House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 76% of the vote.
Kyoto Protocol December 10th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the natural resources minister said that the government will put a $15 per tonne cap on the price that industry will have pay for CO
2
emissions.
The minister has taken care of large industry emitters but he expects a family of four, the seniors on fixed incomes, the single moms and students to pick up the tab. What will that tab be?
Kyoto Protocol December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the truth is the government really has no idea what Kyoto is going to cost. From job losses and investment chills right down to the shabby plan it has for paying for emissions credits. By capping the cost of credits, the government will simply be passing the cost on to the taxpayers as a disguised carbon tax.
What is this going to cost the Canadian taxpayer?
Kyoto Protocol December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the more we look at the Kyoto fiasco, the worse it gets.
The environment minister claims he will be able to buy emissions credits for $10 Canadian a tonne. Before ratification even happens, the international price has jumped in the last three months from $1 U.S. to $7 U.S. Some even predict that it will go as high as $80 per tonne.
Canadian taxpayers want to know how much Kyoto is going to cost them.
Kyoto Protocol December 9th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the Kyoto accord is a horrible deal that will do little for the environment and will kill jobs and investment in Canada. The investment freeze has already begun. Eight of the ten provinces know this and do not want the Prime Minister to sign on without a full plan and an accurate cost estimate.
On October 28 all provinces and territories agreed on 12 points they wanted the environment minister to agree to. He rejected three of them and refused to discuss them further. Three of the western provinces will now fight this in court. The government's so-called implementation plan goes on at length about cooperation with the provinces but in reality there is little cooperation. In fact the provinces have cancelled meetings with the environment minister because he will not listen to them.
Simply put, ratifying Kyoto is not the way to go and is a dereliction of duty.
When will the Prime Minister convene a first ministers' meeting to reach a consensus on ratifying Kyoto?
Kyoto Protocol December 5th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, original estimates for the gun registry were $2 million. It has now cost close to a billion dollars. That is 500 times what the government said it would cost taxpayers.
The government has completely mismanaged the gun registry. The government has failed to provide any cost estimates on Kyoto. Why should Canadians believe the government on Kyoto?
Kyoto Protocol December 5th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the gun registry boondoggle is the result of government fiscal deception. The government is asking Canadians to trust it on major issues like Kyoto and health care. The gun registry is now 500 times higher than the original estimate. The government has failed to produce any cost estimates on Kyoto.
Why should Canadians trust that Kyoto will not bankrupt the country when the government has failed so miserably at estimating the gun registry cost?
Kyoto Protocol December 3rd, 2002
Mr. Speaker, that sort of arrogant answer is exactly why Canadians do not understand what Kyoto is all about.
If we fail to meet our targets, the Kyoto protocol says that after the completion of an emissions inventory we will have “to make up any shortfall in compliance” mainly “through emissions trading”.
How can the Prime Minister and the environment minister continue to say that we will not be sending taxpayers' dollars for the purchase of other countries' hot air?
Kyoto Protocol December 3rd, 2002
Mr. Speaker, the government has failed to acknowledge that there are penalties when we fail to reach our Kyoto targets. The only way to pay these penalties is by buying carbon credits internationally.
Could the Prime Minister confirm that if we fail to meet our targets we will be forced to buy international carbon credits?
Kyoto Protocol November 29th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I think the member has shown a lot of common sense and certainly has read Mr. Lomberg's book, The Skeptical Environmentalist . Mr. Lomberg is an environmentalist who has never owned a car in his life. He is a 37 year old Dane who really believes in the environment. I think that he brings out a lot of questions.
Based on the member's comments, I wonder if he would not agree on developing a program involving countries like China, India, the U.S. and so on where we go after two things, pollution and climate change, and as the science is perfected we develop it. Would he not agree that this might be a better approach than signing Kyoto, the rather Eurocentric sort of bureaucratic thing that it is?
Health Care November 29th, 2002
Mr. Speaker, I have a few words of advice for the provincial health ministers. They should not hold their breath waiting for real cooperation from the government in fixing our health care system. If they think the Prime Minister is sincere when he says he will work with the provinces to come up with a plan, think again.
When it comes to cooperation with the provinces, the government gets a failing grade. Just ask the energy and environment ministers how much cooperation they got trying to come up with a workable Kyoto plan.
The energy and environment ministers got so sick of the Liberal government's arrogance they postponed a meeting which was supposed to happen last week and they cancelled the meeting that was supposed to be held today.
Beware, provincial health ministers. Get ready to be ignored.