Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in the House to pursue a question that I asked in the last session with respect to the Conservatives' studies on the effects of the oil sands on health and the environment.
In 2012, the Conservatives drafted questions and answers in response to a study on contaminants that accumulate in the snow near oil sands operations. With respect to this alarming fact, they claimed that the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that accumulate are no worse than what is found on a barbecued steak.
However, a new study has found that mercury levels in the water and ground are 13 times higher in those areas than elsewhere. Naturally, I asked them if they would stop ignoring the serious problem of the accumulation of mercury, whose levels are 13 times greater in areas where there are oil sands operations than elsewhere in Canada. The Conservatives said that there was no problem. That is just unbelievable.
It is important to rely on science. Recently, we discussed the situation concerning belugas in the St. Lawrence River. An injunction was issued because scientific advice was not disclosed, contrary to what was claimed. The same thing is happening with the accumulation of mercury, whose levels are 13 times higher in areas near oil sands operations.
There is so little science that the Council of Canadian Academies did not even appoint a scientific expert in environmental technologies to chair the oil sands review committee. Instead, it appointed a pioneer in the development of the oil sands who spent 14 years as the CEO of Syncrude, the world's largest producer of crude oil from oil sands. It cannot be said that someone is going to monitor the oil sands industry in Canada.
A recent poll commissioned by the Professional Institute of the Public Service indicates that the vast majority of the federal government's scientists believe that the cuts made to their research and monitoring activities will weaken the government's ability to serve the public interest and that, consequently, Canada has moved backwards with respect to environmental protection.
In addition, last September, hundreds of scientists protested here in Ottawa, calling on the Conservatives to stop muzzling them and cutting their funding. It is not every day that we see scientists protesting on Parliament Hill. It is rare. The situation is very serious.
Mercury levels in the soil and water in areas near oil sands projects are 13 times higher. This is a serious problem and something has to be done to fix it.
What do the parliamentary secretary and the Conservative government intend to do about this huge concentration of mercury near oil sands development sites?