Madam Speaker, I am pursuing a question that I asked the Minister of Environment in question period on May 30, when we were in the midst of unprecedented wildfires throughout the Prairies and the state of emergency as it existed in several prairie provinces. I pointed out that we were, at last count, only 7% below 2005 levels, with a due date for our emissions reductions to 40% to 45% by 2030. The response from the hon. Minister of Environment was to not answer the question that I had asked, which was, “When will the government present a plan?”
Certainly by that time, we knew that the new government, under the new Prime Minister, was cancelling plans put in place by the previous government, so my question was very pressing. We knew by May 30 we were not close to meeting our target that is due in five years, so I asked when the government would replace the things that are being cut that deal with emissions reductions so that we have a chance to ensure a livable world for our children. The minister did not answer the question as to when we would see a plan, but she did confirm that the Liberals would “make sure that we reduce our emissions, fight climate change and keep Canadians safe.”
Here we are some months later, and we now have the very clear and devastating report from the Canadian Climate Institute that takes us forward and says what we can now expect in terms of emissions reductions from Canada. Those were the legally binding targets that we once filed, called nationally determined contributions, with the United Nations under the terms of the Paris Agreement, in which I have to say Canada took a lead role in negotiating, just as we did in 1992 with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We were the first industrialized country to both sign and ratify that treaty. It is legally binding, and through it, our Paris Agreement targets are legally binding.
On our commitment to reduce our emissions by 40% to 45% below 2005 levels by 2030, we knew we were falling short when I asked the question in May. Now we know from the Canadian Climate Institute report of a few days ago that this is how far behind we are: We can expect at this point that we are on track to reduce our emissions by 20% to 25% below 2005 levels.
The numbers make people's eyes glaze over. What do they mean? They mean that when people speak of drought in the Prairies in a particularly bad year, it is a trend that may well be unstoppable, not of drought as individual episodes but of aridification as a process that will dry out areas that are breadbaskets and make it very difficult for prairie farmers to survive.
When we look at what is happening across the country, we are seeing wildfire after wildfire, extreme flood events and extreme heat dome events, and around the world, we are seeing people dying from the effects of a climate crisis. We know and understand what must be done, and yet we fail to do it. Is it cognitive dissonance? Is it opportunism and political strategies that come ahead of saving the lives of our own children?
I ask the minister this: When will we see a plan?