I see my colleague from the Reform Party shares my opinion. I would like to share with you a letter that was sent to the government by the natural resources minister in the Bouchard government, François Gendron. Let me draw your attention to one aspect of this correspondence. The minister writes: "I am writing again, on behalf of the minister of state for economy and finance, Bernard Landry, and of the transport minister in charge of Canadian intergovernmental affairs, Jacques Brassard, and on my own behalf, to state the firm position of the Quebec government on the bill being studied".
He continues: "That bill, the Manganese-based Fuel Additives Act, will reach the third reading stage in the House of Commons in just a few months. It seems your government is quite determined to follow through with that bill. That bill concerns the importation and selling of MMT in Canada. It seems the Canadian government wants to pass this bill because the auto makers claim that gasoline containing MMT will cause damage to the pollution control equipment in new cars".
This is getting interesting, it should shake up government members a little. It goes on: "With free trade between Canada, the United States and Mexico, recent developments in the United States and Mexico are pointing in another direction".
What does it mean? You will remember that in the past few years the Environmental Protection Agency has been trying to have the use of MMT banned in the United States. The case was dismissed by a district of Columbia appeal court which ruled that the evidence presented was not conclusive enough.
Not only were the United States defeated, not only was the EPA defeated, but now the regulation banning the use of MMT as a fuel additive in the United States can no longer be enforced, and in Mexico-as you might recall, the Mexican president sat in your chair and made a speech to Canadian parliamentarians-they are faced with the same situation.
So, when we are told that if the bill is not passed, we will no longer be competitive, there is something not quite right with government members' logic, since the production and use of MMT as a fuel additive will now be allowed in the United States, our major trading partner-and you know how strong our commercial ties are with them, especially when it comes to the automobile industry. And not only in the case of the United States, but also in the case of Mexico.
So, this is a situation of ministerial stubbornness. The minister is stomping his feet with a rather childish stubbornness saying we must go in that direction, with some sort of determination that is almost unreasonable, no, I correct my words, that is not reasonable at all.
What must we do, as members of Parliament, to convince the minister? What efforts must we make when seven provinces are opposed, when the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute is opposed, when entire industrial sectors are at risk, particularly in regions that cannot afford to lose jobs if they want to maintain their economic prosperity. Of course, I am talking about East Montreal.
So today, we must send the environment minister a cry from the heart so that, for the sake of rationality, he can go beyond partisan considerations and find a reasonable compromise. And this reasonable compromise can only be the public tabling, for debate, of much more substantiated studies commissioned by third parties and focusing on the potential or not, on the beneficial or deleterious nature, of using MMT in gasoline.
I do not think what we are asking today is unreasonable. I do not think the consensus of the seven provinces, regardless of any partisan leaning, is unreasonable. It seems to me if the Minister of
Environment is concerned with the environmental issue, there are other bills, other problems that should hold his attention.
We have been told about the pollution in the Great Lakes. There would be something there that could be very interesting from a legislation viewpoint.
So why take up the time of the House to deal with poorly defined problems, with untested propositions, on an issue where almost everyone is not convinced by or satisfied with the evidence tabled by the minister.
I intend to take a very firm stand on this. Again, there used to be six refineries in the east end of Montreal. The petrochemical sector used to be prosperous, but with measures such as those proposed today-I have a feeling my time is running out, so I make a last appeal to the minister to use common sense and defer his bill.