Mr. Speaker, I would say to my hon. colleague and my friend from the other side that voting against the motion of the President of the Treasury Board to fund the estimates for Natural Resources Canada would be tantamount to cutting $64 million out of the budget of Natural Resources Canada.
That is why accountability is relevant. We are talking about cutting $64 million, which would have a direct impact on the delivery of the support that we have for the mining industry, the forest industry, oil and gas, and renewable energy. At Natural Resources Canada, we are working on a number of initiatives that will help reduce greenhouse gases and reduce pollution. These are areas that we are working on in our department. That is why it is so important to have accountability.
We have seen programs from the old Liberal government. What was the result of those programs? The Liberal record on the environment was a national embarrassment. Under the old Liberal government, greenhouse gases rose 35% plus when they were supposed to be going down. Greenhouse gases rose each and every day, week and year that the Liberals were in office.
The Liberal programs did not deliver any results. Never once did the Liberals bring in any kind of legislation or programs to deal with the toxins and pollutants that are going into the atmosphere and having a direct impact on the air we breathe. These are priorities for the Conservative government. These are priorities for Natural Resources Canada. We are working on initiatives that will have benefits for every single Canadian.
It is important that we talk about accountability. It is important that we learn from the terrible mistakes made by the previous government. I must note that the Liberals hold up their heads now. The Liberals talk about the environment and how they are the great caretakers of the environment, yet after 13 years in office their record was abysmal. The numbers speak for themselves. The Liberals know this. We can go to any of the environmental organizations and ask them about the Liberal record.
The programs that we are delivering at Natural Resources Canada are directly related to the environment. Let me tell members how they are directly related. Eighty-five per cent of greenhouse gas emissions is directly linked to electricity or energy and how we use it. They come from the oil and gas sector, from the transportation sector and from the production of electricity, whether it be coal-fired plants or not, and we at Natural Resources Canada are delivering programs to help make an impact on these.
Natural Resources Canada is developing initiatives that will directly reduce these pollutants and emissions. Reducing the budget of Natural Resources Canada by $64 million would have a direct impact. In fact, I can name some of these areas that would be directly impacted. They are very important.
Natural Resources Canada has made a contribution under this money of almost $1.7 million to the Saskatchewan Power Corporation and the Maritime Electric Company. This is a program to develop green power electricity generation. These two areas have the most difficult time. This is one initiative that the government is sponsoring out of this year's budget. Opposing the estimates means that we would lose this program. Why would the Liberals be against the environment? That is the direct result.
Let me talk about one other area that not approving the estimates of Natural Resources Canada would have a direct impact on. It is the largest source of untapped energy in this country. It is larger than the oil sands. It is larger than renewable energies.
The largest source of energy we have yet to tap into is the energy we waste. Energy efficiency is very important to this government. We are working on initiatives right now that will benefit every single Canadian across this country.
My colleagues in the NDP apparently do not support energy efficiency. They would like to cut this funding. That is something the Conservatives do not believe in. We believe that it is important to fund these initiatives to help the Canadian people and that is what we are going to do.
We have taken a bold new approach to the environment. As I said earlier, the record of the members opposite was abysmal. Greenhouse gases skyrocketed to 35% under the Liberals' watch. They never reduced any pollutants. Smog days continued to increase right across this country. Now they pretend to be the great caretakers. In 13 years in office, they did nothing.
Our government's approach is different. We are doing things that will bring absolutely meaningful results to Canadians. We have introduced Canada's clean air act. Again, Natural Resources Canada is developing initiatives to support this act. This is the first time in Canadian history that any government has undertaken to regulate both greenhouse gases and pollutants for every single sector, from the mining sector to the oil and gas sector, the forestry sector and the auto sector. No government in the past has had the courage to do this.
This government is prepared to do it. This is something that we are working on. We are developing initiatives to do that. Unfortunately, this motion is about the funding to Natural Resources Canada. Not supporting this motion would have a direct result on these initiatives. There will be a direct result if we do not support the motion to ensure that this funding goes through.
I support our Minister of the Environment on her initiatives and on what she is doing. These are programs that would have a direct impact if we were not able to deliver--