Madam Speaker, in my riding, Vancouver Kingsway, there is a strong consensus. It is not unanimous, but a clear majority of people are very concerned about the impacts of climate change. Last summer, terrible forest fires, some of the worst since the 1950s, burned so much in British Columbia that there was actually a haze in Vancouver for many days in the summer. We are seeing an early spring runoff now, and there is flooding that is approaching the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, which is a rare event.
The truth is that if we take climate change seriously, we have to take extraordinary steps now in order to avoid a rise in temperature of 2° centigrade by 2050, and by all accounts we are not on target for that.
The Liberals talk a good game. However, they signed Kyoto in 1997. That is 20 years ago. Eddie Goldenberg, who was Prime Minister Chrétien's assistant, publicly stated afterwards that they had no intention of ever meeting those targets. Therefore, Canadians can be rightfully suspicious of their claims now, particularly when we hear a lot of talk but the emissions are not going down.
What does my hon. colleague think it tells Canadians when the Liberals continue to tell them that they want to deal with climate change but there are never any reductions in GHG emissions or carbon emissions when they are in government?