Madam Speaker, thank you for enabling us to resume so quickly after the minor incident that took place a few minutes ago.
I am pleased to speak to the private member's motion on the greenhouse gas emissions trading system for North America. The issue of greenhouse gas emissions is an important one. We have to consider all facets of this matter, have a look at the bigger picture and consider the environment as a whole.
A few years ago, members of the Liberal Party worked very hard and were very proactive in advancing the Kyoto protocol, which seeks to ensure that the environment is a global issue and not just a local one. Whether it is the air we breathe, the water we drink or the food we eat, all these elements and many others are directly related to the environment. As a society, we must ensure that we advance the cause of the environment in order to improve the quality of life of our fellow citizens.
If we look at the environment globally and stop considering it from a local perspective, we see the importance of the idea that each and every individual must make his own small contribution to promote the environmental cause. When I talk about these small contributions, I am thinking locally. Each person can make his personal home and society in general a much healthier environment.
As regards greenhouse gas emissions, many businesses must now use energy sources that may be cleaner in certain areas, but less so in others. However, we must use energy sources to heat our homes, fuel our vehicles and operate industries that are essential to our country. It is important to be careful about our environment.
I am a member who represents a rural riding where natural resources, including forests, fishing and agriculture, play a very significant role. What are we going to eat if our environment is deficient? If this becomes the case, will agriculture suffer? Forests are the primary wealth in my region. This is a natural resource that we cannot completely ignore in the mistaken belief that it will always be there. The fact is that it will not always be there for us. Members who live in rural areas that are rich in natural resources understand very clearly the importance of the environment. Without a sound environment, people often find themselves out of work.
Let me give a concrete example. There is an Atlantic salmon fishery in the Restigouche River. If we are not careful about our environment, and about that river, the economy of Restigouche is going to lose tens of millions of dollars annually. Without this activity, we are not going to be able to attract the tourists from the rest of the country and from abroad who come to fish. Americans often come to fish there, and they spend a lot of money in my riding. So, there is a direct link between greenhouse gases and the way we are going to treat our environment. It is easy to understand the importance that must be given to this link, to ensure that the environment in which we live is the best possible one.
This is not to say that people in urban centres do not understand the reality. However, there is greater awareness in rural areas, given that the people depend on the environment for their employment. If we pay attention to our rural areas and the environment, we will be able to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country. We must look on the positive side. Some people say that investing in the environment costs money. Is that good or bad for the economy? In the case of my riding, it is good for the economy. When we pay attention to the environment, it is a good way to ensure that people will have jobs.
We must also look at the reality. I would like to thank the hon. member who introduced this bill, because if we do not pay attention to our environment and if we are not aware of the problem, we will end up with even bigger problems.
A few years ago, I met with a group of students from the Forum for Young Canadians in my riding. If I remember correctly, there were 14 students from Madawaska and Restigouche. I took the time to ask them certain questions. We often do not listen to our young people and our students enough. It does not matter whether they have the right to vote or not. What is important is listening to them in order to improve our future and our system. When they step up to take over, if we have listened to them, they will be happy to contribute to the society we are trying to build for them.
I asked those young people how important they thought the environment was to their everyday lives, how important they thought it was to recycle and so on. By speaking with those students, I leaned that our schools are doing a lot more to raise consciousness about the importance of the environment than other members of society. And it is not a question of experience. Those young people were only 17 or 18 years old, just approaching adulthood. The environment is so important to them that one might wonder where they learned that.
Along the roadsides, where I am from, I often see garbage that people could have held onto and put into a garbage pail a little later. People need to pay more attention.
The students told me that the environment was extremely important to them because their future was at stake. They will inherit an environment that smells bad, where the water they want to drink is no longer potable, and where the food they eat makes them sick.
I realized just how aware today’s youth are of the environment and I think they are its greatest advocates. We have some great champions of the environment in the House of Commons, of course, but Canadian young people are probably the greatest possible champions of the environment.
Their objective was clear, and they told me we need to raise awareness and educate people. They talked about their parents and grandparents, their neighbours and their aunts and uncles. I think we need to educate people about greenhouse gases and the environment.
During another debate on this private member’s bill, someone said the Conservative government had no plan. It is easy to issue press releases and deliver fine speeches, but what do Canadians want? They want something specific. These things are often hard to identify. Sometimes too, the government takes temporary action to look good, only to toss it all out later, through the back door.
Here is an example. A program was established to give people a tax credit if they bought an energy-efficient hybrid vehicle. The program was introduced but then, in no time at all, the same Conservative government cancelled it. People in my area were asking me what had happened. The Conservatives said the environment was important, but in reality they cancelled their own program as soon as they had a chance. This program certainly did not cost billions of dollars, and it was very good for the environment. So why did they cancel it when Canadians wanted to continue down that path?
Take the cost of gasoline. We all know it was much higher last year. Canadians had their consciousness raised, but then the government took away the tools they needed to deal with the fossil fuel problem and greenhouse gases.
There is also the example of the ecoEnergy program. If Canadians want to install a new heating system or build a new house with a really energy-saving heating system, they can check it out with the Government of Canada by dialling 1-800-O-Canada.
So, people call 1-800-O-Canada but are immediately told to turn to their own province. Why put this on a federal government website when ultimately it does not have a program?
I could keep talking about this for much longer but am going to let someone else have a chance to speak.