David Anderson

[The Environment, February 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is exaggerating.

I clearly said that the past must be taken into account, but there are limits. The decisions made by Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa may not have had anything to do with greenhouse gases.

So, we are going to take the past into consideration, but there comes a point when the past has very little to do with what is going on now.

[The Environment, February 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wishes to have this sort of discussion, I am surprised that he ran for the Bloc Québécois as a federal member of parliament, rather than as a MNA for the Parti Québécois.

He is giving us figures, details and points that we will discuss with the provinces in order to agree on a common position, which, I repeat, will be a good formula for all of Canada, where no one region will be too heavily burdened.

[The Environment, February 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the issues the Bloc mentioned a few moments ago. These are exactly the issues we must discuss with the provinces.

We can use a formula based on population, for example, or based on emission rates, or their increase in the 1990s. These are the issues and details that we need to discuss frankly with the provinces, the territories and other interested parties.

[The Environment, February 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, what this government wants to do is to discuss these things, with the provinces, including the rate by which greenhouse gas emissions increased during the nineties 1990s.

We want to have consultations on the figures that were submitted to us today.

The issue is not that I made a decision. They are the ones who keep asking me to make decisions which, in fact, under the Canadian constitution, should stem from discussions between the provinces and the federal government.

[The Environment, February 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday I was somewhat encouraged by the Bloc Québécois being in favour of ratifying the Kyoto protocol.

Now, 48 hours later, we get the impression that it does not want to do anything to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that everything has been taken care of, and nothing more needs to be done to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I am not familiar with the Bloc Québécois' policy, but perhaps the hon. leader of the Bloc could tell us about its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[The Environment, February 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the difficulty of handling the hon. member's question is that the question itself demonstrates the problem of his party.

We are dealing with some immensely complex issues. We have difficulties and concerns in the science and that is well documented by the debate that is taking place. In addition, it is one of the most difficult international agreements ever arrived at. To suggest that because there has been some discussion already there is no need for further discussion is simply folly.

[The Environment, February 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we do not.

[The Environment, February 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asks for costs. I would like to suggest to him and the other members of his party who come from Alberta what the cost of the drought is in southern Alberta now, which is one of those climate change related extreme weather situations. It is about $5 billion and they do not care. They simply do not care about that type of problem.

The fact is the world has joined together under the Kyoto agreement to try and deal with a global problem and that party wants to keep its head in the sand.

[The Environment, February 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should be aware, consultations with the provinces and with the industries concerned are ongoing. In that process we are developing a plan. The costs inevitably depend on which sectors of the economy will bear each proportionate burden.

The discussions are ongoing. Until they are completed, we will not have the type of single precise number the hon. member has talked about.

[Kyoto Protocol, February 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I did not know that the Bloc Quebecois thought that all cars in the province of Quebec ran on electricity and not gas.

We have the same problem in all the provinces of Canada. Oil and gas use is producing greenhouse gases. The problem is the same in the province of Quebec as in all other provinces of Canada.