Mark Warawa

[Business of Supply, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, today's debate is a very important one. Our environment is a high priority for this government.

Climate change is one of the most complex issues facing the world today. It is a long term challenge that cannot be addressed without effective international cooperation. Because the situation that each country faces is unique, there are many options, considerations and viewpoints about how the international community should move forward. To be effective, international cooperation on climate change must meet a number of conditions.

First, it needs to be based on the principles of flexibility, cost effectiveness and national circumstances to recognize a broad range of approaches to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Second, it will need broad participation by developed and developing countries alike with an eye on the long term. Third, addressing climate change in the face of rising global energy demand will require effective development and deployment of technologies within developed and developing countries alike. Finally, global action on climate change must integrate the additional co-benefits provided at the local level, such as improved air quality.

There is great potential for future international cooperation to meet these objectives, but if the countries of the world are going to coordinate their action on climate change, they need to work together.

Canada intends to work both inside and outside the UN to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in ways that are consistent with Canada's national circumstances. Within the UN, there are two official processes for discussing the future.

The first one is the Dialogue on Long-term Cooperative Action. It is open to all 189 countries, including the U.S., under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It was set up to share experiences and examine new innovative future approaches to address climate change.

The dialogue is significant because it is not tied only to the Kyoto-style approach of national targets for developed countries and because it can openly examine better ways of engaging all countries in cooperative action on climate change. What is important about this dialogue is that it includes all major emitters. For instance, large emerging countries like China and India currently account for approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions but they are not bound by targets. It is important that these countries have agreed to participate in the dialogue so that they can be part of the solution.

The second UN discussion process is the ad hoc working group on further commitments for developed countries beyond 2012. It is being held under the Kyoto protocol's article 3.9. Its aim is to consider further commitments under the Kyoto protocol. Discussions within this ad hoc group should be broad enough to allow for consideration of alternative approaches to international cooperation and opportunities for those countries that do not have Kyoto targets to participate in the future.

In the year 2000, the group of countries with Kyoto targets represented only 28% of global emissions. At this point, this process is only a discussion. The UN Secretariat has suggested that this discussion begin with a two year analysis and assessment phase so we can determine what has worked and what has not worked so far.

Stepping back, within the UN process we have two tracks for considering the nature of future international cooperation on climate change. The first track is a broad discussion with all parties under the convention. The second track is a discussion of future options under the Kyoto protocol. Both tracks represent great opportunities to work toward a future international approach to address climate change, one that is inclusive, innovative and effective. This is the beginning of an important phase in the international effort to address climate change.

In preparation for the initiation of these discussions, all countries have been invited to share their views on these two processes through written submissions. Canada has taken this opportunity to help shape these conversations by submitting its views to the UN. Two documents summarizing the Government of Canada's views on both of these processes have been submitted to the UN and are now publicly available. Allow me to provide a summary of some of the key messages found in these submissions.

It is Canada's view that we should examine how governments and the private sector could work together to stimulate technological innovation and move the world consistently toward a low carbon economy. Countries from around the world should share experiences and discuss what can be done well within the convention process and what may work better outside it. That is a good idea.

Cost effective, market based approaches will continue to be important. Innovative new approaches should be examined and existing approaches continually improved. The international community should continue to engage with companies, multilateral development banks, export credit agencies, private sector financers and reinsurers to explore how market based opportunities interact with future approaches. That also is a very good idea.

Important progress has been made in addressing adaptation in the UN process but much more needs to be done. We should build on existing adaptation activities and mechanisms under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As well, we should remain open to new options within and outside the UN process. We should examine what role multilateral and regional organizations, the private sector and civil society organizations could have in facilitating adaptation, including at the community level. That is also very good.

Developed and developing countries share common challenges in meeting their economic, social and environmental needs but capacities differ considerably. To be successful, greenhouse gas mitigation coupled with adaptation measures should be integrated into broader sustainable development objectives, such as economic development, energy security, public health, air quality and local environmental protection.

Finally, it is the Government of Canada's position that there should be transparent information sharing between the processes both within and without the UN. We should build on information from the complementary UN processes. We should also examine relevant non-UN processes as well as important technology initiatives.

To recap our key messages on future approaches to addressing climate change, they should take the country's specific national circumstances into account and provide the opportunity to choose the best combination of actions that result in real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and we have not seen that over the last 13 years, so I believe we are on the right track. We should also promote further technological innovation and the deployment of existing technologies and stimulate action on climate change that includes other co-benefits.

