Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in this period of questions and comments around the amendment presented by my Conservative colleague.
What brings me to my feet today is not so much this colleague's speech as the government's lack of understanding of the spirit of the motion presented by the Conservative Party.
What must be understood is that we are not opposed to Canada's participation in an international emissions trading system under the Kyoto protocol. What we do not want is to see public funds, the taxpayers' money, used to buy foreign credits. If companies want to do this, that is fine. In fact, many are already doing so.
I want to ask my colleague whether that is not in fact the spirit of the motion: not to exclude Canada from the trading mechanisms, but rather to have the capital invested here, instead of elsewhere, to achieve reductions of greenhouse gases at source?