Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise today and talk about this issue. I was a car dealer for 18 years prior to the career I have now. I was very involved when the very first pollution devices came in. The environment became a subject that we talked about every day from the factory level to the dealer level.
This whole debate brings forth a lot of questions which have been raised by several members of the House. We raised questions about the process of how private members' bills work and how effective they are and could be. Questions have been raised about the confidence that people have in Health Canada. We had the actual issue raised by the member for Lac-Saint-Louis about helping the environment by removing MMT from gasoline and increasing the oxygenation.
I would like to compliment the hon. member for bringing this forth. It takes a great deal of effort, stamina, confidence and research to produce a bill like this and to see it through the procedure, which can be very discouraging. However, the hon. member has followed through and has shown his usual diligence and ability to overcome.
We are talking about this today, although not in the way he would like. He would like it to be a votable issue. He would like it to go to committee. That is what should have happened.
There are so many questions on so many aspects of this that we really have not had the chance to scrutinize the issue. We have not had a chance to do the homework on it. We have not had the examination on it or heard from witnesses. Now we never will because it was determined that it would not go to a vote. We lost that opportunity which would have helped a lot of us understand the issue better than we do, or at least better than I understand it now. We have missed an opportunity and I think it is a shame.
The member has certainly raised the bar on standards for environment and health. By bringing this forth he has shown initiative and courage. It is interesting that his government has not had an environmental piece of legislation of any consequence for the eight years it has been here. Yet the member brought forth this bill. We should move a motion to make him the minister, then I am sure we would have some really interesting environmental bills.
In any case, if MMT is poisonous or if it is a hazard to our health and the environment, it can do a great deal of damage. An incredible volume of gasoline, diesel and other fuels now use MMT. I honestly do not know whether MMT is a dangerous substance or not. I probably will not know now that we will not have a chance to take this to committee and hear from witness who do know and who are experts in the field. However, if it is as dangerous as he fears it is, then I we should be taking steps to do what he wants to do, which is to have research provided from other sources than Health Canada.
I agree with Health Canada and have a great deal of respect for it as well. However, there are still a lot of other bodies that question the potential damage that MMT can do. Health Canada is a respectable outfit but there are other respectable outfits that are just as respectable. They also say that MMT poses a serious health and environmental hazard.
We think it deserves more research, more debate in the House and more from experts. I hope the hon. member does not give up with the way the bill has gone through in a non-votable fashion. I hope he will keep on pressing the issue. I hope he will keep bringing it forth at committee or at every opportunity he has.
We agree with the concept and with the principle. However, I do not have the information to work with and I do not feel comfortable with the information that is available. It is kind of like the national missile defence system. The government said it would make a decision when it had the information. For me, I do not have the information at the level with which I feel comfortable. I probably will not get it now because it will not go to committee and we will not have the opportunity to get that information.
However, I do want to commend the hon. member for bringing it forth and for his diligence and determination.