Madam Speaker, I am so happy to be back in the House for the second hour of debate on this climate accountability bill.
This bill is deeply important to me because it is the first bill I had the opportunity to introduce in the House of Commons. I hope it will be the first of many. It is also deeply important to me because it could not be more timely.
The public health crisis we are going through spotlighted another crisis we were already going through: the climate crisis. As everyone knows, the current health crisis and the environmental crisis are inextricably linked. Decades of government inaction on the environment had a hand in the emergence of this pandemic. We need to acknowledge that and take action now.
This parallel is brilliantly explained in the book Pandemic, written by journalist Sonia Shah, who explains that today, we imagine pandemics “to be as unfathomable and unpredictable as being struck by lightning. We cast them as acts of foreign aggression. We did not grapple with our complicity in their spread”.
Like our increasingly mild winters, the pandemic is a reflection of how nature is changing. Our complicity in the increasing number of pandemics stretches back to the development of transportation and industry, from the dawn of the modern age to the chaos of contemporary urban development. All of this created an unhealthy proximity between humans, animals and potentially dangerous micro-organisms. Of course, the impact of oil and gas development, which exacerbates climate warming a little bit more each day, also serves as a vector of pathogen transmission.
There is no denying that not only are COVID-19 and nature connected, but the political decisions we make connect them even further. Failure to take action on the environment is setting up a world where the risk of epidemics will be part of our daily lives. The question is how our societies will choose to manage this risk. I believe that our societies are prepared to move forward with the energy transition and protect our environment and our communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The only thing missing is a bit of political will.
I see this bill as a sort of safeguard to shield us from the current and future governments' lack of political will to protect the environment. It is high time that the government took the climate crisis seriously. It is our responsibility as parliamentarians, legislators and representatives of the public.
The public deserves more than a government that talks out of both sides of its mouth. The public deserves more than a government that promises to surpass the greenhouse gas reduction targets it committed to under the Paris Agreement, but that continues to invest heavily in highly polluting industries. It is high time that the government stepped up and did what is needed to combat climate change. This is the main objective of the climate change accountability act. It would force the government to turn its rhetoric into meaningful action.
I would remind members that Canada has never met its greenhouse gas reduction targets. It failed to do so multiple times. It had to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol and will likely not meet the Paris Agreement targets. Making the government accountable for its climate action will prevent this failure from being repeated. That is the objective of the bill I introduced.
We cannot stress enough that this is critical. We are beginning to pay dearly for the government's inaction. The cost is high financially but also in terms of human life. We are running straight towards our own demise, and that is deplorable.
It is certainly a huge challenge, but I am confident that we can do it. I am confident in my generation, the young people driven by an inspiring passion. They deserve more representation in our institutions. The government must live up to the trust it has been given.
Bill C-215 gives Canada the opportunity to pass a climate act. A climate act must truly be binding and make it possible to have transparent and honest mechanisms. It must make the government accountable for its action or inaction on climate. This should have been put in place a long time ago.
The good thing about this bill is that it gives the government the freedom to choose the avenues it wants to take in the fight against climate change. For governments, this is a perfect opportunity to remain flexible on the means but firm on the targets.
I encourage my colleagues from all parties to vote in favour of our climate change accountability bill so that we can study it in committee.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members who have risen in the House to speak to this bill. It has been inspiring to see that, regardless of our political affiliation, we are prepared to make this a non-partisan issue and work together.