Stephen Harper

[The Environment, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the previous emperor had no clothes on Kyoto. That is why the people of Canada changed the emperor in the last election campaign.

Let me quote once again one of his own members, the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca who said the following:

Unfortunately Kyoto is a shell game. My friend knows well that the [Liberal] government has made this into a shell game. We are to pay countries like Russia to buy the ability to produce greenhouse gases. We will produce the same amount of greenhouse gases and say disingenuously that we have met our commitments.

That was the plan of the previous government. It is not the plan of this government.

[The Environment, November 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this government was the first to present a serious plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the number of air pollutants in Canada. With regard to his government's record, I can quote the Liberal member for Kings—Hants:

Instead the government's plan in terms of the Kyoto agreement was basically written on the back of an airplane napkin on the way to Kyoto. There was no long term planning. There was no real negotiation with the provinces or with industry sectors. In fact it was a last minute, hastily drafted agreement.

[Justice, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will concede that sometimes in the heat of debate I forget the various paragraphs of Marleau and Montpetit, but I will endeavour to do much better in the future.

[Veterans Affairs, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, an interesting reaction from a party that voted for five things it did not do in 13 years of office.

What Canadian veterans understand is that the way to support veterans is to first support them when they are in uniform and that is what this government is doing.

[Veterans Affairs, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP put forward a motion that literally contains hundreds of millions of dollars in spending with no attempt to cost those out and no attempt to put them in a budget. Governments have a moral responsibility to ensure these proposals are affordable.

Canadian veterans see through that. Canadian veterans see through a bunch of empty promises. What Canadian veterans understand--

[Veterans Affairs, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, last night, as we all know, the NDP put forward a motion that contained a number of uncosted promises to Canadian veterans. This government will examine these as part of its lead-up to the next budget.

[The Environment, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, a representative of the Government of Quebec will be attending with the Canadian delegation.

Canada is a signatory to the protocol. The minister clearly reiterated on several occasions that this government intends to work together with the provinces to arrive at an effective and mandatory federal law.

[The Environment, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned several times, this government is participating in the international process so that progress will be made in the matter of greenhouse gases and so that, in future, there will be an effective international protocol that will include all major emitters worldwide.

[The Environment, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the government that screwed up the environment talks about confusion. What Liberals are not talking about today, which is interesting, is their vote last night when they voted against having taxes for large corporations and when they voted against having income splitting for seniors.

I think what we are all wondering today, when we talk about confusion, is why the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, the member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, the member for York Centre and the member for Eglinton—Lawrence, the candidates for the leadership, skipped that vote.

[The Environment, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, let me say again, for the first time in history we have a government that has proposed a plan that will reduce pollution in Canada and will also reduce greenhouse gases in Canada instead of spending the taxpayers' money abroad. Our plan is also mandatory for all industries in the country.

That is more than I can say about the grand plan presented by the former government and the former Minister of the Environment, who named his dog Kyoto.