Mr. Speaker, it is peculiar that the Tory environment critic would say I have sunk to a new low. My entire speech consisted of quotes from his words in the official parliamentary transcript. He thinks that is a new low and I can understand why.
I did not focus my remarks on the government because its position is absolutely clear. The Minister of the Environment has been clear that he is in favour of ratifying the accord the government has negotiated. It does not care about the disastrous economic consequences. It does not care about the fact that other countries including the United States are not signing on.
One party in the House has tried to have it both ways. That is a level of political dishonesty I will not accept. The hon. member says he supports economic instruments so Canada can meet its Kyoto targets. He says the PC party would accept reaching 1990 levels by the year 2010 as an interim target. He says Kyoto would be an interim target.
His leader said if certain studies were commissioned and done and more talk and blabber went on he would actively support ratification. In the hon. member's news release today he suggested we needed to “postpone any decision on ratification”.
I commend the Minister of the Environment who is absolutely clear about the issue. He wants to ratify. He does not care about the jobs that would be lost. However the member of the Tory Party is trying to have it both ways. It is clear from the record that he supports the Kyoto protocol and does not care about its economic consequences. Shame on him for trying to shade it. Why does he not come out and tell us he thinks the Kyoto protocol should be ratified and that it is merely an interim target? He wants binding, job killing targets that go beyond Kyoto. That is what he said on the record.