moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, the Government should, as part of a global effort to minimize climate change, develop a strategy for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in Canada possibly by 20%, based on 1988 levels, by the year 2005.
Madam Speaker, climate change is probably the most complex and difficult issue of our times because it requires the application of social, economic and environmental policies. This is a classical sustainable development issue.
Our geography, sparse population, climate and distances make for a high per capita production of greenhouse gases, second only to the United States of America. However, current federal policies require attention because they encourage increased production of greenhouse gases.
At the same time innovative thinking and policies in Canada have come forward mainly from municipalities. For example, members of the 20% club are municipalities that have committed to reduce their 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emission by the year 2000. Members of this club include the cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Regina, Edmonton and 32 other municipalities.
It must be stressed that the issue is not new to us in Canada. A delegation of the Canadian government participated in climate change conferences in 1991 in Geneva, in 1995 in Berlin and long before Kyoto. It might be useful to remember also that in Toronto the 1986 conference on energy and climate produced a resolution by the scientific community at that time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by the year 2005.
This is not a new issue and the political commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions soon followed. The Liberal Party made a commitment in the 1988 election platform and again in the 1993 election platform to reduce emissions by 20% by the year 2005 based on 1988 emissions at that time.
Today, having committed at Kyoto to reductions of 60% below current levels by the year 2010 when we are already 13% above those levels, we must honestly recognize that we are five years and 19% behind in terms of having to catch up. Nevertheless, as if nothing had been said so far, we seem to be blissfully continuing with policies which compound rather than resolve the problem. I will provide some examples.
In 1996 the Minister of Finance introduced a special tax concession for the oil sands industry, an industry which produces several times the amount of greenhouse gases produced from conventional oil extraction. This tax concession, in addition to making the task of reducing emissions more difficult, may cost Canadian taxpayers up to $800 million in forgone revenue. How can we successfully achieve the Kyoto goals with this kind of perverse tax incentive?
Another example is that Canadians who use urban transit regularly need recognition. The Minister of Finance seems unaware of the importance of making employer provided monthly transit passes a tax free benefit. On the other hand a tax free status is provided to those who provide their employees with monthly parking permits. On this subject the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has asked for this concession every year since 1990 without result so far.
Another example is the embarrassing sight of landfills producing methane and other gases at present being flared off into the atmosphere and increasing greenhouse gas emissions rather than their being captured and converted to energy. The municipalities need assistance from federal and provincial governments to capture these gases, to redirect them to district heating systems and at the same time to lower these emissions.
To make it easier for Canada to achieve the Kyoto objective, we therefore need something that could be called a Canadian atmospheric fund. It would be patterned on the Toronto atmospheric fund established in 1992.
The Canadian atmospheric fund needs start-up capital. In the case of Canada, it could easily require $300 million, which would be used for loans to projects such as landfill gas initiatives. The interest earned on loans and other investments can then be recirculated to other worthy projects.
In Toronto the fund has grown by over 100% since 1992, making it almost certain that Toronto will meet its 20% goal by the year 2000. This is a remarkable achievement.
In the case of railways, the Minister of Transport is currently presiding over the closure of railway lines all over the prairies. Grain elevators are being served more and more by diesel trucks emitting four times as many greenhouse gases as trains do.
Incidentally it must be also noted that in Canada the use of diesel trucks increased by 30% between 1990 and 1995. Obviously the policy of closing railway lines ought to be reversed if we are serious about Kyoto. This will certainly cause a major and difficult problem.
In addition, fleet performance is a low priority in the Department of Transport. There seems to be no visible action yet to provide impetus and incentives to the automotive industry to produce lower consumption vehicles.
There is no progressive taxation of gas guzzlers in order to register a clear message with consumers. There are no mandatory fuel economy standards. In short, there is very little to write home about.
Over the years it has become evident that natural gas will be the answer. We have plenty of it and we need a gradual conversion to natural gas and away from the other fossil fuels which produce much more greenhouse gases.
Therefore, in the light of this, Alberta could be the great winner in the race toward reduction of greenhouse gases, provided of course that Alberta legislators take a leadership role rather than wait as it seems to be doing now for the electorate to give it the green light.
The House may recall that at the time of the oil shock we discovered something we have since forgotten. Let me cover this aspect for a moment, namely the value of conservation and efficiency through building insulation and through retrofitting.
Successful programs were launched in the late 1970s and early 1980s to encourage Canadians to insulate their homes, to switch from gasoline to propane powered engines and to engage in all forms of energy conservation. These programs unfortunately were discontinued during the Mulroney years.
Then we come to the never ending saga of renewable energy sources, the poor cousins of non-renewable sources. Since 1985 the proponents of renewable energies have asked successive finance ministers that a level playing field treatment be given to them, that they be given the same preferential treatment given to petroleum and other fossil fuel industries. This area requires particular attention.
A word or two now about the recently created climate change secretariat, which is definitely a step in the right direction and a good measure. It is supposed to deliver the Kyoto commitment through the combined efforts of two departments, natural resources and environment.
Important as they are, these two departments alone cannot deliver the required results. The secretariat has to pull in other key departments: finance, transport, public works, agriculture and industry. The secretariat needs to develop an integrated effort with all these departments.
Why? It is because the transport sector alone is responsible for almost one-third of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. Why again? It is because the Department of Finance is responsible for the perverse and, if it is willing, beneficial tax subsidies it can introduce. In other words, the scope and authority of the proposed and now in place secretariat need to be expanded and reinforced if it is to accomplish its difficult task.
Before concluding I will say a few words about being seduced by promises of reductions through emissions trading or joint implementations and other clever mechanisms meant to make Canada and other countries look good on paper without delivering real substantive reductions; in other words hot air as some people call it in the climate change world.
There are at least four requirements that I submit would be meaningful and useful in connection with emission trading. First, an emission trading system must be accompanied by a cap on total emissions. Trading without a cap does not produce the desired results. If we are to reduce greenhouse gases the cap must be moved downward as time progresses. Second, reductions must be real and not merely reductions on paper. Third, reduction must be quantifiable and verifiable. Fourth, the system must be enforceable. If reductions are not met then there must be meaningful sanctions such as progressive fines that increase for every tonne of emissions above the agreed upon level.
Joint implementation—and I hate to use this technical word but it is inevitable in the climate change business—is usually understood to mean claiming credit in one country for reductions achieved abroad. There are limits to its value. Taking credit for reductions in other countries is not a substitute for reductions in Canada, for instance. The use of Canadian technology and innovations to achieve reductions in developing countries is a very useful endeavour. I do not deny that at all. However taking credit for reductions abroad should not prevent us from taking substantive action in Canada.
In this context it is important to note that when questioned about the merits of joint implementation in the emissions credit the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development said this week that it will take a long time before credits and joint implementation can be part of an overall plan.
In conclusion, we have already waited a long time. That is why we will likely fail to meet our commitments made before Kyoto and if we are to meet our Kyoto commitments we must act very soon. There are reasons why at present we produce such a high quantity of greenhouse gases. I indicated them at the beginning of this intervention, but now we have to change our ways and our policies.
The Kyoto commitment could benefit our economy to a considerable extent because it would force us to use energy in a judicious and more efficient manner, removing unnecessary and costly tax concessions. It will also force us to concentrate efforts on the production of energy via renewable resources in the long term and a shift to natural gas, of which we have plenty. In the process I am sure we will become more competitive in our economy and we will earn the respect of the international community.
We have to pull our weight. We have agreed to do that. Therefore we have to come to grips with the root causes of climate change and launch probably one of the most exciting and difficult plans that the Government of Canada has ever come across since its inception.
