Madam Speaker, most definitely not. Kyoto is long gone as an issue. There are really only three countries that have any hope of hitting their target, those being Germany, Denmark and Britain, and that is as long as they can get all of the things passed in time.
In talking to parliamentarians over there, let me say that they realize we need something much more. We need something beyond trading carbon credits and that huge bureaucracy. We need something that will actually deal with the problem of climate change and pollution, and that something has to involve the United States, which is number one, China, which is number two, and India, which is number five. If we do not involve those countries, we really are not going to make much difference.
The government has no plan. We are a huge country. We have a huge amount of territory. We have little infrastructure. We have a very cold climate. Australia used those same arguments for targeting 8% above 1990 levels. We are 6% below 1990 levels. Today we are 26% above 1990 and increasing.
Of course we like to have our GDP reflect our sales to the United States of our energy, particularly from the tar sands. The hon. member knows that as we start mining more and more of those tar sands, that increases our CO
2
even more.
So why would we lie to Canadians and say we can live up to some kind of target, which we have absolutely no hope of or plan for doing? We have not told Canadians what it will cost for electricity, for heat and for transportation. Why not be honest and say that we are going to champion something that will really deal with climate change and clean up the air in the same process? Let us abandon Kyoto, like most other countries are realizing they have to do.
In Russia, Mr. Putin has made it very clear, saying, “Let me join the European Union and have easy access to Europe and I will sign anything”. As far as living up to it is concerned, that is a whole other issue.