Mr. Speaker, Canada is a country that is seen around the world as honest, diligent in keeping its commitments, and engaged in multilateralism as a responsible citizen. It is with great sadness, however, that I have witnessed the government abrogate our commitments to the world.
Under the Prime Minister's rule, Canada's government is not taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He is not promoting our responsibilities as a global citizen. He is not listening to the wishes of Canadians.
Not only has the Conservative government failed to build on the success of the first phase of the Liberal program, but it has actively taken steps to dismantle and hamper progressive work that had begun under Liberal governments.
In a gesture that smacks of cynical partisan politics, the Prime Minister is simply re-branding successful Liberal programs that only a year ago he cut. He and his ministers have ignored constructive recommendations. They insist they have a better approach. They insist that their new “hot air act” will get Canada on the road to an improved environment.
Was this because of some conversion on the road to Damascus? No, it was a conversion on the road to new lows in the polls for the Conservative Party, as my friend from Manitoba mentioned earlier.
The Conservative government is being particularly misleading with seemingly effective yet empty rhetoric. On the one hand, the Prime Minister harps on the point that “science has evolved several times in the last” several “decades”. On the other hand, he has re-established proven Liberal programs of the past to deal with his political problems of today.
The Conservative government's ideological view with respect to the environment has been on display for all to see for the past year. A new minister with new talking points who is re-implementing Liberal programs is not going to change the reality of the disaster that is the Conservative record on the environment.
The government should take its cues from the citizens of this country who have been trailblazers in protecting the environment, people like Eliza Olson from my riding of Newton—North Delta, who is a tireless advocate for environmental issues and this year received Earth Day Canada's hometown hero award for her work as the president of the Burns Bog Conservation Society.
The government needs to follow the lead of people like Eliza and not seek to actively undermine the work of everyday citizens who know better. I am certain the government will never see an award for its work on the environment, but let us hope that the minister begins to constructively engage the world rather than undermine the multilateral efforts that we made to sign Kyoto.
I am not going to get into speaking to the science of climate change today as it is clear that climate change is a reality. Even the Conservative ministers whom the Prime Minister allows to speak publicly have finally acknowledged this as well. I have doubts, however, that the majority of the Conservative caucus actually holds this view given statements from many of their members, including the current Prime Minister, who was in opposition at one point.
It was not the Liberal Party that filibustered the ratification of the Kyoto protocol. It was not the Liberal Party that dismantled the Government of Canada's climate action plan, going so far as to even shut down the climate change website.
It was the Conservative Party.
No Conservative plan for the environment is even remotely credible without reconfirming Canada's commitment to honour the principles and targets of the Kyoto protocol in their entirety. I do not know if it has escaped the notice of the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Environment, but Canada signed an international treaty that we should all be under obligation to.
This is likely the first time that the Canadian government has sought to actively undermine and abrogate a treaty that this country has affixed its signature to. It is a disgrace.
The so-called made in Canada plan, designed in the White House, assumes the environment stops at Canada's borders. The bizarre nature of this approach is almost as bad as believing that climate change is not happening in the first place. Even worse, the excuse that we should not act because others are not sets a terrible example.
As a parent, the question I ask my children when they follow a bad example is, “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?” The Conservative government's answer to that, unfortunately, is yes.
As the Prime Minister said, “I don't think we should consider signing on to a deal that makes us virtually the sole country in the world that is going to take any action” on climate change.
The Conservative government must create and publish a credible plan to reduce Canada's greenhouse gas emissions to meet Canada's Kyoto commitments and it has not even tried to do so.
I find it incredible that the government introduced an act that does not even have the word Kyoto in its preamble. It is an act that was such a massive failure upon tabling that it was panned by every credible environmental group in Canada, and it cost the former minister of environment her job.
I find it beyond belief that the NDP members even think they can pass a few amendments to a fundamentally flawed bill, in one month, no less, and then claim it will be a credible bill. What is credible is the plan of our Liberal leader, an individual with a tremendous record in advocating for and delivering results on the environment.
I find it amusing when the Conservatives try to attack the credibility of our leader on this issue. They mistakenly believe that Canadians will take the word of the party whose leader has demonstrated verbally and through his writings that he is a climate change denier.
Even more amusing are the attacks on the Liberal's project green, which the Conservatives are re-implementing piece by piece. If proof is demonstrated in action, then the Conservative government is acting in a way that endorses the plan of our Liberal leader.
The government can take immediate action by once again following our Liberal leader's plan and regulating greenhouse gases under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA, which exists right now. The previous Liberal government listed all six greenhouse gas emissions as CEPA toxic. In refusing to do so, the Conservative government is demonstrating that it is a climate change denier.
It is important, also, to note that CEPA is jointly administered by the Minister of the Environment and, more important, the Minister of Health. This is not just an environmental issue; it is also a health issue.
I would be interested in knowing whether the Minister of Health actually believes that greenhouse gases can be harmful to human health. If his answer is yes, then the minister has just made the case to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under CEPA, not only in the interest of the environment but in the interest of human health for all Canadians.
If the Prime Minister can break his promise to working Canadians on income trusts, then he can break his promise to the Conservative climate change deniers to not implement the Kyoto protocol. Anything less is an abrogation of the government's duty to Canadians and to the world.
