Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on my colleague's initiative. This is a very bold challenge for the government to consider.
I must highlight that my hon. colleague who has just risen and spoken to some of the considerations that should be taken into account raised the issue of the effect a transit pass exemption for employees would have on the environment.
My hon. colleague mentioned a statistic from San Francisco as an example. Transit use among participating employees increased by 31%. This in turn generated $1.6 million of new transit revenue.
Other members mentioned inequality. If employees were given these benefits and incentives to use transit as opposed to driving their vehicles it would mean the transit companies would have more resources and more capabilities to decrease the costs to the public, the unemployed, the students, the elderly, the people who are using the present day transit systems in the cities.
This incentive is a challenge for this government to consider. Today 32% of emissions in Canada are caused by our transportation system. We are per capita the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. We have to correct our ways. We have to readjust our way of living, our day to day urban lifestyle, which this incentive is directed at. The government has said that we will reduce our 1990 levels of emissions by 6% by the year 2005. Today we are 12% beyond that. Add 12% to the 6% promised and that is an 18% reduction. But there is no incentive.
This government has not acted on greenhouse gas reductions since coming back from Kyoto. It has not done anything except consult. It has 12 specific tables which were created by the greenhouse emissions secretariat. These people are continuing to discuss but there is no action plan.
The hon. member has created an incentive through Revenue Canada which would be revenue neutral for employers. It would be a major incentive for employees to consider. If they are getting a benefit from their employers and then having to pay a tax portion of that at the end of the year, that is a disincentive. It reverses the whole process and our commitments.
I ask all members to consider this motion and vote in favour of it. The government would then be challenged to take it back to the environment committee, because this is a major environmental initiative, or to Revenue Canada. The finance committee would then seriously have to look at the impact of this.
Again, it should not have banked on the taxation of employer benefits for their employees to get to work. A lot of these employees travel from suburban areas. If we look at the outskirts of the capital region of Ottawa our transit system does not even go the airport. Somebody in downtown Ottawa wanting to utilize the public transit system has to stop at the Hunt Club region. Then they have to walk the rest of the way, or take a taxi, or hitchhike, or use emit more greenhouse gases in some other shape or form. It we had employer incentives that increase the use of transit it would increase the extent of our transit system in our cities. It would be an incentive for the employees and the transit systems.
The hon. member mentioned that municipal transit associations and municipal authorities throughout the country would be very much in favour of this. Major cities have lent their support to this issue.
I beg all members to seriously consider this. Vote in favour of the motion. It deals with the conscience of the country in making legal commitments for greenhouse gas reductions and making decisions on a tax exemption our citizens truly deserve. When an employer hands them a transit pass as a benefit and then asks them to pay taxes on top of this it is a disincentive.
This is repealing a practice by the government to create revenue that is uncalled for. It is a very small investment by repealing a tax revenue that could have many benefits.
I must highlight some statistics. San Francisco employers passed out transit passes to their employees as an incentive and transit use increased by 31%. That would mean 17 million vehicle miles in the bay area of San Francisco. Pollutants were decreased by 61 million tonnes and $1.6 million in new revenue was generated for the transit system in San Francisco. The hon. member across the way challenged us to come up with some sort of example. Those are the statistics we can come up with.
There would be further time to research the issues through committee and I think the topic of the motion would come back into the House for further debate. The challenge is given to the hon. member who has presented the motion and he would have another opportunity to speak to it.
I would ask that those members who are suspicious of the motion in terms of a tax loophole reconsider. The benefits are beyond what the government can afford in terms of the greenhouse gas emissions. Our cities are being challenged with the whole aspect of transportation and the redesigning of our lifestyle.
In the new millennium—