House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 70% of the vote.
The Environment May 18th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, in regard to our international commitments, I am proud to tell the House that yesterday Japan endorsed our position, as did Norway and New Zealand. When the hon. member insults my position, the Prime Minister's position and this government's position, I want to remind him that he is also insulting some of our key international partners.
The Environment May 18th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that our plan will make sure that it is sensible and that we do not spend the good taxpayers' dollars that could be spent in the north on international emissions credits that will see no reductions in greenhouse gases here at home. We will invest in Canadian communities, including northern communities.
Just to highlight some of the comments by some of the Liberal members, it was the member for Etobicoke North, when faced with needing to vote for Kyoto, who said, “If I had my druthers, I would not, but the reality is the Prime Minister needs the votes”. Then he said, “I am just concerned that the Kyoto accord may not be the vehicle--”
The Environment May 18th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I was elected to make sure that we put forward an accountable plan on the environment to Canadians, not to corporations. That is the way we will proceed and ensure that we do what is right by the environment and what is right by Canadians.
The Environment May 18th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the member is obviously trying to distract from the irresponsibility of putting forward a motion in the House that he knows full well means the reduction of four times over of the amount of emissions in every single Canadian household.
This government will act, but we will act responsibly and make sure that we defend the interests of all Canadians.
The Environment May 18th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, our government is extremely concerned about the pollution problems and the health impacts on Canadians. As we know, in Ontario last year there were 53 smog days and 35 in Quebec. For the first time ever, we had winter smog advisory days.
Under the former Liberal government, every single industry sector in Canada has fallen behind on pollution control compared to the United States. We are working actively right now to bring legislation to the House to make sure that we not only catch up with the U.S., but that we outperform the U.S. on pollution.
Point of Order May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, what I was referring to was a number of comments that the critic from the NDP made in a presser yesterday. In particular, he referred to how he spent most of his time in Bonn arguing with Environment Canada employees. I took offence to that, because Environment Canada employees and our department, I would say, are the people who care most about the department in this country. I did not appreciate him coming to Bonn to argue with the Canadian delegation, who went out of their way to make him feel comfortable, to take him to all of the meetings--
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member were truthful about what happened in Bonn, he would know that Japan, New Zealand, Norway and Canada have all taken the exact same position, and that is there needs to be an assessment of the Kyoto protocol over the next two years before any further commitments are made.
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the member did not use his time over there to be constructive. Instead, he meddled in things he should not have. If he actually got to the truth of what happened over there, he would know that--
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, it is too bad we used taxpayer dollars and hosted the member to come all the way to Bonn, and he comes back with this rhetoric. What happened in Bonn is that Norway--
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the only people who have anything to be embarrassed about on this are the Liberals. After 13 years of no action on the environment, we are now at 35% above our Kyoto targets. The international community is well aware of that.
What the member cannot handle is that I am actually telling the truth. When it comes to the Liberal record on the environment, the emperor has no clothes.