Mr. Speaker, I am really delighted at the intervention, because I ran out of time and now I have a whole whack more.
I understand that the Minister of the Environment this weekend will be in Bonn, Germany to chair a conference on climate change. I find it absolutely incredible that the government could send her there, given that the Conservatives have not bought into the Kyoto accord, that the budget offers no plan and that the single biggest tool for creating action on the environment, the budget, is largely silent.
While the hon. member raised a couple of points he would like me to consider, I would like the government to consider this: the EnerGuide program was cut. As of midnight, the level A audits are no longer allowed to be conducted. Not only does that hurt our environment, it hurts the lowest income families in our communities.
In my community of Hamilton, Green Venture has been conducting these audits on behalf of consumers and on behalf of low income families. It will have to potentially lay off up to four staff. This is completely counterproductive to the member's stated goal of wanting to improve the environment.
If the Conservatives are serious about wanting to address environmental issues, they should look at what they can do about the Kyoto plan, what they can do about energy retrofit programs and what they can do to encourage green industries. On none of those issues did their budget make a single bit of difference.