Madam Speaker, this evening we are going to talk about the Paris agreement, which sets exactly the same targets as those set by the Conservative government in the spring of 2015. The whole planet must know that. Not only did the Liberal government adopt exactly the same targets as Prime Minister Harper, but so did the whole planet and President Obama too. That is an indisputable and undisputed fact.
Which government was the only government in Canada's 150-year history to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? The Conservative government, which reduced emissions by 2%. That is another fact.
Also under our government, greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands went down by 32%. These planet-friendly, environmentally friendly accomplishments are courtesy of the Conservative government. Need I remind anyone that the targets we set were so sensible that the whole planet adopted them? That is a fact.
However, the only thing the government has to show for its lofty principles is the creation of a new tax, the Liberal carbon tax. This is typical of the Liberals, they who never stop lecturing. Whenever they are faced with a problem, they create a tax. This should come as no surprise, given that under the Chrétien and Martin Liberal governments, greenhouse gas emissions rose by 30%.
Now reality is catching up to them. I cannot repeat this enough. The entire planet has recognized that we, the Conservatives, established the right greenhouse gas reduction targets. Now those folks over there are improvising a Liberal carbon tax and imposing it on the provinces, contrary to what they said earlier. They said they would act collaboratively with the provinces, but that is absolutely not the case.
The Prime Minister said in this very place that he would give the provinces two years to reach an agreement, and if there was no agreement, he would impose the tax. The reality is that the Liberals are imposing it, period. That is the Liberal approach. They impose a tax and punish everyone.
Instead of helping businesses and working with the major polluters on finding positive and constructive solutions, as we did with the oil sands, this government wants to punish everyone. Then it adopts lofty principles, treats the provinces poorly and forces them to raise taxes, which is not the right thing to do.
That is why we think that the government should at least have the honour, dignity, and courage to recognize that the Paris agreement targets are the Conservative government's targets, of which we are very proud.