John Baird

[The Environment, October 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we will go anywhere, anytime and any place to work with other countries to tackle the important issue of global warming.

We were pleased to have representatives in Lisbon. The Prime Minister provided real leadership at APEC. We have met with the Commission on Environmental Cooperation, with large emitters in Washington, and with the United Nations under the leadership of the Prime Minister in New York.

We are committed to working on real global action on global warming, something that would see countries like the United States, China and India take action, but something that also would see Canada finally begin to take action, something that member's government did not do for 13 long years.

[The Environment, October 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we sent a senior representative of the Government of Canada, the most senior representative in the country, to be part of these meetings. I look forward to meeting with Premier Campbell tomorrow to learn more about these exciting things.

To hear the Liberals go on about climate change and global warming is shameless. Nothing embarrasses the Liberals because they do not know the meaning of shame. They are without shame. They are shameless. Do we know who said that? It was Bob Rae.

[The Environment, October 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada was represented at the meeting by our ambassador in Lisbon.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the World Wildlife Fund said yesterday that standing up and protecting Lake Superior made for a superior day for the environment in this country. I could not agree more.

Previous governments studied this issue, did reports, had consultations, but they never acted. Yesterday, we acted to save and protect 10,000 square kilometres of Lake Superior for conservation for future generations. We are acting and we are working to get the job done.

The most important part is we worked in concert with the government of Dalton McGuinty. Now there is a real partnership.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Phosphates making their way into our rivers and lakes is a significant environmental concern. We believe that a more holistic approach is required. There is a definite issue with respect to consumer products. This only deals with 1% of the blue-green algae problem in our lakes and rivers.

That is why we are working with the provinces, with industry and with environmentalists on a comprehensive strategy, including the banning of dumping of raw sewage into our waterways. That is something that could have happened years ago but did not get done by previous governments.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. The government knows that the presence of blue-green algae in our lakes, rivers and reservoirs is a very serious issue. We are currently working in cooperation with the provinces, the industry and environmental leaders to find a solution to this major problem.

In fact, we have already taken action. In September, we made a major announcement to the effect that this government will be the first one in Canadian history to act.

We have acted and we have indicated very clearly that we will no longer allow the dumping of raw sewage into our lakes, rivers and oceans. This is real action to—

[Nuclear Energy, October 26th, 2007]

Let us be perfectly clear, Mr. Speaker. Whether it is in Alberta or in Ontario, this government has absolutely no intention whatsoever to water down any environmental or any nuclear safety regulation. This is something that is tremendously important for Canada.

The issue with respect to nuclear waste is a fair point, but it is better than pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. It is better than polluting our air and causing smog.

This government will work constructively with the Government of Alberta and with the province of Ontario to ensure that any provincially-led process will follow our environmental standards and nuclear safety standards to the fullest extent.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, at the outset, let me congratulate the leader of the NDP on his clear enunciation of this important issue.

We are the government that ended the tax breaks for big oil. Who voted against getting rid of those tax breaks? It was the leader of the NDP himself. It is this government that is bringing in targets for greenhouse gas reductions, which are demonstrably tougher than in the province of Alberta.

We are working hard. We are getting the job done.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we are in fact doing both of those.

We have announced that we want a carbon exchange in Canada. Canadian companies, as a compliance mechanism, face tough regulation brought forward by the Conservative government. There will be a carbon exchange in Canada. There will be an offset market.

We are keen to work with international partners, whether it be groups within the United States or the national government as a whole. We are keen to work with the Mexican government. We are also pleased to work on the clean development mechanisms under the Kyoto protocol. That is tremendously important, and it is something that we are doing.

[The Environment, October 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, for the first time in many years, Canada is taking real action to fight global warming and to combat climate change.

We have a plan to require the large emitters, the large polluters, to finally begin to reduce their greenhouse gases. The only thing the Liberal Party did was provide big fat tax breaks for one particular industry.

We are acting. We are part of a new international consensus that is working to establish a protocol beyond 2012 to get the job done, where the previous government failed.