Mr. Speaker, first I want to say that I listened carefully to the speech given by my colleague, who said that Canada has the best environmental standards for oil and gas extraction in the oil sands.
However, after doing some reading, I learned that, last May, the Alberta Energy Regulator suspended a number of environmental monitoring requirements for oil sands companies. Of course, it is saying that it did that because of COVID-19, but one has to wonder.
The companies are no longer required to test groundwater and surface water unless contamination occurs that could spread to the environment. What is more, these companies no longer have to look for methane leaks, even though it is a major greenhouse gas, nor do they even have to monitor birds and wildlife. They are no longer obligated to monitor or conduct research on wetlands, since such activities have been suspended until further notice. Water escaping from storm ponds no longer needs to be tested, and major cuts have also been made to air quality programs. Are those really the best standards in the world?
We also see that oil sands emissions have more than doubled since 2005 and more than quintupled since 1990, so there are four times more emissions. The Leader of the Opposition said that he wanted to comply with the Paris Agreement.
How is it logically possible to remove a carbon tax and continue to emit greenhouse gases from oil sands development—emissions that are rising dramatically, according to the data—and still respect the leader of the official opposition's commitment to the Paris Agreement?