Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to respond to my colleague whose interest in the environment is legendary.
Since Kyoto, we as a government have stopped questioning whether we should be making this kind of commitment. We and the international community have been directing our energies to how to meet our collective obligation to reduce emissions below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012, because meet it we shall. Meeting that obligation will be a difficult challenge involving changing the way we produce and use energy and transport people and goods.
Last month the federal, provincial and territorial ministers of environment and energy met in Toronto. They agreed on a process for the development of a national implementation strategy on climate change to honour our Kyoto commitments.
It will be based on consultations and input from other governments as well as from the private and public sectors. All sectors of society will be called upon to share their views and best practices so we can learn from each other what works and what does not.
Ministers have agreed to move forward in the development of credit for early action and strengthening voluntary action.
I cannot stress enough the government's conviction and commitment to engage with as many players as possible in developing and implementing actions to reduce greenhouse gases. In fact it is the only way to proceed.
By harnessing the impressive creative and innovative talents we have in Canada, I am sure that we can not only meet our emission reduction targets but also have economic growth and improve the quality of our lives. If we can offer Canadians concrete ways in which to reduce emissions or be more energy efficient, they will do so.
Our recent budget will help us do this. The budget will provide $150 million over the next three years to help achieve the following: first, to develop Canada's national implementation strategy to meet the reduction targets of the Kyoto protocol; second, to improve public education on climate change and to engage Canadians in ways to reduce emissions; third—