will see unity in action when it comes to Canada's environment. There will be people working with other people. This will mean governments, communities, neighbourhoods within communities, environmental organizations and industry all working along side each other.
There was a classic example yesterday in my riding. The federal government through our department's action 21 program was able to support financially a group of individuals who have taken the initiative for the last number of years to restore Black Creek, a major tributary to the Humber River. The impulse, the incentive and the idea came from local residents. They were in essence ahead of their governments. That is what action 21 is about, trying to empower citizens locally in thinking locally and hopefully pushing governments to act nationally and internationally.
The throne speech also mentioned three specific areas for job creation: youth, science and technology, and trade. These three areas fit in very well with our priorities for the environment. It is reassuring to note that a growing number of industry leaders think that the fact they are being compelled to protect the environment is not a barrier to economic growth. The truth is, many of them believe that environment protection represents an opportunity for growth in the Canadian economy.
More work needs to done. Every captain of industry, big, medium and small, needs to be convinced of this truism. Take a look at some of the leading industrial nations. Japan and Germany are both world leaders in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and control technologies. They have the very same environmental standards that we will be proposing in CEPA. Clearly environmental partnerships and environmental sensitivity have not held back the performance of those two countries and their respective economies.
In Canada it is true that we need jobs for Canadians and especially jobs for our youth.
I am a firm believer that when it comes to Canada's environment, it is not an either/or proposition. The choice is not jobs or protecting the environment. As a country we can and should have both. We can expand our economy and we can protect and promote good environmental practices at the same time.
Toward this end, the government will support the development of the Canadian environmental industry across the country. Our support is based on the recognition that this is a pivotal jobs and growth sector and provides the new technologies required to clean up the environment both at home and abroad.
Today the Canadian environmental industry sector employs more than 150,000 Canadians and generates sales of over $11 billion. Globally the market for environmental products is exploding. It is currently estimated at $425 billion. This market will double by the turn of the century.
One can see the niche for Canadian know-how is already in place. What we have to do is expand the niche and the playing field for Canadian firms, for Canadian technology and consequently for Canadian jobs.
That is why Environment Canada is an enthusiastic supporter of the Globe '96 conference that will be taking place later this month in Vancouver. It will truly be a showcase of our technological know-how to the world.
The greening of industry means jobs for today and jobs for tomorrow. High tech environmental industry will also provide much needed employment for Canada's youth.
The young are so often the rest of us when it comes to defending and promoting the rights of the environment. I have a 5-year old who often reminds this 40-year old about the bad practices of littering. It starts early.
Those of us who have crossed the magic line that separates our world from the energy and enthusiasm of the young should be very wary if we try to speak for the youth of Canada or that we speak on their behalf.
Quite frankly, they can and do speak for themselves powerfully. Our youth want to participate in the decisions and act on environmental issues that affect them and all of us and our country. That is one of the reasons Environment Canada will double the number of students we will hire this summer to work on environmental projects.
We have also initiated discussions with the youth corps to establish jobs with young people involved in the projects of the environment across communities. Ultimately such projects will strengthen the national fabric and prepare Canada for that exciting new century.
Canadian young people should lead, not follow. Their passion and energy can be mobilized from Canada's city scapes to our northern tundra. The government knows youth are not simply partners for tomorrow; they are tomorrow.