David McGuinty

[The Environment, April 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, now the country knows that the Minister of the Environment is trying to scare Canadians with a report based on bogus assumptions and extreme views of the Kyoto accord.

But the minister's actions we now know were far more devious than that. He claimed that five independent economists support his report, but that is not true. Don Drummond supposedly was a supporter, but now we find out his support was only grudging. David Keith, the Calgary researcher, said: “I think the report overstates the difficulty of implementing policies in the short term”.

Why did this minister ask for expert opinions, but only used what suited his brazenly partisan purposes?

[The Environment, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, for over a decade, the Prime Minister and his right-wing, extremist supporters have been exaggerating the economic impact of taking action on climate change.

When talking about taking action on acid rain the following is what the Prime Minister had to say. He said:

The alarmists said this would bring about a terrible recession.

Quite the contrary, the North American economy thrived, posting one of the longest and strongest periods of growth in history.

Is the Minister of the Environment now the government's chief alarmist? I would ask Chicken Little: Is the sky falling?

[The Environment, April 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in the Senate this morning the Minister of the Environment brazenly attempted to scare Canadians into thinking that there will be dire consequences if we fulfill our Kyoto commitments. He presented a report full of misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, ridiculous assumptions and glaring omissions.

Can the minister explain to Canadians why he commissioned a report that deliberately deceives the Canadian people on the impact of meeting our Kyoto obligations?

[The Environment, March 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the retrofitted clean air act includes a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. It has targets. It has timelines. It has a clear framework for action. It brings Canada to the forefront of international trading, it ensures investments in clean technologies right here at home, and it outlaws hot air.

Will the minister get the job done and pass the clean air act in the House before the end of April?

[The Environment, March 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment has now seen the amended version of Bill C-30, which passed in legislative committee just yesterday.

Bill C-30 will be reported to the House later today. My question is simple and straightforward. Will the minister abide by the will of the committee, the will of this House, and move to adopt the clean air and climate change act as soon as possible?

[The Environment, March 23rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on four separate occasions in the House and at committee, the Minister of the Environment ruled out Canada's participation in international carbon markets.

Then the minister, on one of his international trips in search of his missing made in Canada plan, announced in Germany that he was considering reversing his position. Then yesterday the Prime Minister completely ruled out Canada's participation, only to be contradicted a half hour later by the Minister of the Environment in committee when he stated that Canada would participate.

Is the minister misleading the international community or is he misleading Canadians?

[Status of Women, March 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as International Women's Day approaches, the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights is calling for a united opposition to the anti-equality policies of the Conservative government.

For several months, women across the country have been speaking out for women's equality. From Yellowknife to Corner Brook, from Vancouver to Moncton, from Halifax to Quebec City, women have organized rallies, letter writing and postcard campaigns, meetings and demonstrations, and even bra burnings and mock funerals for equality.

Women have written to newspapers, participated in talk shows, lobbied members of Parliament, set up websites, and equality hotlines to get the message out that women's equality will be set back 20 years if the ill-thought out decisions of the government are not reversed and soon.

I call upon all members of the House to rally behind the efforts of the ad hoc coalition to put equality back on track by continuing the fight for change.

[Project Porchlight, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to inform the House today that many communities across the country are reducing their energy use by drawing inspiration from a project that started in my own riding of Ottawa South.

In recent weeks, Project Porchlight has spread to new municipalities such as Guelph and Thunder Bay, and it is also inspiring communities in Canada's north. Last week, 2,000 energy-efficient light bulbs were distributed in the Yukon. Cold, snow and wind did not deter the volunteers, who distributed the light bulbs by dogsled.

Project Porchlight is enlightening Canadians by showing them that it is easy to make energy-saving choices and reduce their energy use and, consequently, greenhouse gas emissions. I extend my thanks to the residents of Ottawa South for showing what a community can accomplish.

[The Environment, February 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Sir Nicholas Stern had a valuable lesson for the Minister of the Environment. The minister had said that Kyoto would be an economic disaster, but the world's most prominent economist has condemned his defeatist attitude. Mr. Stern joined the president of the Toronto Stock Exchange, who had warned the government in December that it would cost Canadian companies more if they were excluded from the international carbon market.

Why is the minister deliberately raising the costs of meeting the Kyoto protocol targets? Why?

[The Environment, February 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, someone once said, “I will always bear in mind that the people express their wishes as much through opposition as through the government”. Do you know who said that, Mr. Speaker? The Prime Minister.

Now, to deny the will of the House, his ministers mislead Canadians with talk of economic ruin. With its mechanism for a worldwide carbon market under United Nations rules, Kyoto is our best chance to tackle global warming as a global community through emerging global markets.

Why is it so hard for the Prime Minister to understand this?