Mr. Speaker, today is Keep Mining in Canada day. It is only fitting to remind this government and especially the Minister of the Environment about the contribution the mining sector has on the Canadian economy.
By this minister's remarks to the Canadian Electricity Association, she is clearly making the coal industry an economic casualty of the climate change program, even after this government has been promising for months that its program would not result in major economic loss to the Canadian economy.
Let me remind the minister that the coal mining sector in Canada employs 73,000 people and generates over $5.8 billion annually to the Canadian economy.
I hold out the same example she used in her speech, that of Edmonton Power which has committed to achieve the Rio commitment by the year 2000 without eliminating the use of coal in its generation of electricity.
How are Canadians going to trust a government that engages in this kind of doublespeak? It is time for this government to come clean on the real costs.