Catherine McKenna

[Rail Transportation, September 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my hon. colleague as the new critic for environment and climate change.

Our government is committed to proper environmental assessments that are based on science and evidence. As we saw yesterday, we applied our interim principles. I was very pleased to show that we can get resources to market in a sustainable and responsible way by following these principles.

These principles were actually used to engage indigenous peoples, who will now be part of environmental assessments of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project. Many of them have benefit agreements—

[The Environment, September 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

Our government knows that growing our economy and protecting our environment go hand in hand. The federal government, together with the provinces and territories, recognized in Vancouver that we need to come up with an ambitious plan for meeting our international obligations today and in the future.

I am working very hard with my counterparts, including Quebec's environment minister, to come up with a plan. The previous government had a target, but it did not have a plan and emissions went up.

We are serious—

[Official Languages, September 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for his question.

We welcome the official languages commissioner's report. Our government is committed to ensuring that all federal services are provided in accordance with the Official Languages Act. As the minister responsible for parks, I am working to make that happen.

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), Parks Canada entry fees are fixed pursuant to the Parks Canada Agency Act in compliance with the Canada National Parks Act and are collected as per the Parks Canada user fees and revenue management policy.

With regard to (b), the Parks Canada user fees and revenue management policy applies to the collection of all fees from individuals, families, groups, and commercial groups. The Parks Canada directive on revenue comptrollership for user fees establishes a standard method for the collection and recording of user fee revenues for all types of services, including entry for large groups and for groups arriving in national parks by train or on tour buses.

With regard to (c), Parks Canada does not account for revenues that are not collected.

Part (d) is therefore not applicable.

With regard to part (e), the federal budget of 2016 announced up to $83.3 million over five years to provide free admission for all visitors to national parks, national marine conservation areas, and national historic sites operated by Parks Canada in 2017, the 150th anniversary of Confederation, and to provide free admission for all children under the age of 18 beginning in 2018.

With regard to (f), the response is included in the response to part (e).

With regard to (g), national parks are designed as an interface between visitors and Canada’s natural heritage. Projected attendance for national parks in 2017 is not expected to exceed peak attendance figures recorded in 2002. Ecological integrity monitoring is in place in all national parks to assure that valued aspects of the ecosystem are conserved. This data is reviewed and analyzed on a systematic basis for departmental performance reporting and planning purposes. For the national parks that are accessible by road, approximately 20% of the agency’s ecological integrity indicators—or roughly three ecological integrity indicators per park—are potentially sensitive to increased visitation and will be observed and analyzed in 2017. Parks Canada will have sufficient information to protect its park ecosystems.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to working with the provinces and territories to meet our international obligations. We are working very hard to understand the challenges and opportunities in different provinces and territories, and we are going to come forward with a plan.

Let us be clear about the Harper target. The Harper government had absolutely no plan to reach the target. It did not care. It had a target out there, with no actions. That is not what we are going to do. We are going to come with concrete actions that are going to tackle our emissions and grow our economy in a thoughtful way.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have not thought of a good rhyme yet, but I will try.

We are committed to taking action on climate change. We recognize that it is the thing we need to do. Take the example of B.C. It has a carbon tax. It is revenue neutral; it gives money back to the consumers. But what does it do? It is a market mechanism that reduces what we do not want. We do not want carbon pollution; we want less, so we innovate, businesses innovate, and we position ourselves for a cleaner future, because we want to create good jobs and we want to grow the economy.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud that we are working with all provinces and territories to reduce emissions and also grow our economy.

All of the premiers stepped up with the Prime Minister in the Vancouver declaration and said that they were committed to meeting our international obligations, so that is what we are doing. We are going to continue working with the provinces and territories so that we have a credible plan, so we reduce our emissions, so we grow our economy, and we make a better world for our kids.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I will continue talking with the provinces and territories, with business leaders, with indigenous leaders, and with labour, including labour groups in Alberta, because we know we need to tackle climate change, and we need to grow our economy.

I am very surprised by the member opposite, who I thought would believe in free market economics and would understand that carbon pricing is a market mechanism that is the best way to reduce carbon pollution and innovate, but perhaps he does not believe in climate change, and that might be the problem.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on carbon. I am very proud of the leadership of the Alberta government that brought in a price on carbon, because it recognizes that it is the best way to reduce pollution and also to foster innovation. That is why we have energy companies that are saying, “Please, put a price on carbon, because we will innovate, we will create good jobs, and we will position ourselves for the future”.

[The Environment, September 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have spent the last eight months criss-crossing the country speaking with labour, speaking with business leaders, speaking with indigenous Canadians, speaking with everyone who would like to actually move forward on climate change. We have had discussions. I met with my territorial counterparts. They are concerned about the impact of carbon pricing, and we are having a good discussion with them.

The bottom line is that right now, 80% of Canadians live in a jurisdiction where, through the leadership of the province, because there was inaction by the Conservative government, there is a price on carbon. We are going to move forward in a thoughtful way, working with provinces and territories—