Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me today to speak during the questions and comments period on the motion introduced by my colleague from Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
My colleague has very eloquently shown how the federal government's approach to implementing the Kyoto protocol has been unsuccessful to date. Companies evaluate how effective measures are based on their results. It is clear that the targets have not yet been reached. Instead of moving toward a 6% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2010, the government has increased these emissions by 20%. So it will have to reduce them by 30% to meet its Kyoto commitments.
Overall, as my colleague indicated earlier, this has been a huge failure, both in terms of results and equity. The plans implemented by the federal government between November 2002 and April 13, 2005, are based on the polluter-paid principle instead of the polluter-pay principle.
Since 1996, various tax measures have resulted in a 33% increase in tax incentives for the oil and gas industries in Canada. How is it possible that, although the government wants to implement the Kyoto protocol, incentives for those responsible for 55% of greenhouse gas emissions have increased? As a principle, this is not equitable.
Furthermore, the federal government prefers the voluntary approach. Not once since 1997 has the government implemented mandatory measures. This was the preferred approach in December 2004, when the government set targets in cooperation with the various industries. Only the steel and the pulp and paper industries signed a voluntary agreement. Naturally, an agreement has been reached with the auto industry, but it is a far cry from what this industry could have done.
The government is extremely proud of its so-called green plan, which was tabled on April 13. Can my colleague tell us which partners oppose this plan, which not only spares the major polluters and the major industrial emitters, but which also does not promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as set out in the Kyoto protocol?