Mr. Speaker, I understand that the hon. parliamentary secretary is duty bound to defend this government's record. I would, however, like to remind him that Canada ranked 28th out of 29 OECD countries in a study involving 25 environmental indicators.
So the government is trying to tell us that it has an excellent environmental record and an excellent program, while in reality it has no plan whatsoever as far as greenhouse gas emissions are concerned. If the government had turned up at Kyoto with a plan in 1997, as the Europeans have been able to do on numerous occasions, we would not be where we are today.
Need I remind the parliamentary secretary that Canada is the only OECD country not to have a public transportation policy. That is pretty unbelievable, since Canada is supposed to have a good environmental record. Canada has, in fact, been harshly criticized, and not by some NGO. By the OECD. And why is that? Because the transportation sector is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. This is the largest share by any one sector. If nothing is done, that figure is going to be 32% by 2010.
Why must such measures be promoted? It is precisely because if we do not, the transportation sector will produce 32% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. So immediate action must be taken.