Jim Prentice

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), this is a provincial jurisdiction; the province collects the information and makes it available. Environment Canada does not collect this information because it would be a duplication of effort.

In response to (b), this data is U.S. jurisdiction; however, the information may be obtained through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In response to (c), this is a provincial jurisdiction; the province collects the information and makes it available. Environment Canada does not collect this information because it would be a duplication of effort.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to questions (a) and (b), the Treasury Board Secretariat has established the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory, FCSI, available to the public since 2002 at the following web address: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf. This inventory includes information on all known and suspected federal contaminated sites--over 19,000--under the administration of federal departments, agencies and consolidated crown corporations. The FCSI also contains information on the location the sites, the responsible federal organizations, the nature and severity of the contamination, and the progress made to date in identifying and addressing the contamination.

The inventory is maintained by the Treasury Board Secretariat and is updated at least once a year by the responsible federal organization.

With respect to question (c), the inventory also displays federal contaminated sites by contaminated medium, e.g., groundwater, soil, surface water, et cetera. However, to obtain information on whether a site has been tested for possible groundwater contamination, please contact the responsible federal organization for that particular site. Contact information is available on the website.

[Environment, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raises the question of climate change. She is well aware that in December of last year, this government helped lead the way toward the Copenhagen accord. That accord has now been signed by 120 countries, accounting for close to 90% of the world's emissions.

Our objective is to translate that into an effective international treaty. It is for that reason that the major economies forum met in Washington a week ago. It is for that reason that the ministers of environment are meeting in Bonn next week. We will continue to get the job done in those fora.

[Ethics, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the company Mr. Jaffer represented has never received government funding.

[Ethics, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Jaffer's activities of April 2009 were brought to my attention last Tuesday. The documents relating to those matters were collected on Wednesday. The information was provided to the Commissioner of Lobbying on Thursday. On Friday morning, I advised the House, and on Friday afternoon the information was provided to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The appropriate authorities have been informed, as has this House.

[Ethics, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, having learned of these facts on Tuesday of last week, I did what I felt was my obligation to this House and to its committees. I collected together the documents on Wednesday. I assured myself that they were the documents in question. They were then delivered to the commissioner of lobbying and the ethics commissioner. Of course, they will be provided to the parliamentary committee.

[Ethics, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the facts related to Mr. Jaffer's activities in April 2009 were brought to my attention on Tuesday of last week. The documents relating to those matters were collected on Wednesday. The information was assembled and provided to the Commissioner of Lobbying on Thursday. On Friday I advised the House and also at that time provided the information to the Ethics Commissioner.

The appropriate authorities have been informed, as has this House. My understanding is that the meeting in question did in fact happen in that particular office.

[Points of Order, April 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order relating to a matter before the House and before one of its committees.

I would like to inform the House that on Tuesday evening of this week, April 20, I was advised that in April 2009 a member of my staff in Calgary, Mr. Scott Wenger, was approached by Mr. Rahim Jaffer. Their discussion involved representations by Mr. Jaffer on behalf of a company.

On my instructions, Mr. Winger has forwarded the details of those discussions and the documents relating to them to the Commissioner of Lobbying. The material was transmitted late yesterday, April 22. The same material is being transmitted today to the Ethics Commissioner.

No contract was ever awarded to the company. I was not involved in those discussions in April 2009. Nor was I aware that they took place.

As I have previously stated publicly, the only discussion I have had with Mr. Jaffer in the past one and a half years consisted of a 30 second discussion in this very building in early 2009, when I told him that I was not responsible for the administration of the so-called green funds.

I felt it was my obligation, Mr. Speaker, to so advise the House today.

[The Environment, April 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the environment is very much about young Canadians. That is why this government has expanded Canada's national parks by 30% in only four years, achievements such as Nahanni, Mealy Mountains, Gwaii Haanas and Lancaster Sound.

That is why this government is protecting our fresh water with new regulations that prevent the discharge of untreated sewage into the Great Lakes and other lakes, our rivers and oceans. That is why we signed at Copenhagen. That is why we have introduced tough continental standards for tailpipe emissions.

This will be our Conservative legacy: larger parks, cleaner water, lower emissions.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, consistent with the government’s commitment to harmonize Canada’s approach to climate change with that of the United States in the interest of both our environment and our economy, Canada has inscribed a target of a 17% reduction in greenhouse gas emission from 2005 levels by 2020. This is the same target inscribed by the United States.

The answers to these questions will ultimately be the product of decisions made by the Government of Canada regarding regulatory action to reduce emissions. Although the government has signaled its intention to move forward on harmonizing its efforts with the approach taken by the United States, the details regarding how the system will work have not yet been established. Consequently, the government is not in a position to answer these questions at this time. However, the government is continuing to work on developing a plan for meeting the 2020 reduction targets.