In conclusion, international cooperation is essential for effectively addressing the issue of climate change. It is a must. Canada is committed to working with the international community to develop a means of international cooperation on climate change that is effective and inclusive. Canada will be an active and constructive participant in these two new processes under the UN.

[The Budget, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, fisheries is an important issue to this government. We have a very qualified minister and parliamentary secretary and a dedicated committee that will be working on this issue. My focus is on the environment. Fisheries is complementary to the environment. We have to make sure that our environment is clean in order to provide a good habitat. Fisheries also need good management. We are committed to making sure that we have healthy fisheries.

[The Budget, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I trust my colleague asked a genuine question and has a genuine concern about the government providing adequate child care choices for Canadians. My Canada includes Quebec.

Canadians right across this great country need to have a choice. Some choose to take their children to an organized child care centre which has well trained staff that can provide as good care as possible. As I said in my speech, I talked to a unique individual in my riding who is a professional child care provider with children of her own. She believes that parents can provide a degree of care that is superior to institutionalized care. We want to give all parents a choice.

For 13 years no new spaces were created under the Liberal government. We will be creating 125,000 new spaces, and Quebec will be part of this. We will give parents the choice to take care of their children in a way they see fit.

[The Budget, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member suggested that he is befuddled. I would suggest that for 13 years his government was befuddled.

This government has a different philosophy. We trust parents. We trust Canadians. I also have children, four boys and a girl. It meant a lot of soccer games. We know parents need some help. The federal government does not want to be creating sports programs. We want to assist parents so they will be able to have choices, and that is our whole philosophy. We trust Canadians. We do not believe in big government telling parents what they have to do.

[The Budget, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, last week this government presented its first budget. The budget delivers. It delivers on tax relief. It delivers on focused spending. It delivers on paying down the debt.

The previous Liberal government had been overtaxing Canadians for far too long. Canadians were working longer, paying more in taxes and saving less than they were 13 years ago. It is time to give money back to Canadians. That is the bottom line of budget 2006.

This budget delivers $20 billion in tax relief over two years, more than the last four Liberal budgets combined. This Conservative government is going to be lowering everyone's taxes.

We will reduce the GST from 7% to 6%, effective July 1.

We will create a new $1,000 Canada employment credit, effective July 1. This new tax credit gives Canadians a break on what it costs to work, recognizing expenses for such things as home computers, uniforms and supplies.

We will increase the amount that all Canadians can earn without paying federal income tax.

We will create a new apprenticeship job creation tax credit for up to $2,000 per apprentice.

Effective July 1, we will provide a tax credit for the cost of transit passes.

We will completely eliminate the federal income tax for all income from scholarships, bursaries and fellowships.

We will create a new textbook tax credit for post-secondary students.

We will provide a physical fitness tax credit for up to $500 to cover registration fees for children's sports.

We will double the amount of eligible pension income for seniors that they can claim under the pension income credit. This is the first increase in more than 30 years.

This government is putting money back into the pockets of Canadians.

There is more.

The most important investment we can make as a country is in the next generation of Canadians. This government is committed to supporting all Canadian parents and their choices. That is why we have invested $3.7 billion over two years for the universal child care benefit. As of July 1, families will receive $1,200 for each child under six.

The Conservative government will also invest in new child care spaces, spending $250 million, beginning in 2007, to create 125,000 new child care spaces. We will work with governments, businesses and community organizations to create these new spaces.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the Minister of Human Resources.

Two women on my staff are working to raise young children under six at home. Both have opted for some form of private child care. Their choices in child care differ. However, they will join all other families who will benefit by receiving the child care benefit to allow them to spend their child care allowances as they choose.

I talked to a Langley woman yesterday who is a professional child care provider and has a two year old son of her own. She has worked in both child care and preschool. She confirmed that early years are incredibly important learning years for children. Over and over again, she said that no matter how good the child care facility is, nothing can replace a parent. That is why we will give parents choices in deciding what is best for their children.

Our government is committed to ensuring Canadians are safe in their homes and communities. Safe streets are the defining characteristic of the Canadian way of life and that must be preserved. Times are changing. Our cities are changing. The safe streets and neighbourhoods we expect as Canadians are threatened by gun, gang and drug crime.

Since I was elected almost two years ago, I have personally witnessed a Langley pedophile who sexually assaulted his neighbour's children and was sentenced to house arrest, with a view of his victims in their backyard. I have attended a dangerous sexual offender hearing for a man who kidnapped an 11 year old Langley girl right off the street in front of her best friend and sexually assaulted her before allowing her to escape.

