Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's interpretation of the Constitution of Canada has no basis in reality. The jurisdiction here is provincial. That is the end of the matter.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2004, with 35% of the vote.
The Environment October 21st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's interpretation of the Constitution of Canada has no basis in reality. The jurisdiction here is provincial. That is the end of the matter.
The Environment October 21st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, it is astonishing to see the Bloc Quebecois members asking the federal government to get involved in issues that are in the provincial domain and to help them in fields of provincial jurisdiction. Clearly, in constitutional terms, these issues are in the provincial domain. It is really unbelievable that the Bloc Quebecois has taken such a position, namely that the federal government can do anything it wants in any province.
The Environment October 21st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the coal-fired plants in Ontario, we are looking forward to working with the new government of Ontario which has committed 2007 as the year when coal-fired plants will be phased out.
We think it is a very progressive step. It is in line with our agreement with the United States that I signed with my American counterpart a year ago and we are looking forward to speedy progress in this program.
St. Lawrence Seaway October 21st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, this started in January 2001 when the United States army corps of engineers was authorized by the United States congress to initiate a reconnaissance phase of a possible five year study to review the feasibility et cetera.
In July the corps of engineers recommended further research. We are very far from any firm plans to expand the seaway.
The Environment October 20th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform the hon. member that we have in place a plan for implementation of our Kyoto target. We fully expect to achieve that and obviously, as has been said on a number of occasions, there will be need for further budgetary measures.
There will be a need perhaps for tax measures. There will indeed be the need for the provinces and ordinary citizens to act as well. We have in fact a plan which we will put into effect to achieve our target.
The Environment September 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that green industry is truly one private sector industry that is a leader worldwide. Clearly, exportation of our industry is very high, and this is a sector supported by the federal government.
As for greenhouse gas emissions, I repeat: we are convinced that we will achieve a 6% reduction over the 1990 levels.
The Environment September 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform the hon. member that Canada already plays a lead role as far as environmentally friendly industry is concerned. The province of Quebec is one of the leaders in this area. We already have made major strides in this area.
As for the matter of greenhouse gas emissions, I can assure him that the plan is already in place, as is its implementation.
Despite growth in the gasoline sector, we are going to reach the target of 6%—
The Environment September 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, to date discussions have been almost exclusively about the first Kyoto period, which is 2008-12. We will begin discussions on the second Kyoto period, which is the five years that follow, in 2005.
That said, I would like to point out that the Prime Minister has asked the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy to study and inform Canadians on the potential for future emissions reductions and, similarly, the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences to report to Canadians on the science of climate change.
We welcome the statement by Prime Minister Blair. We believe it is important to consider the long term issues related to climate change.
Cartagena Protocol September 17th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, no decision has been taken on ratification because we are still engaged in consultation with stakeholders, particularly stakeholders in the agricultural sector. That said, the Government of Canada and certainly most of the stakeholders support the objectives of the protocol and we hope a decision can be taken in short order.
The Environment September 17th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, for the federal government to intervene under the environmental assessment legislation there has to be federal involvement, which is called a trigger, for the legislation to take effect. As I understand it, in this particular instance there is no such trigger. Therefore, it will be left to the province of New Brunswick to handle this particular instance.