House of Commons Hansard #100 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was fraud.
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, this government will take action to address the major concerns as far as greenhouse gases and air quality are concerned.
For 13 years, the Bloc members in this House of Commons did absolutely nothing on this issue. Now, the Conservative government will take action.
Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the previous government earmarked $328 million for Quebec. Unfortunately, the stubbornness of the former Liberal environment minister derailed everything.
Will the new Minister of the Environment, unlike his colleague from Transport, agree to pay the $328 million needed to allow Quebec to achieve the Kyoto protocol objectives?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, after I was named Minister of the Environment, I spoke with my counterpart, Quebec's environment minister, and I said that I was prepared to meet with the minister to discuss Quebec's needs.
I have already spoken with many of my colleagues from the other provinces and I am in the process of becoming acquainted with their needs. I know that the Liberal government in Quebec is very aware of the need to reduce greenhouse gases, because for the past 13 long years it got absolutely nothing from the former government.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, Afghan President Karzai said that he was open to negotiations with the Taliban. More than once, he has invited them to lay down arms and incorporate the rule of law. President Karzai recently reiterated his willingness to undertake such negotiations.
Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell us if the Canadian government supports President Karzai's initiative?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, President Karzai leads a legitimate, democratically elected government. He has been reaching out to those who are encouraged to working toward a peaceful solution in Afghanistan, those who want to follow a democratic process, those who renounce violence, and he has made some progress in that regard.
Canada will continue to work with Afghanistan, to work with the 60 other countries that are there on the ground doing incredible work on the reconstruction, on the development and on providing the security they need to continue to build that country.
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Italian Republic recently proposed holding an international conference on Afghanistan. President Karzai supports this initiative.
Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs promote such a conference and give it his active support?
Peter MacKay ConservativeMinister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, I was in Brussels last week, meeting with NATO foreign ministers. We have been attending every conference with respect to the situation there. We have also been a major part of the Afghanistan compact, which is one year old today. It sets out a very clear plan for governance, for development and for the type of security that allows these initiatives to take root.
We are very much a part of every effort to bring about peace, security and prosperity inside Afghanistan.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Mr. Speaker, as the international scientific community assembles in Paris and unanimously underscores the importance of urgent action on climate change, the Prime Minister is using all his political weight to put on the brakes.
This Prime Minister believes that, “The accord does negatively impact every region of the country... It is important to build a coalition across the country to defeat Kyoto.”
Will the Prime Minister admit that he was wrong or will he continue to mislead the public?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make it clear that scientific evidence tells us to act as soon as possible. That is our goal.
The committee studying Bill C-30 met on Monday and we saw that the Liberal Party is not comfortable with the idea of working harder and passing Bill C-30 as soon as possible. It wants to analyze and conduct more studies. That is not the best course of action in a file that is so important for Canada.
Yasmin Ratansi Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have still not answered the question.
The world's scientific community is about to release a report that is unanimous about the growing climate change crisis. The Kyoto protocol is the only global effort to deal with the crisis, but the Prime Minister has never believed in Kyoto. In fact, he promised he would, “Redirect federal spending aimed at fulfilling the terms of the increasingly irrelevant Kyoto Protocol”.
Was the Prime Minister misleading Canadians then, or is he misleading them now?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, I would say to the member opposite that maybe she would like to talk to some of her own caucus colleagues. There is one caucus colleague who said:
Unfortunately Kyoto is a shell game. My friend knows full well that the government has made this into a shell game. We are to pay countries like Russia to buy the ability to produce greenhouse gases. We will produce the same amount of greenhouse gases and say disingenuously that we have met our commitments.
Do members know who said that?
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
The member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, a member of the Liberal Party.
Tina Keeper Liberal Churchill, MB
Mr. Speaker, the world's scientific community is about to release a report that is unequivocal about the growing climate change crisis. The Kyoto protocol is the only global effort to deal with this crisis. However, the Prime Minister has never believed in Kyoto. In fact, he said, “We think the deal itself is simply bogus.”
Was the Prime Minister misleading Canadians then, or is he misleading them now?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, after 13 long years of Liberal rule in this country, I wonder how some people would define the last days of the Liberal government during the last election campaign.
Another Liberal member said, and this is honestly true, that the Liberal Party was involved in a medium-sized car crash during the recent federal election.
Do members know who said that?
John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON
The Liberal environment critic, the member for Ottawa South.
Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC
Mr. Speaker, the international scientific community assembled in Paris unanimously agrees. Time is running out and we must immediately solve the serious problems posed by climate change.
The Prime Minister, however, believes, and I quote his own words, “there is no environmental benefit [to Kyoto] of any kind”.
Will the Prime Minister admit that he was wrong to say that or will he continue to mislead the public?
John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, hearing the Liberals lecture on the importance of climate change and the environment is almost like listening to a former Enron executive lecture on the importance of sound accounting.
Bob Mills Conservative Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, as we have heard, support is growing at the United Nations for the United Nations Secretary-General to call an international summit to discuss climate change.
Does the Prime Minister--
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Order, please. The hon. member for Red Deer has the floor now to put his question. Could we have a little order, please?
Bob Mills Conservative Red Deer, AB
Mr. Speaker, does the Prime Minister support the efforts to hold such a conference? And if one is convened, will he attend?
Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I have read the reports. I can tell the hon. member for Red Deer I have not received an invitation from the United Nations Secretary-General. However, if we did, we would accept.
There are two things we would certainly want to convey at that conference. The first is that we all recognize this is a serious environmental problem that needs immediate action. Canada's decision to do nothing over the past decade was a mistake, and we want to do better.
At the same time, to have a truly effective international effort, we must have the participation of all major emitters, including countries like China, India, the United States and others.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, working families in Manitoba want clarification of remarks made by the unelected Public Works minister Michael Fortier. He reportedly wants to sign the contract for the new Boeing military transports, knowing full well that the deal is unfair to Manitoba. Up to $150 million is at stake for my province.
Will the Prime Minister turn his back on the people who elected him, or will he make a stand for fairness and ensure these contracts are tendered without political interference?