Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sherbrooke for his question, which is indeed very relevant.
We are at a stage where the Minister of Industry must answer as to how he is going to implement Kyoto. Members opposite tell us that it is sometimes difficult to find the money. It will take more years to achieve the targets when a fundamental principle, called the polluter pays principle, could have been put in place immediately. Instead of giving tax breaks to oil companies, the government could have decided that the money from these taxes would be used specifically for the environment.
We would not have expressed all this criticism today regarding the fact that the money from the tax cut goes directly into the pockets of shareholders.
At a time when sustainable development is becoming increasingly important, the federal government is sending the opposite message to Canadians. It says that we should continue to do as we did in the past, look only at maximizing profits and not pay attention to how money is distributed within society.
The public may pass harsh judgment on this bill, which just looks like the result of intensive lobbying by oil companies.