Yes, the issue is motherhood and apple pie. It is pretty difficult to say that it is wrong. The idea has a lot of merit, but I have some concerns with the member's motion and the federal building initiative it is based on.
I recognize and I applaud the hon. member who presented the motion on his demonstrated commitment to the issue and his efforts in working in energy efficient strategies for many years in his home province of Manitoba.
While I have some reservations regarding the simplicity of the motion and the specific program, the FBI the member endorses, I agree there certainly is a need in the country for his comprehensive energy efficiency strategy.
The development of long term strategies is one of the government's demonstrated weaknesses. One has to look for evidence only to its handling of the Kyoto conference last December, the issue of gasoline standards in Canada and certainly the issue of air quality standards in Canada.
The Kyoto example is certainly one of the better examples. Canadians everywhere were imploring the government to make its position and strategy known prior to going to Kyoto and this information was still unavailable right up to the day the delegation left for the summit. It was apparent that the government had no clear strategy going into the conference and was watching for other countries to lead.
Now, a full year later, even after Rio, the government still has no concrete plans or strategy for the implementation of the commitments made at Kyoto. Throughout the entire process the government presented a one-sided argument in an effort to sway public opinion.
While it was widely agreed that the measures needed to be taken and some commitments made, Canadians were only given half the information and were not and have not been invited to participate in the process. If this government is to develop a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy, as I believe it should, it must engage Canadians and open up the process so that Canadians get the full and honest picture of the benefits and costs.
This leads me to my first concern with this motion. The member for Winnipeg Centre endorses a retrofitting program called the federal building initiative. Through this program federal departments may retrofit federal buildings for greater energy efficiency. Departments pay the cost of the renovations out of the savings on energy bills over a negotiated pay-back period. At first glance this program seems ideal and it certainly does have merit. It would lead one to say “What is holding us back? Why are we not going at this full bore?”
However, it is impossible to make a fair assessment when only half of the information is available and has been presented.
Despite my interest in energy efficiency and my role as the natural resources critic for the opposition caucus, I have been able to get only very limited information about this program.
If the program is successful and worthy of Canadian support, why is more information not being made available? Too often the government aggressively promotes a program, only to ignore it after implementation or to provide only information that it deems to be supportive while it suppresses all other information. Programs fail to live up to expectations and are therefore kept from the public spotlight. Canadians deserve more in the way of feedback and regular updates on the success or failures of programs that cost millions of taxpayers' dollars.
When I began researching this program I asked for a cost breakdown of one or two examples of contracts that we might examine to assess it. I was curious about the size of the profit margin that would be incentive enough for a private sector energy service company to enter into a contract in which it is not paid in full for up to eight years. It was a simple enough request, but I have not yet received an adequate response.
I also requested complete information on the specific retrofitting projects identified as the government's success stories on its natural resources web site which other members have referred to. Three such examples were listed on the web page alone with the annual savings reaped by retrofitting each facility. I was informed that a case study exists about one of the facilities, but I have yet to see that study in any detail. We were provided with only three pieces of information. The total annual savings were $880,000 on that particular project, the amount of the contract was $6.1 million and the pay-back period was 7.1 years.
I am hesitant to endorse this program until I have received more information about it. However, gathering information has certainly proved to be an onerous task.
I therefore have to question how the public can fairly assess such a program when information is so difficult to obtain. I can only assume that they will base their assessment on the relatively few facts provided by the government, thus making their judgment on partial information.
This is a prime example of the lack of government transparency that is to be avoided in the development and implementation of a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy. The federal building initiative may be a raging success or it may be an abysmal flop for all we know from the information we seem to be able to get on it. Either way there needs to be greater public accountability through detailed reports showing the progress of the program.
I also have some concerns with the tendering process espoused by the federal buildings initiative. Through this program federal departments are given significant freedom in choosing an energy service company to retrofit their buildings. Unlike other government contracts, the awarding of a retrofit contract is not based on the lowest bid. Departments must take a number of factors into account and may place emphasis where they see fit. Energy service companies must be chosen from a qualified bidders list kept by Natural Resources Canada.
These features of the tendering process blow the doors wide open to patronage, whereby contracts can and likely will be awarded to friends of the government. To avoid or at least to minimize patronage it is necessary to open up the tendering process.
That being said, I would like to express my general skepticism regarding motions and bills introduced by the members of the New Democratic Party.
As a young man I was searching for a home for my political ideology and I looked at the NDP philosophy. It certainly appeals to many Canadians. However, assessing any political ideology is like the retrofit program: if we only get half the story it is pretty hard to make an intelligent and informed decision. Certainly the NDP motion that we are dealing with today fits into that category. Every Canadian wants to live in a free society with zero unemployment, a healthy environment with no poverty. All Canadians share those ideals.
However, I fear that these ideals are in direct conflict with the realities of the day. That is not to say that we should abandon those ideals, but we should be working toward the ideal while recognizing the reality.
Canada does not have a bottomless pit of money to finance government programs and initiatives. All programs come at a cost to Canadians. There are no free rides. In many cases the cost may be worth it, but that does not mean the financial side of the program can be ignored.
The motion points to job creation and the development of high-tech expertise through an energy efficiency strategy. It was my hope upon reading the motion that the member for Winnipeg Centre was talking about jobs created naturally in the private sector, not through substantial investment by the federal government.
Contrary to my hope, in a report prepared by the member, to which he referred, “A Brighter Future: Energy Efficiency and Jobs in Manitoba”, the member for Winnipeg Centre advocates federal funding in a number of areas, but particularly in training workers for the conservation industry.
The motion also calls for the development of high-tech expertise. Again I hope that the member for Winnipeg Centre is talking about encouraging private sector investment in research and development. However, if he is talking about government investment, it is very important that Canadians get a good return on their money.
If high-tech expertise is to be developed through government investment, that expertise must not be patented and sold by the private sector with no return to the taxpayers of Canada. I think the term is intellectual property.
Having expressed all of those reservations, this issue is motherhood and apple pie and certainly our caucus will be supporting the motion when it comes to a vote. However, I would like some of the issues which I brought forward to be addressed.