Madam Speaker, I hope you will indulge me just for a moment before I start my debate to give a special thanks to my father. It has nothing to do with his time in politics or as the environment minister provincially. It is for once again bailing out his son this morning as he has probably done so many times throughout his life.
I arrived in Ottawa yesterday, read the contents of today's motion, went to get my notes and realized I had forgotten everything in Kingston. My father drove halfway to Ottawa to rendezvous to deliver those notes so I could be properly prepared for today. As an avid watcher of CPAC, I am sure he is tuned in right now. I want to express my thanks to him for once again bailing out his son.
I know there is a lot of information that has been talked about today in terms of the effects of pricing pollution and what this government has been able to accomplish. I know the member for Regina—Lewvan, who is only one of many, has spoken several times about not meeting targets and the ineffectiveness of policies that this government has brought on board.
I want to bring to the attention of the House the growth of these policies and put into context how effective these policies have been. The growth of the renewable energy and Canada's progress on phasing out coal-fired electricity has seen emissions from the electricity sector decrease by 64 megatonnes between 2005 and 2021. This progress puts Canada in an excellent position to meet those 2035 targets that we have set to get to a net-zero electricity grid by that point.
The data also shows a 16% decrease in residential emissions, with less home heating by oil being used. Many Canadians are taking the steps to change their homes' energy efficiency by making the switch to heat pumps, solar and cleaner options. I think it is very important, while I say this, to also point out that there is one sector that has continued and grown in terms of emissions, and that is the oil and gas sector.
Despite the oil and gas sector continuing to grow in terms of emissions, the net emissions throughout our country have continued to decrease. In fact, the oil and gas sector is the only industry that has actually continued to increase in terms of emissions over the last few years.
I think it is very telling, and Canadians are rightfully concerned about this, that I have presented three or four petitions since the House resumed last week specifically calling on the government for strong and bold emissions caps when it comes to this sector particularly. I think it is the right thing to do. I never comment on it when I am presenting the petition because the rules do not permit me to, but I certainly think that it is the right thing to do, to put on bold caps.
We are in a transition. Whether Conservatives like it or not, the world is moving away from fossil fuels. One in every 10 cars in this country that is being sold is an electric vehicle. Regardless of the fact that Conservatives do not want to believe it, it is absolutely true. As a matter of fact, in 2021, the average new light-duty vehicle had 25% to 35% lower greenhouse gas emissions than a similar new vehicle in 2011. The progress we are making is working.
The member for Regina—Lewvan got up and said we have not met our targets. There are a lot of Conservatives who have said we have not met our targets. I would rather have very bold, ambitious targets that we do not quite achieve, than loose statements like, “We are going to fix the environment with technology.” What does that even mean? That is the Conservatives' entire plan. They say they are going to fix the environment and climate change, which they suddenly believe in, with technology, and then nothing else after that.