House of Commons Hansard #140 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was animal.

Topics

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions the Liberal Party put us in a deep hole, but the minister got a bigger shovel and keeps on digging. When will he learn to change direction?

While the rest of the world is committed to 20% below 1990 levels, the Conservative government wants to put it 4% above 1990 levels. We know the Liberal leader did not get the job done. Why is the minister admitting that he will not either?

Will he bring this to a vote in the House of Commons where we can have a debate and democratic action for real effect on climate change?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we are making up for 10 long years when harmful greenhouse gases went up and did not go down. We are making up for 10 years when all there was was talk, talk, talk.

Canada will do more in the next 13 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than almost any other country in the world. We are proud of that. We have an exciting plan, an exciting initiative to get this country on the right track. We will deliver. We will get the job done.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government got caught trying to place its bogus environmental announcement at par with the federal budget and then the Conservatives set about scrambling to get their story straight once it leaked. At first they threatened parliamentarians saying it was a breach of securities law, then they denied it. First it had no targets, then it had weak ones.

Why did the minister provide three separate, distinct and false explanations of his incompetent behaviour within one hour last night?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker--

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

We will have some order. I know the hon. Minister of the Environment enjoys heckling, both giving and taking, but we have to be able to hear his answer. He now has the floor, so we will have some order, please.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Conservative

John Baird Conservative Ottawa West—Nepean, ON

Mr. Speaker, I take full responsibility for a misdirected fax. That is regrettable. I want to tell you about something else I do. I take full responsibility for cleaning up our environment. I take full responsibility for reducing greenhouse gases, for cleaning up the air in Canada. I take full responsibility for getting the job done where the party opposite failed Canadians.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canada has a Minister of the Environment who takes responsibility--

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

More, more.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Order. We are going to get more, but we have to be able to hear more.

The hon. member for Ottawa South has the floor. We need to be able to hear the question.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

David McGuinty Liberal Ottawa South, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canada has a Minister of the Environment who takes responsibility for careless PR leaks, but not for setting responsible environmental policy. The minister blows hot and cold. He is a climate change induced spinning weather vane.

If Kyoto is a socialist flop as the Prime Minister claims, then why did the government vote to uphold the objectives of the Kyoto protocol, including the targets and absolute reductions of greenhouse gases just yesterday?

Will Chicken Little finally end the doublespeak and bring back the plan that addresses air pollution and climate change known as Bill C-30?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Again, Mr. Speaker, from that member it is “do as I say, not as I do”.

We are going to make real commitments to clean up our environment. I did read the Globe and Mail and this will provide some wise counsel for the member for Ottawa South. The headline is, “Not so easy to cut those nasty coal emissions, is it, Mr. McGuinty?” The last statement is, “It's a complex problem. Mr. McGuinty's sin is that he used to make it seem so simple”, referring of course to the member's brother, the Ontario premier.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, this has been a long night for the Minister of the Environment, long enough for him to contradict himself three times about his speech. His spokesperson said that the speech was for Wednesday; then, caught unprepared, he told TVA that the speech was for an announcement on Thursday. Then he put the speech on the Internet with a few words changed here and there so it would sound more credible. This morning, on Canada AM, he could not say for sure when the speech would be delivered.

When did he tell the truth: this morning, yesterday evening, or sometime during the night?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, how nice for the member that he had so much time to watch television last night. As minister, I accept responsibility for a fax that was not sent correctly. I am also taking responsibility for improving our environment. That is why we have a good plan, a plan for concrete action, a plan that will change the numbers, reduce greenhouse gases and improve air quality. We are taking action, which is something the Liberal government did not do for 10 long years.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

Pablo Rodriguez Liberal Honoré-Mercier, QC

Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, I did hear about his plan—on Teletoon.

The minister does not seem to understand Canada's obligations under the Kyoto protocol. May I remind him that Kyoto is about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, not about slowing the increase of those emissions. He has to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, Period.

Why is this so hard for him to understand? There are all kinds of ways to reduce emissions, such as, say, sending fewer faxes. What is he going to do to reduce greenhouse gases?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

I have to say to the House, Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with Teletoon as much as the member opposite.

I can say that during the Liberal regime the Liberals did not deliver the goods. Greenhouse gases went up instead of down. Under our regime we have a real plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Maybe the member could explain to the House why on April 15, 2005 the Globe and Mail said that his leader acknowledged that the Liberal plan was still unclear when it came to regulations needed to make sure--

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

2:55 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the Minister of the Environment said that “when greenhouse gas emissions stop increasing, we can begin to reduce them”. That is a totally irresponsible statement.

Does the minister realize that, without absolute targets, he is allowing polluters to continue to pollute, and he is admitting from the outset that he has given up on meeting the Kyoto targets?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we will absolutely reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We will have absolute terms for emissions reductions. We will also have a real plan, a national plan to improve air quality. For 13 long years, with the Bloc Québécois in this House, we never saw any progress regarding the environment, air quality and climate change. This government is now taking action.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Bloc

Bernard Bigras Bloc Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, during all these years, the government denied the existence of climate change in this House. The minister's attitude is the same as that of his government with Afghanistan. He says one thing, but does the opposite.

Is the reference year to which he referred this morning for calculating the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions 1990, 2006 or 2012? Which year will he use to begin penalizing those, such as Quebec, who made efforts in the past, and rewarding polluters, such as major oil companies?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, we have a great plan that we will release tomorrow. It will be one of the world leading plans. It is a plan where we acknowledge as a country and as a government we will come together to reduce greenhouse gases. We will come together to improve the quality of air in Canada. It is a plan that will regulate industry in a mandatory fashion, something that has never been done in Canada. It is a plan that we will all be able to be tremendously proud of.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Liberal

Geoff Regan Liberal Halifax West, NS

Mr. Speaker, the government's greenhouse gas targets are a recipe for cooking this planet. They leave Canada 10% above our Kyoto commitments eight years after the due date.

If every country modelled its anti-global warming plan on the plan of the minister of hot air over there, world temperatures would rise disastrously by the end of the century.

Why is the government choosing to measure itself against 2006 emission levels when every other Kyoto signatory uses 1990 levels?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Ottawa West—Nepean Ontario

Conservative

John Baird ConservativeMinister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, what Canadians want to see is the government come forward with a strategy to genuinely reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions went up under the Liberals. They were supposed to go down under the Liberals.

Canada is prepared to accept leadership to do more than any other country over the next 13 years. We are going to have short term targets. We are going to have medium term targets. We are going to come forward with meaningful initiatives on technology, meaningful initiatives on international collaboration, meaningful initiatives to get the job done, where his leader and the Liberal Party failed Canadians.

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Conservative

Dave Batters Conservative Palliser, SK

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Minister of Natural Resources along with the Minister of the Environment announced another step to protect the health and environment of Canadians.

Last year our government announced new regulations and more stringent energy efficiency standards for a whole range of common products. With these new proposed regulations, Canada is a world leader in efficiency standards.

Could the Minister of Natural Resources explain what further action he is taking today to improve energy efficiency in Canada?

The EnvironmentOral Questions

3 p.m.

Saanich—Gulf Islands B.C.

Conservative

Gary Lunn ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, please let me enlighten the House with another great initiative by this government.

We are taking steps to regulate efficiency in lighting. These regulations will be in place this year. Within five years we will ban inefficient light bulbs. What does that mean? This is the equivalent of 3,000 or 4,000 megawatts. How much is that? That would be six or seven coal fired electricity generating units, or the equivalent of Nanticoke, the largest polluter in North America.

This is real difference. This is action. This is helping Canadians use less and live better.