John Baird

[The Environment, October 22nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada and Canadians will continue to work very hard together with the United Nations and all international organizations and engage in new efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, in the past 10 years the previous government did absolutely nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For 10 long years we have seen the Bloc Québécois do absolutely nothing here in Ottawa.

The Conservative team is getting things done for our environment and for Canada.

[The Environment, October 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the government is taking real action on environmental remediation to help clean our waters.

It was the Liberal Party that voted against funding to help support Lake Simcoe and the cleanup there. I know the member was as shocked as I was and the next time we go to Lake Simcoe we will invite the member for Wascana.

We are also putting major resources into cleaning up our oceans and our Great Lakes. For the first time ever, we are going to be banning raw sewage from being dumped into Canada's oceans, rivers and lakes. The previous government did not get it done. This government is delivering real results for the environment.

[The Environment, October 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am a Canadian nationalist. I am not going to be taking my orders from the U.S. Congress, from Democrats or Republicans. Our policy is going to be a made in Canada policy.

[The Environment, October 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, very simply, the amendments made by the opposition parties to the old clean air act simply created an unlimited licence to pollute. That is not acceptable for those of us on the government side of the House.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 17th, 2007]

I apologize, Mr. Speaker. I forgot that member was still a member of the House.

I will say very directly to the Leader of the Opposition that this government and the Conservative Party will take responsibility for the next 10 years. Will he stand on his feet and apologize to Canadians and take responsibility for the miserable record of the Liberal Party over the last 10 years?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest when the Leader of the Opposition said that it was not in the national interest to have an election. I will tell the House what is in the national interest. It is to keep this man as Prime Minister of Canada for the next two years.

I have a question for the Leader of the Opposition. Sheila Copps, a former Liberal minister of the environment; Christine Stewart, a former Liberal minister of the environment; and David Anderson, a former Liberal minister of the environment, all said that the Liberal Party in government lacked the commitment to follow through and to fight global warming.

We read now in a new book authored by the former leader of the Liberal Party, which I should quote, where it states that his successor did serious damage to Canada's progress and reputation in the process of abandoning the fight for climate change.

I will table the particular section, but can the member now respond to Jean Chrétien's new book who has blamed his successors? One of his successors was Paul Martin who put you in charge of the file--

[The Environment, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I note that today, three political parties asked questions on the environment, every party except for the official opposition.

Four weeks ago the world gathered in Montreal to tackle ozone-depleting substances. We built on the Montreal protocol, which was first negotiated in 1987 by the then prime minister, Brian Mulroney.

We were able to accelerate by 10 years the phase-out of these ozone-depleting substances, the worst being HCFC, which is a major and potent greenhouse gas.

This government is not talking about taking action on the environment; we are delivering the goods.

[The Environment, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we have been abundantly clear that we have a moral responsibility to act on the global crisis that is global warming. We do not want to study this issue for another year. We do not want to put off action that is required.

Just this spring we began to act by regulating for the first time in Canadian history the big polluters to clean up their act. There are more initiatives on transportation, on energy efficiency and on energy conservation and programs so that Canadians themselves can help in this global effort.

We will not shirk our responsibilities. We are going to act.

[The Environment, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the challenge of global warming has gone unaddressed in this country for far too long.

Environmentalists and industry cannot come to a consensus. The premiers met this summer; they cannot come to a consensus. Neither can parties in this House.

This government is acting in a big way through mandatory regulations requiring the big polluters to cut their emissions, new transportation initiatives to address that sector, as well as major initiatives in energy conservation and efficiency.

We will not study any more. We will not research any more. This government is committed to acting and we are acting.

[The Environment, October 17th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will be very clear. The directors of the Montreal and Toronto exchanges were very clear. They are saying that the market will determine this decision and that it is not a decision to be made in the halls here in Ottawa. That is what the director of the Montreal exchange said.

We are very busy working on this file. For the first time, Canada will have an exchange. That is something we never had in the first 10 years of that member's mandate.