Madam Speaker, a plan was launched I believe in the year 2000 in terms of achieving clean air objectives in order to deal with the premature deaths to which the member referred. The Minister of the Environment has, on a number of occasions, made public statements on the desirability of achieving a healthier environment and improving the longevity of Canadians through initiatives that would reduce air pollution.
In that respect, both of us coming from the province of Ontario, we cannot help thinking of the Nanticoke coal fired plant, which, along with another plant, contributes considerably to the poor air quality, particularly in the summer months, in southern Ontario. Definitely there has to be, sooner or later, at least that would be my hope, an agreement between Ottawa and Queen's Park for a joint initiative that would modernize these two coal fired plants, reverse them or transform them into natural gas fired plants or to another type of technology that would be less polluting. In doing that I would hope that perhaps we could earmark some of the funds mentioned on page 150 of the budget plan to that particular end in order to improve the quality of air that the constituents in York South--Weston and Davenport have to breathe and suffer under on certain occasions.