House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 70% of the vote.
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, this is not about money. This is about the environment. We have seen the Liberal record of billions of dollars in wasted money and we are 35% above our Kyoto targets.
If the member actually cared about the environment and the future of Quebeckers, he would be working with us for a sensible approach instead of putting forward a motion that means shutting down the Quebec economy and doing nothing for the environment.
The Environment May 17th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the critic for the environment should be embarrassed about the motion that he put before the House last week because it means for Quebec massive job losses and impacts the Quebec economy. He did nothing to explain to Quebeckers what his motion would actually entail and the consequences of exactly what he put forward.
The Environment May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, we have made a very important investment in Canada. Canada is very far behind a lot of our international counterparts in investment in clean public transportation. We made it in our last budget. We have also invested very recently in incentives to make sure we get people out of their cars and into public transportation.
Said one individual who feels that Canadians can make a difference and who is near and dear to everyone on this side of the House:
The big news is they are proposing a tax break for people who use public transit.... When I heard this I couldn’t really believe it because, well, it makes so much sense.
That was said by Rick Mercer.
The Environment May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I have been in contact with all of my international counterparts leading up to next week. A lot of us face these same challenges Canada faces, but unfortunately some of our international counterparts actually negotiated achievable targets and we face a very different challenge in Canada, where the Liberal Kyoto plan and targets would have meant $600 per Canadian family being shipped overseas to be spent on credits for emission targets.
We will not do that. We will defend the interests of Canadians and invest in the Canadian environment.
The Environment May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, we gave submissions to the United Nations this morning. One of those submissions is our greenhouse gas inventory, which shows that Canada is 35% higher in emissions than the target that was set by the Liberals and negotiated on behalf of Canada.
Just to put that into perspective, to reach that today we would have to shut down every individual household in Canada not once, not twice, not three times, but four times, and that is not something we are willing to do. We are going to protect the interests of Canadians.
The Environment May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member needs to be honest with Canadians and Quebeckers about what it means to reach our target that was negotiated for Canada under Kyoto. I will give the hon. member another example of it. Department of Environment officials have informed me that we would have to shut down all electricity generation tomorrow, but that would not be enough, and we would also have to shut down our entire agricultural industry.
I would like to ask the hon. member if he would like to tell the Quebec people that he wants to shut out the lights on them and oppose farming.
The Environment May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, my mandate is to have accountability on the environment and show real results and action on the environment for Canadians.
The Bloc clearly does not have the interests of Quebeckers or the priorities of Quebeckers in mind. The largest cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec is transportation, so the Bloc's solution is to shut down every plane, train and automobile in Quebec to reach the Kyoto targets. That is not a solution that we support for Quebec.
Instead, we have responded by investing in cleaner, greener transportation and making sure that Quebeckers have incentives to use that transportation.
Business of Supply May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I think the debate on this issue is long gone. It has passed. I find that a strange question to be asking when Canada is engaged in a number of different international organizations, which the government is participating in, to talk about the issue of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So I would say yes, absolutely. I find it a very strange question. We are working very closely with our international counterparts to find ways for Canada to contribute.
Frankly, as Canada makes up 2% of the global emissions, I believe the best way for Canada to participate in the global environment is by developing and then deploying clean technologies to those countries that actually are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, that is, the United States, China and India. One of the things we want to do is make sure that we participate in ways and in partnerships so that we can do this. We can develop clean technology and deploy it to the countries that need it.
Business of Supply May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I will be discussing with my international counterparts in Bonn next week the same challenges that I have discussed with them ever since I was appointed Minister of the Environment and president of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They are well aware of the challenges that Canada is facing with an unrealistic target that was negotiated by the Liberals in a very political manner. They understand our desire to cooperate with our international partners to find better, more realistic and more tangible ways to reduce greenhouse gases. Many of our international counterparts are facing the same challenges.
I look forward to the discussions in Bonn. In fact, I have had discussions in Edmonton with my international counterparts. I invited the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change group to an adaptation conference that I hosted just a week and a half ago in my hometown of Edmonton, to talk about adaptation measures that we need to face. I will be discussing the same things in Bonn that I have been discussing with them for the last three months.
Business of Supply May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, many of our international counterparts are looking at multi-track ways to address pollution, energy security and greenhouse gas reductions. The Kyoto protocol is one track. The Asia-Pacific partnership is another. The G-8 plus 5 is another. As we know, a lot of our international counterparts are engaged in regional partnerships and continental partnerships. It is an approach that Canada is looking at.
We do not want to put all our eggs in one basket. Right now, a number of different initiatives in the international dialogue facilitate an opportunity for Canada not only to help reduce global emissions but also to take advantage of the ability for our industry to deploy to and develop clean technology for a lot of the countries that necessitate it.