Mr. Speaker, it is indeed my pleasure to have the opportunity today to speak to Motion No. M-360 moved by the member from Kamloops.
First, I would like to say that the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada is very pleased to support this motion.
I would like to suggest why this piece of legislation has been brought forward.
The premise that the member from Kamloops utilized throughout the course of his speech was the need to actually address the serious challenge of climate change.
Last December, a mere 11 months ago, the international community met en masse in Kyoto, Japan. It was the first time that the industrialized nations actually met to begin setting targets and timelines to address the serious issue of climate change. Climate change is something that will ultimately affect every region in the world and predominately those countries situated in a northern climate.
This issue of achieving our targets with respect to Kyoto really stems back to the sort of country we have. Perhaps no other country in the world lives off its natural resources more than Canada. We have a diverse country and with our geographical land mass transportation has always been a historical challenge for Canadians. We also live in a colder climate. That means that our economy is very energy intensive. It is resource based and is also export driven. We need to ensure that we actually find some initiatives that are market driven and incentive based for us to actually begin to address the serious issue of climate change.
There is no single solution available today, and I believe well into the future, that will enable us as a country and the world community to be able to reduce our greenhouse gases. This initiative is a step in the right direction.
Before I get back to the motion, on the issue of climate change, this is a very positive and well thought out initiative. There is a change in the political tide to some degree because the New Democratic Party of Canada is advocating a tax cut. I applaud the New Democrats for doing that. All individuals in this country are overtaxed. Any time we provide Canadians with any kind of tax relief it is a step in the right direction.
I want to address an issue that was addressed by my colleague from Calgary Southeast. He was discussing whether this would be too interventionist from a taxation perspective. He said that government tax initiatives should never have a role in society. I prefer broad based tax relief for Canadians. This motion heads in a very positive direction and should be given some thought.
The hon. member for Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys and the Liberal member who spoke both addressed the issue of climate change. The member for Calgary Southeast never mentioned the issue of climate change. The member said that it would be good for the environment. Yes, it would reduce emissions in terms of smog and other things that are harmful to human health, but he missed the opportunity to say once and for all that the Reform Party of Canada understands that climate change is a global problem.
My Liberal and NDP colleagues will remember that the member for Calgary Southwest stood in this House on the eve of the world community meeting in Kyoto to address this real and serious issue. The member for Calgary Southwest denied there was a problem with respect to climate change. He actually said that the science was inconclusive and that perhaps more study should be done. Saying that the science is divided is the same kind of logic as saying that cigarette smoking is good for you.
There are individuals who advocate a so-called meeting of the minds. They ask why the two conservative parties do not have some kind of fusion, alliance or coalition. But there are some fundamental issues that differentiate the Reform Party and the PC Party. One issue is our environmental commitment and our understanding with respect to the big picture.
The hon. member pointed out that transportation accounts for 32% of all carbon dioxide emissions or greenhouse gases within Canada. Local transportation is a significant component of that figure.
Why would we not want to go forward with this? Canadians in general are overtaxed. This would encourage Canadians to use public transportation en masse. It would reduce consumption of automobile gases and smog which would be very good for human health.
I applaud the member from Kamloops for his initiative and for saying that there is only one taxpayer. He is right. We spend billions of dollars allocating moneys to maintain our rural and urban highways. This would enable us to lessen some of the day to day pressures on our roads.
I challenge the government to adopt this motion. The government says time and time again that it is committed to early action in order to address the serious issue of climate change. I would submit that Canadians would look for any action or at least a little more.
A case in point is that this government has still to bring in initiatives and aggressive tax incentives with respect to research and development on energy efficiency. The government has yet to bring in aggressive tax incentives for the use of renewable sources of energy.
In terms of home heating, only 1% of all homes being constructed in Canada today are R-2000 compatible. There are many solutions out there. The government has a role in leading the way so we can actually make it market driven, incentive based and get Canadians engaged in the issue. Another solution is producing less emissions of carbon dioxide. Public transportation would head us in that direction.
As I said earlier Canadians are overtaxed. I understand the concern is that perhaps this would favour individuals who live in urban areas and some individuals such as myself who reside in the beautiful riding of Fundy—Royal, which is very rural, and may not have the opportunity to use transportation en masse. I would also indicate that many communities would have to do that.
In my riding half the population lives in a suburban area just outside the city of Saint John. Nearly 35,000 individuals are within five or six miles of the city of Saint John. There is no public transportation system for individuals who would choose to use public transportation in terms of the bus to go into the city of St. John.
That is not necessarily because of a lack of will on the part of our valued municipal leaders such as Mr. Bill Artiss, mayor of Rothesay, and Alyson Leslie Brown-Hamilton, mayor of Quispamsis. I do not blame it on these individuals. They would be committed to public transportation if they had the critical mass to do so. Providing a tax incentive for more individuals to take the bus would be most cost effective. The people in the Kennebecasis Valley in my riding of Fundy—Royal could ultimately develop the critical mass to use a public transportation system.