In my riding, I have seen huge numbers of marijuana grow operations taken down by RCMP officers, who are overwhelmed with the number of grow ops reported. In Langley, my staff are currently attending the trials of two men who have been charged with murdering three Langley residents in separate incidents. Talk about being bold, the clubhouse of the Hells Angels is located within feet of my constituency office.

The previous Liberal government allowed a soft on crime attitude to lead to ineffective sentences and underfunded police forces, and it allowed organized crime to take a foothold across this great country. Canadians want serious time for serious crime.

With this budget, the government focuses on spending to protect Canadians on our streets, in our communities and at our national borders. We are cracking down on crime.

We will provide $161 million to put more RCMP officers on the streets. We will invest $37 million for the RCMP to expand its national training academy. We will set aside funds to expand Canada's correctional facilities. We will provide $20 million for communities to use to develop programs designed to prevent youth crime. We will provide $26 million to give victims a more effective voice. We will arm our border agents. We will make Canada safer.

We are going to be investing in infrastructure, in bridges, roads and transit, and that is important. A great trading country like Canada needs to have the very best highway and border infrastructure.

My riding of Langley sits on the Canada-U.S. border. As part of the greater Vancouver regional district, Langley is victim to many years of Liberal mismanagement in the infrastructure department. Transportation is the number one political issue affecting my constituents. In Langley, a rail line runs right through the centre of town, closing off all five rail crossings at the same time when a train comes through, many times a day.

Traffic backlogs caused by the previous Liberal government's failure to provide adequate railroad separation have created a very dangerous situation. Delays in moving goods to market cost money. Delays make business less competitive. With the welcome expansion of Deltaport, funding for railroad separation must be provided.

Our government is listening. Our government will increase its investment in new highways and border infrastructure. It is a long term commitment of unprecedented new investment. Over the next four years, we will invest a total of $16.5 billion in new infrastructure initiatives, including $3.5 billion this year and $3.9 billion next year. We will provide more than $5.5 billion in new federal funding for the highways and border infrastructure fund, the municipal rural infrastructure fund, the Canada strategic infrastructure fund, the public transit capital trust fund, and the Pacific gateway initiative.

We will maintain the estimated $3.9 billion in current funding under existing infrastructure initiatives. We will maintain the existing gas tax funding commitment under the new deal for cities and communities and the full GST rebate and the federal portion of the HST paid by municipalities. These taxes measure up at about $7.1 billion in infrastructure support for cities and municipalities over the next four years.

Canadians who live in cities are justifiably concerned about traffic congestion and the harmful emissions associated with it. Our government knows that investing in public transit infrastructure will help preserve our environment. That is why we are providing up to $1.3 billion to support public transit capital investments. Effective July 1, we will also help Canadians with the cost of riding the bus, commuter train or subway by providing a tax credit for the cost of transit passes.

We know that we all need to do a lot more to help the environment, and our government will spend $2 billion over the next five years to develop a made in Canada climate change program that will actually make a difference. As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment, I am very proud of the opportunity to work to improve our global environmental health.

We finally have a government that is working hard to make Canada cleaner, safer and prosperous, and with a commitment to be open and accountable.

This is a great budget that Canadians are happy with. I ask all members of the House to support it.

[The Environment, May 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2006 delivers real promises on the environment. We have increased incentives to promote the use of public transit. This measure alone will help reduce traffic congestion and improve the environment.

The finance minister has confirmed that substantial funding of $1.3 billion will help with infrastructure.

[The Environment, May 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this is another example of 13 years of a government doing nothing and this is why we have some of these problems.

The government is focused on clean water and clean air and we will engage in discussions with all jurisdictions and interested parties to work together to ensure safe, clean water for all Canadians.

[The Environment, May 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I said that the minister was meeting with her provincial counterparts, the territories, the private sector and individuals. The member should understand that each province and territory will not have the same needs when it comes to cleaning up the environment, which is why the minister is consulting.

We will work with the provinces, the territories and individuals in a manner that is accountable to Canadians. We will have clean air and clean land for the health of all Canadians.

[The Environment, May 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to working with all provinces and territories to develop a made in Canada plan to clean up our environment. The minister has been engaging in discussions with her provincial counterparts and will continue with these consultations.

[The Environment, May 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I agree that there was a terrible problem with smog days. We ask the member, why he did not take responsibility? That government had 13 years to clean up this mess and it did nothing.

Last year there were 53 smog days. This government is doing something. We are investing in the environment, and we will clean it up.