Mr. Speaker, what we are running out of in this country, according to the papers this morning, are communications officials for the Minister of the Environment. I read that she has gone through four in the short term that she has been in office. Why? It is because they cannot sell the measures that she is proposing as there is nothing on the table to sell. There is no concerted plan to improve the environmental situation in Canada and no plan to meet its international commitments.
The member made some suggestions as to where we could get the money to make these types of investments. I would not rule out that suggestion, but there are other places to get the money. We have a surplus of $13.5 billion. These investments in green energy pay for themselves because they improve competitiveness. We can be a leading nation in the world.
The previous government had invested a lot of money. It had some very good programs. There can always be improvements in the administration of programs, I would not argue with anybody on that, but I do not want to put this country in a situation where it is pitting one industry against the other and fighting one against the other. Everybody can participate in environmental improvement and green energy.
It is important for energy to be produced in this country. I am proud of the investments that we have made in the production of petroleum energy in this country, whether it be the tar sands or offshore in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland that bring much needed economic activity to those parts of the province.
I am very proud of the wind energy site in West Pubnico that received some contributions from the wind energy incentive program of the federal government. I cannot for the life of me begin to imagine why a government would cancel such initiatives. I cannot see why a government would remove programs like EnerGuide. It makes absolutely no sense.