Madam Speaker, I am extremely proud to stand in the House tonight to support this budget, especially with its commitment to substantial new funding for health care, for seniors, for education, for child care and for the environment. It is a budget that is very good for Beaches—East York and for all of Canada.
This budget demonstrates that we are delivering on the promises that we made in the last election. This budget is about seniors, about children, about families. It is about the people in Canada and it is investing in Canadians. That is why I am very proud of it. It is a budget that addresses very clearly our social justice system which was needed badly. I am very proud of it.
I will focus my remarks on the initiatives in the budget that build on our social foundations and strengthen our communities.
Beaches—East York residents have told me that they want their governments to do a better job of cleaning up the environment. They are absolutely right. It is a commitment that we have made and one on which I have worked hard for a very long time.
Budget 2005 delivers on the government's commitment to a green economy with a $5 billion package of measures over the next five years to support a sustainable environment. One measure is to address climate change by promoting reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. After the last couple of days we know what that means in most of our cities. Another measure is to build on existing tax measures to encourage Canadian business to invest more in efficient and renewable energy generation, which is extremely important, to stop using fossil fuels. Another measure is to invest in public infrastructure to encourage more efficient use of energy. There is also the remediation of brownfield sites and protecting our natural environment, including the Great Lakes, oceans and national parks.
These measures are just part of the government's substantial measures to improve the environment and address climate change. For example, project green includes investments in the order of $10 billion between now and 2012 to help Canada meet its Kyoto commitments.
While it is important to think globally, I believe we must also act locally. For example, in my riding of Beaches—East York, the federal government is funding the construction of a 25 unit building for seniors which will feature many energy-conserving measures including the installation of solar panels on the roof--