Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with a fellow maritimer, the parliamentary secretary to the House leader, who represents Halifax. Too often we find ourselves going over issues that are now beyond serious debate. I am surprised that 15 years after the first global climate change conference held in Canada I have to continue reminding people why it is so important to take action on greenhouse gases. Today's debate shows that it is needed again and I will state the case as clearly as I can.
Scientists have pointed out that we are already approaching the end of the 19th consecutive season of above normal temperatures across Canada. The 20th century was the warmest century of the last millennium. The 1990s were the warmest decade of the last century, and 1998 and 2001 were the warmest years yet. The U.S. government reported two weeks ago that its country had just experienced the warmest temperatures for the November through January period in 107 years since it began keeping national records. These are clear facts on which there can be no dispute.
Around the world we are seeing record losses and damages due to extreme weather events, losses that cannot simply be explained by changes in population or in settlement patterns. The 1996 Saguenay flood cost $1 billion and repeated itself not long ago. The 1997 Red River flood caused the evacuation of more than 25,000 people in southern Manitoba. It also resulted in over $300 million in damages.
The ice storm we experienced in eastern Canada a few years ago saw three million Canadians without electrical power and total damages of about $5.4 million. The impact of southern Alberta's current drought problem may be $5 billion, pressuring prairie agriculture revenues and crop insurance. Clearly these are issues about which my colleagues across the way should be concerned.
The best estimates of scientists about climate change are that we will see more of these severe weather events, not fewer. We will see more people affected by floods or drought in the country, not fewer. We will see more impacts on agriculture and our forests, not fewer.
Our government is tackling the issue of climate change. We are doing it through our own initiatives and in collaboration with the widest range of partners domestically and internationally. We are taking action in the context of the Kyoto protocol and in the context of the commitment that the Prime Minister made some five years ago to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases in Canada to 6% below the 1990 level by 2012. That is quite a commitment.
There is much I could say about the climate change issue, the Kyoto protocol and what it may mean for Canada. I could spend all my allotted time in this debate responding to the parade of comments and claims that have been advanced recently. Instead I will focus on making it clear that our government will continue to take action by building on the solid base of initiatives we have implemented already. Before I do so I must respond to the claim that Kyoto will do little or nothing to benefit the environment.
I remind that House the every long journey starts with a single step. If we are not prepared to take that step we are doomed to stay where we are forever. International trade negotiations started more than 50 years ago and only developed countries were involved. Perhaps the opposition believes we should not have taken the small steps that got these negotiations started because they were not to do a lot for international trade.
Let us talk about our financial commitments. Since 1995 the Government of Canada has spent $1.95 billion to develop new climate change programs and to enhance existing ones in an effort to meet its various climate change commitments. Even before the Kyoto protocol took shape in 1997 we began efforts to support innovative new technologies. We began to address the potential offered by energy conservation measures and improved energy efficiency throughout the entire economy. We began our outreach to Canadians to help them understand what they could do. We started this process in a major way in the 1998 federal budget when we established a new climate change action fund.
In the 2000 budget the government announced $625 million for climate change initiatives. That decision coincided with a consultation process involving experts from across Canada to help us identify priorities on which we could act. That consultation process helped to shape Government of Canada action plan 2000 that we launched in October 2000. That action plan was supported by an additional $500 million on top of budget 2000 commitments.
A further $390 million worth of measures were announced in budget 2001. The action plan 2000 commitments was designed to get Canada well on its way toward our Kyoto goals. Companies across Canada such as Dow Chemical, Shell, British Petroleum and Ford have invested in improved processes and facilities that have cut greenhouse gas emissions and saved money through a more efficient use of fuel and other resources. Our government is getting its own house in order in terms of our energy use choices and other initiatives.
Municipalities across Canada are tapping the methane from landfill sites as an energy source with great success. Individual Canadians are improving the energy efficiency of their homes and workplaces through the leadership shown by the government.
The list goes on and on but my point is quite straightforward. Climate change is not something that Canadians or the government have just discovered. It is one on which we already have a substantial record of commitment and results. It is an issue on which our previous action has generated a lot of the momentum that will allow us to meet our goals.
Let me conclude with a few final thoughts. We will reshape the future in a way that gives us cleaner air, cleaner water and a more stable climate. We will reshape the future to give us a more efficient and less wasteful economy, to improve the health of Canadians and to have a better protected environment for all living creatures.