John Baird

[The Environment, April 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, inaction is not an option. That has been the Canadian policy for 10 long years.

We are taking aggressive action to respond to global warming. It will require real action to take on the big polluters, something that was absent in the recent regime. It will also be expanding support to the province to help in the construction of a hydrogen highway in British Columbia and to help with adaptation initiatives up north.

We are working hard for an absolute 20% reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions. We are committed, we are acting and we are getting the job done.

[Franco-Ontarian Association, April 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to note that a Liberal member has asked this question because it was the Liberal government that slashed funding for Ontario's francophones. That is very interesting. Could he perhaps tell our government why major cuts were made in funding for linguistic communities?

[Drinking Water, April 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can look at the record of this government where we are making major investments to help clean up our Great Lakes. We are banning phosphates in consumer cleaning products. We are helping to clean up Lake Simcoe and Lake Winnipeg.

We are also doing something remarkable for the first time in Canadian history, we are banning the dumping of raw sewage into our lakes, rivers and oceans. Leading the charge against that is the Liberal MP who sits directly behind this member. Leading the charge against this is the Liberal MP for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca.

The government is taking aggressive action on clean water. We are going to continue to do that.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service indicated that the available data showed no colonies of migratory birds in the vicinity of the project area. A colony can be defined as a group of birds that nest in a gregarious manner, have been returning to the same area for several years and build their nests close together. Several species of seabirds and herons, for instance, live in colonies. It also indicated that it found no species considered at risk under the Species at Risk Act, or wetlands. Wetlands are defined as land that is saturated in water long enough to be conducive to the wetland or aquatic processes characterized by poorly drained soil, hydrophilic vegetation and various forms of biological activity that are suited to a damp environment. Wetlands include bogs, marshes, swamps and shallow water, usually two metres or less, as defined in The Canadian Wetland Classification System, published by the Canadian Committee on Ecological Land Classification’s National Wetlands Working Group, 1987.

The data used by Environment Canada in providing this reply are the same as are used for any environmental impact assessment, i.e., one, data gathered by its employees during inventories, two, databases developed by Environment Canada or in partnership with other government agencies and non government organizations, and three, databases provided by other organizations that use volunteers and amateur ornithologists and that are supported financially by Environment Canada. Environment Canada is confident that these data sources provide reliable information for this environmental assessment.

In this case, Environment Canada scientists consulted the following information:

The Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec, Quebec natural heritage data centre: The centre's mission consists of gathering, storing, analyzing and distributing data on elements of biodiversity, in particular those elements, and occurrences thereof, with the greatest conservation value. Currently, the data management system contains more than 10,500 occurrences of various elements related mainly to threatened or vulnerable species, namely 375 vascular plants and 79 vertebrate animals. In the near future, certain groups of invertebrates, i.e., molluscs and insects, natural communities and animal assemblages will be added to the elements of biodiversity already being tracked. This information is updated annually.

The Étude des populations d’oiseaux du Québec, population studies of Quebec’s birds, database: The population studies of Quebec’s birds database contains an electronic version of recorded daily bird sightings in Quebec. For more than 50 years, several Quebec ornithologists have systematically recorded their daily observations on these records. To date, there is a bank of more than 450,000 records of daily bird watching outings, containing more than 6,300,000 sightings. This information is updated annually.

Endangered birds in Quebec: The work performed by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec, Quebec department of natural resources and wildlife, and the Canadian Wildlife Service’s Regroupement Québec Oiseaux has resulted in a new list of species deemed to be at risk in Quebec. This project also includes a database, SOS-POP, on the location of the various species. This information is updated annually.

Black Duck Joint Venture: This program provides data for tracking changes in the number of nesting black ducks using an annual inventory in the species’ primary nesting area. Although it was developed to optimize the counting of black ducks, this aerial inventory also provides trends regarding numbers and estimates of populations of other wildlife species nesting in the boreal forest. This information was updated in 2005 in the sector in question.

Conservation Atlas of Wetlands in the St. Lawrence Valley: The primary objective of the atlas is to provide an overview of wetlands in the St. Lawrence Valley using innovative methods for mapping the area in order to promote the conservation of birds and biodiversity, particularly by helping managers in their decision making regarding the use of land and the conservation of natural environments. This information was last updated five years ago.

The aquatic birds of the St. Lawrence: This information base provides an overview of the distribution, status and trends of the populations of seabirds and certain colonial aquatic birds nesting in Quebec. It must be noted, however, that the information available is much more comprehensive for seabirds in the St. Lawrence estuary and the Gulf. This information is about three years old for the sector in question.

