Mr. Speaker, the question my colleague raises is an important one. The Alliance and opponents of Kyoto often fail to include costs that are not purely economic. Sure, there are economic advantages to ignoring Kyoto, but there are also social costs involved. There are health costs.
I would like to cite a Canadian study that indicates that the social benefits in improved public health would be in the order of $500 million per year. There are definite advantages for our health care system if we ratify the Kyoto protocol. We need to think of more than just the short term results. We need to consider the future of climate change with a long-term vision, not only with a short-term vision. Though there may be job loss, there will also be job creation.
We have an obligation to think of the results that will be dealt with by future generations, in other words protecting our natural heritage. We know that the ice storm in Quebec cost insurance companies $3 billion. The Saguenay floods also entailed significant costs. I think it is our responsiblitiy to include not only all of the costs, but also the benefits for industry and all sectors of the economy in Canada and Quebec. We must not base our assessment of the impact of the Kyoto protocol on one single industry, Alberta's oil industry.