Mr. Speaker, let us imagine if one of us had stood up and said, in a sarcastic tone, that his or her speech was entertainment. The Liberals might not agree with my public policy concerns. They might not agree with the fact that I have a background in energy economics and commercialized clean technology from the University of Manitoba, that I helped put together the business model for Carbon Management Canada and that I did that stuff and I know what I am talking about. My community is dependent on getting this policy right. If I had done something like that to the Liberals, it would have been, “climate change denier, everything is terrible”. I reject that premise, first and foremost.
Second, I reject the virtue signalling. The member can read the amendment. It says, “human activity has an impact on climate change”. I am saying that the current government has done nothing to mitigate the human impact on climate change in Canada or abroad. The only thing it has done is used its platform on the international stage, “Canada is back”, to take picture, have cocktails and eat canapés. The Liberals have not had the hard conversations with China. They blew it with the Americans. They are penalizing our industries through reverse tariffs through policies like this.
If the environment minister wants to stand and quote Bill Nye, Science Guy, and quote his passion, then she had better look in the mirror. She has done nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country.