Rona Ambrose

[The Environment, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, far from it. One of the key things in the Government of Quebec's plan is investment in public transit. Another key thing is it is trying to increase ridership to get people out of their cars and on to public transportation, which is is one of the incentives that this government has put in place.

[The Environment, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, what the member introduced has no relevance to what this government will put forward in terms of a realistic, achievable and affordable plan to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution.

In terms of working with the Quebec government, my office is in constant contact with the environment minister in Quebec. I would reiterate, and the minister from Quebec has said the same thing, that the number one cause of greenhouse gases in Quebec is transportation. The most important thing we can do is invest in public transit and to find ways to get people out of their cars and on to public transit, which is exactly what the federal government has done.

[The Environment, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will not engage in politics with the opposition party when it comes to the environment. I will not jeopardize the long term opportunity for the government to put a good plan in place for short term political gain. That is exactly what the last party did for 13 years and not only did it get an F, it was kicked out of class.

[The Environment, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, after 13 years of Liberal rule, the Government of Canada now ranks 28 out of 29 in OECD countries on pollution control.

Compared to the United States on air pollution requirements, the U.S. requirements are either more stringent than ours or ours do not exist at all in comparison to the U.S.

We do have a lot of work to do and that is exactly what the government is doing.

[Points of Order, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member raised this. What I said was that we said we would help clean up the Saint John harbour and we are.

As Minister of the Environment, I can assure him one of the things I was most concerned about when I went to take what the locals call the “toilet tour” and saw the 65 raw sewage outlets pouring into Saint John harbour was the fact that when I returned to my department I found out that there was never a plan put in place by the former Liberal government. No plan was ever put in place, no money allocated, no plan designed to clean up the harbour.

[The Environment, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, first, that was the lowest blow he has ever dealt me.

Let me go further and say that after 13 years of the agriculture industry and industry looking for a biofuel strategy, it took four months for this government to get every province and territory at the table to set a national target. We are not afraid to set targets and when we set targets we will meet them.

[The Environment, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about commitments, and let us talk about commitments that this government has already kept in the first four months in office. We said we would help clean up the polluted harbour in Saint John and we have. We said we would clean up the polluted drinking water for first nations and the Minister of Indian Affairs took action and is fixing the problem.

We said we would develop a biofuel strategy and we are. We said we would invest in clean public transportation and we went even farther and made the largest investment in clean public transportation in Canadian history, followed by the first ever incentive for two months of free public transit for people who take the bus.

We said we would clean up the air Canadians breathe and we passed two new pollution laws in four months.

[Kyoto Protocol, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly and have said to the minister of the environment in Quebec, who agreed with me when we met, the largest cause of pollution and greenhouse gases in Quebec is transportation.

I am excited to see that the province of Quebec is moving to curb its pollution and greenhouse gases in that area. We have done it at the federal level by making the largest investment in clean public transportation in Canadian history, and a great deal of that money goes to Quebec. We also offered incentives to make sure Quebeckers get out of their cars and take public transportation.

[Kyoto Protocol, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let us just examine where the Bloc has been on this issue. The Bloc members first said they were against any hike in gas prices. This week they are saying they are in favour of increasing the prices at the pumps because they want to see taxation on the oil and gas industry.

They do not know what they believe, but I can tell the House what we believe. I can assure the House that the federal government will not increase taxes on gasoline that will result in Canadians paying more at the pumps. We have no problem targeting those who pollute. We will not make commuters pay. We will make polluters pay.

[The Environment, June 15th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the House, we said we would clean up the polluted harbour in Saint John and we have. We said we would clean up the polluted drinking water on first nations and the Minister of Indian Affairs took action and is fixing the problem.

We said we would develop a biofuel strategy and we are. We said we would invest in clean public transportation and we went even further by making the largest investment in clean public transportation in Canadian history, followed by the first ever incentive for two months of free public transit for people who take the bus.

We said we would clean up the air Canadians breathe and we have reduced--