Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak on the subject of the motion tabled this morning by the leader of the Bloc Québécois. I feel it is important to reread the motion, because the Bloc Québécois is not asking the House for the moon. The motion reads as follows:
That, having recognized the principle of complying with the Kyoto targets, it is the opinion of this House that the government should provide the Government of Quebec with the sum of $328 million to enable it to implement its plan to meet the Kyoto Protocol targets.
Reality is sometimes harsh for the Conservatives members of this House. Even though they gave in to pressure from the Bloc Québécois and agreed to recognize Quebec as a nation, they are still not really doing anything to acknowledge Quebec's nationhood. The environment file is a flagrant example of this.
Quebec's National Assembly is the only legislative body in Canada that has chosen to comply with the Kyoto protocol targets. I would like to say to the citizens who are listening to us now that if Quebec were a country, it would have signed the Kyoto protocol; if it had full control over taxation, it would have reached those targets.
The problem is that we are part of the Canadian federation. To meet the targets, Quebec has to ask for money. Once again, Quebec has asked the federal government to turn over $328 million so the province can meet the Kyoto protocol targets. I should mention that the federal government collects over 50% of all taxes and income taxes in Quebec. That is the reality we are facing.
It is important to note that this is not about partisan politics; the request came from a Liberal government. This was a unanimous resolution in Quebec's National Assembly, which requested that the federal government contribute $328 million toward achieving the Government of Quebec's targets.
This plan is not illusory or virtual; it is a written plan that environmentalists have recognized as being the best in Canada and the most likely to reach the Kyoto protocol targets. I hope that all members of this House will recognize that. If not, I would invite them to visit the Government of Quebec's website to learn more about what it is doing and what it intends to do.
It is simple. Quebec has always been much closer to reaching the Kyoto targets, because Quebeckers made a choice in the past, the choice to invest in clean energy. We are specialists and leaders in the field of clean energy, hydroelectricity, now wind energy, and so on. Quebeckers made that choice. Canadians, however, have not made that choice.
I will illustrate this in figures. Between 1970 and 1999, Canada gave $66 billion in direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry—coal, natural gas and oil. Here are some more examples: Canada spent $13.6 billion on the oil import compensation program; $11.1 billion on the national energy program; $7.7 billion on the petroleum incentives program, for oil and gas exploration; and $1.22 billion on Hibernia in Newfoundland and Labrador.
While this $66 billion was being invested, there was nothing for hydroelectricity in Quebec. Quebeckers paid one quarter of this $66 billion, through income tax and other taxes sent to Ottawa, representing more than 50%. Ottawa used some of that money to invest in fossil fuels. Of course, even though Quebec paid one quarter of it, not a cent came back to Quebec. Zero minus zero equals zero, no matter how many times you multiply. No one in this House would dare to rise and say that any money was invested in hydroelectricity in Quebec. No.
Quebeckers decided to invest in hydroelectricity, through their taxes, their income tax, and the fees they pay. Quebeckers made this choice as a society. Now, all countries have recognized that urgent action is needed.
Last week, the Minister of the Environment was very surprised to learn that experts agree that humans are to blame for greenhouse gases. He learned that. Quebeckers, however, learned that a long time ago and chose to invest in clean energy such as hydroelectricity and wind power.
Admittedly, it is not true that the federal government did not invest a cent in Canada during this time—it just did not invest a cent in Quebec. And although it invested $66 billion in fossil fuels, it invested $329 million in renewable energies between 1970 and 1999.
Canada chose to invest in fossil fuels, while Quebec decided to invest in clean energy. That is a fact.
The problem today is that no one wants to help Quebec. Why does the government not want to pay the $328 million? It is just a drop in the bucket, compared to the $66 billion invested in fossil fuels. In fact, there is a Liberal member who knows this. The problem is that when she was in power, she did not do anything about it. Once again, the Liberals and the Conservatives make all kinds of excuses, but in the end, not a single cent will go to Quebec. Quebec is still waiting anxiously to see whether the federal government will pay it $328 million. I repeat: this is a portion of the taxes we send to Ottawa.
You will understand that Quebeckers are gradually going to wake up to what is happening. It is all well and good to recognize Quebec as a nation, but the problem is that those are just words and that the government is never willing to help improve that nation. One day, Quebeckers will take charge of their own destiny. They will make that choice.
Obviously it does not end there because that $66 billion was just for direct investments in the fossil fuel industry. On top of that there were improvements to the tax system. In 2003, the Liberals, with the support of the Conservatives, improved the oil companies’ tax situation, as if they were not rich enough. For 2003-2004 they were granted $55 million in tax credits. In 2004-2005 it was $100 million and in 2007-2008 $260 million. So the oil companies’ tax credits go on increasing because the Liberals and Conservatives decided that they felt sorry for them. On top of being given money to invest and do research, they are given tax credits to encourage them to make more money and pay out more quarterly dividends to their shareholders. In the end, that is what is done to make the shareholders, who are probably friends of the Liberals and Conservatives, happy. Probably they are the oil companies’ biggest shareholders. Personally I do not have any oil company shares.
After that they were also granted tax reductions of 65% between 2005 and 2008. So, in addition to being given credits, they are given tax reductions. In 2005 it was $5.1 billion and in 2006, $4.6 billion. It will be $3.2 billion in 2007 and $2.35 billion in 2008. That is in addition to all the funds granted by the federal government. So when the oil companies are granted tax reductions, these are revenues that are not available to invest elsewhere, such as $328 million in Quebec.
When I say that Canada and Quebec are really two different worlds, I would just like to mention a few differences. We have to understand that the realities are different.
Oil is enriching Canada, but it is impoverishing Quebec. Obviously, since petroleum development takes place outside Quebec, for those places the economy is going great guns. Furthermore, on account of all the money invested by the federal government in this sector, Canada has become the third largest oil producer in the world.
When the price of gas goes up, the economy takes an upturn, as does the Canadian dollar. Quebec has no oil and gas industry. It does not even have an auto industry, once again because of a choice made by the federal government. The auto industry is in Ontario. There ought to be an aerospace industry in Quebec, but as we have seen from the Boeing C-17 contract, there will be virtually no more aerospace investments in Quebec, once again, the choice of the Conservatives.
So we are faced with a reality. Ontario has its auto industry and the West its oil patch. They want us to keep using gas to drive our cars, when Quebec is manufacturing public transport equipment, buses, trains and so on. This is a choice Quebec made.
Quebec and Norway are the two countries with the highest green energy production in the world. Again, a choice. The question we are still asking, as are Quebecers and the excellent members of the Bloc Québécois, is why is the federal government refusing Quebec's request to invest $328 million in its plan to meet the Kyoto targets?
Is it because the rest of Canada is a little jealous of Quebec's position? Is it out of a desire to be harder on Quebec?
I hope my Conservative, Liberal and NDP colleagues will vote in favour of the Bloc Québécois motion. Quebecers must have a portion of their past and present taxes returned to them, taxes they have paid, and will pay, on fossil fuels, by allowing them to recover $328 million. Quebec could be the first Canadian province, and likely also the first area of North America, to meet the Kyoto protocol targets. We all hope that this will be the case.