House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 76% of the vote.
The Environment February 16th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, today Kyoto comes into effect and this government has no plan.
When the current public works minister voted against Kyoto, this is what he said: “The job losses from Kyoto ratification will affect all regions of Canada”. Or how about this: “This is a government that could not organize a two car funeral, let alone implement a Kyoto agreement...”.
Will the minister tell Canadians exactly how many jobs will be sacrificed by living up to Kyoto?
The Environment February 15th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the chamber of commerce said that Canadian businesses would not be able to compete. Canadian manufacturers say we are going to lose thousands of jobs.
Today the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said that every family will be charged $3,000 more a year because of Kyoto compliance.
Will the minister stop dodging the questions and tell Canadians exactly what it is going to cost them in their family incomes?
The Environment February 15th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the government's attempt to comply with Kyoto will hurt Canadian families. They will pay more for electricity, for transportation and for heat.
In a report released today by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation it states that for every household it will cost about $3,000 extra each year.
Will the minister stand today and tell Canadians exactly what Kyoto will cost them?
The Environment February 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the government certainly knows how to spend a robust amount of money.
The Chamber of Commerce represents 170,000 businesses across Canada. Today it released a last-ditch warning concerning job losses and economic uncertainty due to Kyoto. It warns of a competitive disadvantage that could be catastrophic.
How can the minister assure Canadians that our ability to compete will not be hampered by this unannounced plan?
The Environment February 14th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, Kyoto comes into force on Wednesday. Despite signing Kyoto in 1997, ratifying it in 2002, and wasting $3.7 billion in the process, the government still has no action plan. During the government's eight years of dithering, CO
2
emissions have skyrocketed.
Why will the minister not release the plan for buying hot air credits before Wednesday?
The Environment February 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, there are thousands of Canadians living near government owned toxic waste sites, thousands more have boil water warnings, our national parks are in disrepair, real air pollution chokes our cities, and the government wants to buy hot air credits offshore.
Will the minister today assure us that not one penny will leave this country to get to our Kyoto targets?
The Environment February 9th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister's solution to achieving the Kyoto targets is a robust plan of buying hot air from foreign countries. Here is a news flash. We could use a lot of that money for infrastructure here in Canada. We could use it for coal gasification, biomass development, geothermal co-generation of garbage and countless other technologies.
Why would the government buy hot air credits when there is plenty of homegrown technology here in Canada?
The Environment February 8th, 2005
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are starting to ask more questions about the economic cost of full compliance with Kyoto. When the government spends $3.7 billion with negative results, taxpayers tend to get a little upset.
This morning the finance minister told us that we needed a more robust plan. Before moving forward with more spending on Kyoto, will the minister come clean and tell Canadians what the cost will be in dollars and jobs in full compliance with Kyoto?
The Environment February 2nd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, I hope Maurice Strong comes up with a plan in time.
The government needs to admit and tell people what achieving these Kyoto targets will really mean in terms of higher electricity costs, heating costs, gasoline costs, and the destruction of many hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ontario and in Quebec.
Will the minister come clean and tell Canadians what exactly the real economic costs will be by adhering to Kyoto?
The Environment February 2nd, 2005
Mr. Speaker, we have a Prime Minister who says Kyoto is too bureaucratic. We have an environment minister who says we should not focus on the targets. We have a natural resources minister who says we could not hit the targets anyway. Now, this group wants to spend billions of dollars and send it offshore for hot air credits.
Why will the government not spend the money and spend those billions of dollars to help the Canadian environment before sending it off for hot air?