Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate Earth Day. Of course, this day which is dedicated to the conservation of the earth is also linked to the environment. I believe that, as parliamentarians, we are willing to pass and enforce laws to protect the health of the people of Quebec and Canada. We must protect the environment, otherwise the population will experience serious air, health and water problems.
The protection of the environment is also a matter of education and information. I believe that very early on, children must be informed and taught about the environment, first and foremost at home, but also in school. We must protect the environment at work and in our daily lives.
I would encourage school boards do draw up an information and education plan on environmental protection to make our young people aware of this very important issue.
I would also encourage municipalities in Quebec and in Canada to set up environmental protection committees. I would give as an example the municipality of Baie-Comeau, in my riding, which created an agency to protect and improve the environment 10 years ago. The mandate of the agency was and still is to protect the water, the air and the environment as a whole.
We all know that nowadays, municipalities determine their own environmental standards. Therefore, federal, provincial and municipal laws should not overlap if we want to keep inherent costs at a minimum and avoid conflicting legislation that would impede proper application and enforcement in some areas.
In Baie-Comeau, in the riding of Charlevoix, a group called the Corporation d'amélioration et de protection de l'environnement recycles durable goods. We all know that almost everything can be recycled now: paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, wood, steel, etc. That corporation even salvages furniture which it repairs and gives to underprivileged families.
It also collects, repairs, cleans and stores clothing to give it to needy families or those who have lost their belongings in a fire, for example. It collects and repairs household appliances that previously would have ended up in the municipal dump. Nowadays, many municipalities practice selective collection; in so doing, they can reduce their sanitary landfill costs. This gives municipal governments a chance to reduce their costs for sanitary landfills.
You know that today everything is recyclable. I would even say that municipal governments would be well-advised to have their own selective pick-up and their own sorting facilities. This would even protect waterways. Certain Quebec waterways flow into the St. Lawrence River. We know that previously all municipal governments where discharging their waste into the waterways which, eventually, reached the St. Lawrence. At one time, the St. Lawrence River was considered one of the largest open air septic tanks in the world. Yet, some municipal governments are drawing their drinking water from that same river.
Nevertheless, I want to congratulate the minister. Action 21, although a very limited program, is a start. It will allow some 84 projects, totalling some $2.4 million, for the improvement of the environment. I urge all levels of government-federal, provincial and municipal-to do the same.
To conclude, as parliamentary assistant to the hon. member for Laurentides, my job is very important because the environment is the way of the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let us celebrate together this Earth Day.