Mr. Speaker, this evening I would like to follow up on a question which I put to the Minister of the Environment on May 15, when I asked her whether she recognized the usefulness of research and development of renewable energy of the type that is being conducted at Tokamak in Varennes, in the context of climate change.
Given that the Minister of the Environment confirmed the usefulness of such activities, the federal government can no longer claim that it cannot continue to fund the Tokamak project in Varennes.
Yesterday, in another adjournment debate on this most promising research project, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Human Resources Development told me that the decision to withdraw federal support for the Tokamak project in Varennes was made because of financial constraints.
Before being given a similar reply this evening, let me tell you that this is not the case at all. Not only is the money now available since the federal government is accumulating surpluses, but it is also an irresponsible decision from a budgetary standpoint. Why invest in the development of top technical and scientific expertise if scientists must then leave the country to put their expertise to good use?
With the closure of Tokamak in Varennes, the specialists we have trained at taxpayers' expense will be taking their knowledge of nuclear fusion to Japan, the U.S. or the European Community. And what about Tokamak's state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure? Close to $150 million in public funds have been invested in the past 20 years or so, and are now a total loss, because of this government's lack of vision.
Within a few years, Canada will probably be forced to spend an absolute fortune to purchase a technology it has helped develop for mere millions. In the end, all this will cost far more than its annual investment of $7.2 million in Tokamak.
Such an edifying demonstration of good management of public funds! Such visionary spirit! I must add that the very exacting quality standards at Tokamak, both scientific and technological, have allowed its partners to develop leading edge technological expertise. For instance, one company, MPB Technologies, was able to land a $64 million contract thanks to technology developed in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Magnetic Fusion.
It is believed that the economic spin-offs from the Tokamak in Varennes bring far more to the federal government in tax revenue than its annual $7.2 million investment in it.
In order to prevent the upcoming dismantling of the Varennes Tokamak's technological heritage, and since the Minister of Natural Resources has shown himself to be open to this possibility, I would like to know how this government intends to make use of the facilities and knowledge of the Tokamak team in the context of related studies as part of its strategy on climate change. Could the government not, for example, continue to develop the Varennes Tokamak's expertise, which is world-renowned, in the microwave sector?
Yesterday, the national forum on climate change was critical of how little the federal government was doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is all the more worrisome because, according to the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2000 will have increased by approximately 11% over the 1990 reference level.
Such a statistic makes it even more important that clean and safe forms of energy, such as the magnetic fusion the Varennes Tokamak is working on, be used in the future. The energy alternative proposed by Tokamak represents a much less serious risk to the environment than the Candu reactor technology, which still has the unshakeable support of the federal government.
This is a long-term undertaking, to which the Varennes Tokamak can make a positive contribution, provided the government lets it.