House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 70% of the vote.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I met with the Montreal Exchange. We recognize the opportunity for Canada to lead the way in a carbon exchange market that is market driven based on industry and not through taxpayer dollars.
The mandate of the Government of Canada is to set out these regulations, and we will do so in consultation with industry and the provinces.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I invite the opposition to read sections 27, 29 and 33 of Canada's clean air act, which allow for a North American trading system. Like the acid rain agreement, what we need is a North American solution. We are therefore consulting industry and the provinces regarding short term targets.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, we are in consultation about the market, but our government believes that any such system must be based on market forces for the trading of credits with respect to greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Unlike the Liberals, our government does not believe that it should use taxpayers' money to maintain a market. With our government, those who pollute must pay the price.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member exactly what change I have made.
We have moved the Canadian environment from voluntary measures, with no plan to reduce greenhouse gases or air pollution under the previous government, to regulations across every industry sector in the country. We started that process a few weeks ago and those regulations will obviously come into effect in the short term. We are setting short term targets, something this country has never had before. We are doing that in the new year.
Finally, this country will make progress toward our Kyoto obligations.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the submissions we are making on behalf of the Government of Canada to the Nairobi conference are the submissions that have been on the United Nations website and our long-standing position on Kyoto since Germany, which was in May.
I welcome the member to take a look at those submissions. If he has any comments, I would like him to make them to me. I also invite him to speak to the member from his party who is accompanying us. We are being open and transparent about our position and we appreciate any feedback.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, Canada will be one of the few countries that actually pays our dues to the United Nations framework convention on climate change and participates fully. In fact, Canada is on track to meet all of our Kyoto obligations except for our target. We have been clear about that.
We support the Kyoto protocol but there is no way that we can reach the unrealistic target that the Liberals set after 13 years of neglect and no plan in place.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, we are acting now, which is why we have introduced our regulations across all industry sectors. Canada's clean air act will enhance our powers to deal with both air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
As I have said before, the plan in Quebec is good, but is not based on mandatory emissions reductions, which in fact is something that is required under the Kyoto protocol.
The Environment November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I will not apologize for focusing on Canada's environment. After 13 years of neglect and the Liberals parading around on the international stage and accomplishing nothing, I am focused on developing a Canadian plan for our Canadian industry and our Canadian communities.
The Environment November 7th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I would ask the hon. member to support real regulations for industry, which is what we are putting forward, to ensure that industry invests in the kind of technology that will reduce air pollution, which will ensure that Canadians breathe cleaner air so we can have reduced childhood asthma and reduced lung cancer. Our government is focused on that. We will keep pushing industry in that direction.
The Environment November 7th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, clearly, technology is one of the keys to ensure that we can have cleaner air and we can address climate change. Our government feels that industry should take the lead on this, which is why we are introducing regulations that will push industry in the direction to make investments in their own technology. That is what we would like to see. We would like to see industry and the polluters pay. That is the principle by which we will govern in terms of our green plan.