Biodiversity Portrait of the St. Lawrence: The portrait provides land planners with detailed information regarding the habitats and biota of sites requiring urgent or priority conservation, restoration or protection. It allows the biologists responsible for evaluating the environmental impacts of development to make more informed recommendations earlier regarding biodiversity in the Quebec portion of the St. Lawrence. This information is about 10 years old.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the number of sites owned and/or operated under cost-shared agreements with provinces and territories is 600, nearly 300 of which are in the Great Lakes.

In response to (b), the key purpose is to determine water quality status and trends and assess overall aquatic ecosystem health. Some monitoring or surveillance is also undertaken to better understand presence and levels of emerging contaminants and threats such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, PBDEs, used in flame retardants, pesticides, and other persistent organic pollutants. The data and generated information is used in many different reporting activities including the Water Quality Index under the Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators, CESI, annual report (http://www.environmentandresources.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=6F66F932-1).

Some of the key obligations and legislative responsibilities that Environment Canada's monitoring activities fall under include: Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA, ministerial statutory obligation to monitor and report on environmental quality to Canadians; Boundary Waters Treaty Act, obligations to the International Joint Commission and the parties; and Canada Water Act, provides for federal-provincial and federal-territorial agreements to monitoring and assess waters of shared interest.

In response to (c), the government monitors the quality of surface water through (a), Environment Canada monitoring and surveillance sites; (b) formal cost and capacity sharing agreements with provinces and territories; and (c) collaborative monitoring and surveillance programs among federal science and technology departments and university researchers.

Sampling of water bodies is done on a regular or ad hoc basis several times a year for a wide range of physical parameters, chemical contaminants and biological measures, e.g., temperature, dissolved oxygen, nutrients, trace metals, pesticides, presence and diversity of aquatic biota. Sampling locations take into account the diverse contaminant sources and water quality threats such as urban wastewaters, industrial effluents, agricultural runoff and atmospheric deposits. In addition to physical-chemical monitoring, we have started to establish a network of biological monitoring that will allow assessing impacts and effects of contaminants on aquatic ecosystems health.

In response to (d), the current program provides an adequate picture for basic water quality measures and contaminants in areas of the country where spatial and temporal coverage has been established for some time, e.g., large basins such as the Great Lakes. However, in most basins or watersheds across Canada, the government’s understanding of the types and levels of contaminants in surface waters varies.

Nationally, we monitor about a third of total sub-basins under the routine monitoring programs, which mainly address metals and nutrients. Surveillance projects focusing on toxic organic contaminants--pesticides--PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, PBDEs, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and other CEPA toxics are more spatially restricted to watersheds potentially threatened.

[Committees of the House, April 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, for the last 18 years greenhouse gas emissions have been skyrocketing. The Liberals did absolutely nothing. In that effort, while the planet burned, the Liberals were propped by the NDP and that member.

We are finally taking real action, requiring the big polluters to take real action to reduce their greenhouse gases. We are working hard, we are getting the job done and we are going to deliver.

[The Environment, April 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear. In the past 18 years, since the Bloc Québécois has been in this House, greenhouse gases have increased by 33%. That is not acceptable.

Canada must have a plan to reduce greenhouse gases. This plan targets an absolute reduction of 20%. The Bloc has done nothing for 18 years. We are taking action.

[The Environment, April 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in the history of Canada we are taking action and regulating major polluters. Last week it was with great pride that we unveiled the details of our action plan to reduce greenhouse gases by 20%.

The first person to talk about it was the head of the Montreal Exchange who announced the opening of a carbon exchange in Montreal. We congratulate him for his actions and we support him. Together, we are taking action.

[The Environment, April 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking real action. The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has a plan on our first nations reserves, getting the job done.

When we brought forward funding for the Great Lakes, cleaning up Lake Winnipeg and finally taking real action on fighting bad water quality, the NDP could be counted on every single time to stand up and vote against clean water.

We need the NDP's help. I ask those members to please join us in our battle to clean up Canada's water.

[The Environment, April 8th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, that is a pretty good question. Let me tell the member about some of the things we are doing.

We are bringing in regulations to ban the dumping of secondary raw sewage into our lakes, rivers and oceans. The Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is putting up to $8 billion to help municipalities build new waste water treatment facilities. We are finally beginning to clean up Lake Winnipeg. We are investing in cleaning up our Great Lakes. The most polluted site, Hamilton harbour, will be cleaned up.

We are taking real action. We are getting the job done.