Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to Bill C-209, introduced by the hon. member for Jonquière. I cannot overemphasize how well advised she was in introducing this bill in the House.
A few moments ago, I was listening to the comments of the Liberal member. I should point out that this bill is in response to a motion agreed to by this House in 1999, concerning a tax exemption for using public transportation. That motion was presented by the hon. member for Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys, Nelson Riis. The motion was agreed to, but nothing was ever done about it.
We have to remember the decisions made by this House before dismissing out of hand a legislative proposal by a parliamentarian based on an earlier decisions of the House of Commons.
The summary of the bill states its objective very well:
This enactment amends the Income Tax Act to allow an individual to deduct certain public transportation costs from the amount of tax payable.
This is of course a bill that includes many benefits and positive elements. In the next few minutes, I will explain the various positive elements that I see in this legislation.
First, let us look at the economic activity. It is all the more important to talk about it, since all the indicators seem to point to a rather significant downturn in our economy. Consequently, we have to see what we can do to stimulate the economy.
This bill would provide a tax incentive to individuals who use public transportation and thus reduce the number of vehicles on our roads. This would, in turn, greatly improve the movement of goods and people in and around major urban centres. Since our economy is increasingly based on the just in time delivery principle, it is becoming more and more important that vehicles move as freely as possible, particularly those that transport goods, so as to allow businesses to meet their obligations in this respect.
I think it is important to point out that one 40-foot bus on the road eliminates 40 to 50 cars from that same road. Multiplying the number of 40-foot buses. one can see the effect that can have on car traffic. In Montreal, for instance, if people all took their own cars, the average length of a trip would be tripled, to one and one-half hours. That is pretty significant. The more emphasis is placed on public transit, the more likely there is to be a drop in the number of vehicles on our roads.
Why would this incentive have that effect? As I have said, it would be, for people who need to travel, an incentive to use public transportation. This would raise the revenues of public transportation companies and could have the spinoff effect of improving service, frequency and routes, thus improving ridership still further.
There are also numerous advantages relating to the environment and health. Our Liberal colleague has just referred to the Kyoto protocol, which the Canadian government has signed, committing it to a 6% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010-2012.
This is wonderful in principle. It is entirely laudable. However, we are waiting for the government to actually follow up on this commitment.
Contrary to what might have been expected, the government has for some time now taken a number of decisions which struck us as illogical, counterproductive and even harmful, given the stated purpose. One obvious example is the fact that the government, while now racking up significant budget surpluses, has deliberately decided to reduce its annual funding of $7.2 million to the Canadian Centre for Magnetic Fusion. The centre's activities were part of a vast program of international research into nuclear fusion, which will eventually enable us to develop a clean, abundant and safe form of energy that is respectful of the environment.
In its great wisdom, when it decided to sign and initial the Kyoto protocol, the Canadian government simultaneously decided to end nuclear fusion research in Canada.
As it perhaps now realizes, if it had not already been secretly planning this, it is now using taxpayer money to promote the Iter project, which would be located in Ontario. The purpose of the Iter project is to construct a nuclear fusion megareactor. Expected to cost in the billions of dollars, this project comes after the nuclear fusion reactor in Varennes in my riding was shut down.
We have also looked at other decisions and other avenues the federal government has in mind in order to meet the objectives of the Kyoto protocol. It is apparent that the government is trying, or thinking of trying, to shift most of the work onto the shoulders of the private sector, of industry. A look needs to be taken at the legislation in effect in the various provinces. I am thinking of Quebec, where environmental legislation is very tough and where industry has already made considerable efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are being asked for 6% more, while the federal government is making little or no effort.
We should be able to expect the federal government to subsidize public transportation, but the federal government is not contributing a penny. This is all the more astonishing when we hear that the U.S. government is investing $41 billion over six years in public transportation. The U.S. government, which is the outcast of the international community because it refuses to implement the Kyoto protocol, because it is going back to thermal power plants and the list goes on, is investing $41 billion over six years in public transportation.
Yet it is very clear that public transit reduces the number of vehicles on the road, vehicles that are to a large extent the source of greenhouse gas emissions.
I have a few statistics supplied by the Canadian Urban Transit Association, which reveal the scope of the problem. A vehicle emits some four tonnes of pollutants annually, nearly four times the per passenger amount emitted by a bus. One bus permits a saving of 70,000 litres of gasoline and nine tonnes of atmospheric pollutants every year. These figures send a clear message.
In health terms and my colleague from Jonquière pointed this out in her speech, some 16,000 Canadians die each year as the result of high levels of urban pollution. This is not to be taken lightly. The number of children hospitalized for problems related to asthma increased by 23% between 1980 and 1990. In terms of health care costs alone, the government would likely save as much if not more than the fiscal spending this measure proposed by my colleague from Jonquière would entail. I would like to add that this measure would also be fairer.
We have seen recently that the number of Canadians earning over $250,000 and not paying a cent of income tax had increased--