House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2000, with 53% of the vote.
The Environment February 22nd, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member may not have received the Parti Quebecois' press release. I will read it to her: "Issued in Quebec City at 2.42 p.m. on February 20, Quebec's plan of action will soon be submitted to Cabinet for approval". It has not been approved yet, and we are impatiently waiting for it, because it is not only a question of stabilization, but much more.
The Environment February 22nd, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I repeat what I said last week. Quebec has done exactly what the other provinces have done. Through its minister of the environment, Quebec promised, at our meeting in Toronto, that it would have a Cabinet meeting in order to get an action plan to us by March.
I have not seen this action plan, because none has been forthcoming. I am waiting for Quebec to let us know its stabilization objectives. The government of Canada has its own areas of jurisdiction, and I can assure you that we will attain and exceed the objectives of our action plan.
Here is where we have problems. There are a number of jurisdictions we cannot encroach on. We cannot force a provincial government, like the government of Alberta, for example, to do more than it wants to.
We are, however, doing our part and are patiently awaiting Quebec's action plan, which the government has not yet disclosed, and Cabinet not yet approved, according to the press release issued this week by Mr. Brassard.
The Environment February 17th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that we need stronger measures in addition to mere incentives. This was the policy we adopted in Bathurst with all of ministers of the environment and energy.
Unfortunately, I must reiterate that the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois will be the first to accuse us of stepping on the provinces' toes if we were to regulate emissions that fall under provincial jurisdiction. What we promised in the red book was to get our house in order first and also to encourage all of the provinces to put in place more than incentives. We expect the government of Quebec to take part in discussions on this issue, which transcends all politics. It concerns the health of Canadians.
The Environment February 17th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the hon. member has not yet had the chance to read the Liberal government's commitment in the red book, because in the red book, we promised a national action program that we will present in Berlin, and we are continuing to work towards that goal with all those concerned.
I am disappointed that, unfortunately, one government will not be present at the meeting in Toronto, next Monday. All of the action plans will be tabled at that meeting. And, unfortunately, the one government which will not be present at the meeting on the very important issue of the effect of greenhouse gases on all Canadians is the government of Quebec. We want to work with the government of Quebec and I hope that the member opposite will do his best to bring Quebec to the negotiating table in Toronto on Monday.
Members' Pensions February 17th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the premise of the hon. member's question is false.
Low Level Flights February 17th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, we reject the hon. member's allegation. The environmental assessment is currently under way, and we will abide by the results of the assessment, which have yet to be reported to cabinet.
Low Level Flights February 17th, 1995
No, Mr. Speaker.
Questions On The Order Paper February 16th, 1995
Data collection buoys are stationed so that in the event of an emergency they can back each other up. These buoys are equipped with information transmission devices which ensure transmittal of all necessary information. The buoys and equipment have been designed and are situated so that, short of several stations failing at once, the ice services program will be maintained.
A complete failure of all the ice program systems at once is highly unlikely. In the event of a major catastrophe, we have an agreement with the U.S. National Ice Centre to provide essential ice information to our clients until our normal operations can be resumed. We can do the same for the U.S. We developed this backup plan over the past year and it will be tested shortly.
Once these tests have been completed, a comprehensive backup plan will be published in order that Canadians will know exactly how ice information is being provided.
Sydney Tar Ponds February 14th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, when the tar ponds operating permit was established in 1988 it was established according to available environmental guidelines at that time.
When in 1992 the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment improved the guidelines to ensure that they were more stringent with respect to PCB incineration, the project in Nova Scotia in question was voluntarily submitted to those guidelines.
As I stated yesterday and in my previous answer, we are working with the Government of Nova Scotia to ensure that not only the incineration be below the acceptable guidelines but also that the regulations generally be changed to reflect that.
Sydney Tar Ponds February 14th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I can repeat to the hon. member that the federal Ministry of the Environment will be working very closely with the province of Nova Scotia to ensure that the CCME guidelines that were adopted in 1992 on hazardous waste incineration, that is stronger, more stringent guidelines, will be applied. We will be working with the province to monitor its application to ensure the health and the safety of all of the residents around the Sydney tar ponds.