Mr. Speaker, the federal finance minister did an about-face yesterday and confirmed that he would pay the $538 million the previous government had promised to Ontario to reduce the number of coal-fired power plants.
Yet the Minister of the Environment has formally refused to pay Quebec the $328 million it needs to achieve the Kyoto protocol targets.
How can the government explain that it is not paying anything to Quebec, which has a plan to reduce greenhouse gases, when Ontario, which has no plan, will be receiving $538 million? How can the government explain this double standard?