Steven Blaney

[The Environment, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yes, our new government is taking concrete measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and atmospheric pollution.

Yesterday, the ministers of transport and of the environment announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Railway Association of Canada to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this country.

Can the Minister of Transport give us the details of this memorandum and tell us how it will improve the health of Canadians and Quebeckers?

[Science and Technology Exploration Centre, May 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, after years of waiting, the time has finally come for the Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches area to lay the groundwork for the creation of a science and technology exploration centre.

Our region is the seventh largest municipality in Canada and yet, among the 20 largest cities of the country, it is the only one that does not have such a scientific and educational centre. What were our predecessors doing? Was the Bloc Québécois asleep at the switch or were those members thinking about their future? Fortunately, the Conservative members from Quebec can deliver the goods.

As promised during the election campaign, our new government, through the CED, is contributing $420,000 to establish the project office, in partnership with the Boîte à science, the City of Lévis and valued private partners.

I would like to congratulate Manon Théberge, executive director of the Boîte à science on her infectious passion for the scientific education of our youth, as well as mayor Danièle Roy-Marinelli for getting the City of Lévis involved in this project that is so important to our entire region. Thank you.

It could be said, promise—

[Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act, May 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member opposite for his question. Indeed, as he mentioned, some provinces and territories—Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut—as well as the federal government, have already agreed that measures should be taken to pass legislation to implement the convention. The other provinces have the luxury of being designated “constituent subdivisions”—as they are called—and talks are ongoing with the government to ensure that other constituent subdivisions can join the process.

As far as my colleague's second question is concerned, the convention is really a specific arbitration process that affects trade agreements. The convention will complete existing international agreements and—I am sure my colleague will agree—improve them to provide our Canadian companies with a level playing field when they compete in other countries with foreign companies that do business in the host country.

[Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act, May 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his question. That is precisely what we are doing in the parliamentary debate today. In order for Bill C-53 to come into force it has to be passed by the House of Commons and then go through the parliamentary process at the Senate, during which time all parliamentarians have the opportunity to speak to the bill. If the hon. member wants to make constructive comments on the bill, I invite him to do so now.

Nearly 153 countries have signed this convention that will allow numerous foreign companies that do business abroad to get better legal assurances that the contracts they sign with other parties in other countries are respected.

In Quebec, this has even more significance because in 2008 there will be a conference of the leading experts on the matter in order to continue to improve the arbitration process. We have to recognize that in many cases this is better than having lengthy, expensive legal disputes in foreign courts.

[Settlement of International Investment Disputes Act, May 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today in this House to express my support for the bill that was described so well by my friend from Simcoe—Grey, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Sport, and also by my friend from Calgary East, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bill C-53 implements, in Canadian law, an international convention of the World Bank, the ICSID Convention. The purpose of Bill C-53 is therefore to implement the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States. This convention covers arbitration and international conciliation between governments and foreign investors, what is commonly called investor-state dispute settlement.

These disputes can arise in a variety of situations, for example, when the country where the foreign investor is located passes laws that discriminate against the investor or in case of nationalizations.

International arbitration is a proven method for resolving disputes. It is a way of resolving them without resorting to the legal system. It has long been acknowledged that the parties to a dispute can resort to arbitration and the results of the arbitration process will be recognized by the courts. For example, commercial arbitration awards in Canada, that is to say between businesses, are recognized and enforced by the courts.

It is up to the parties to decide whether they want to resort to arbitration or the legal system. The flexibility that this provides is often much appreciated. In the case of the convention implemented by Bill C-53, which we are debating today, one of the great advantages of relying on arbitration is that it denationalizes the process. I will explain what is meant by that.

When a dispute arises between a foreign investor and the host country, the investor has the option of pursuing the matter before the courts of the host country. Usually—and this would be the case in Canada, in Quebec, or anywhere else in the country—the foreign investor would be entitled to a fair and equitable hearing. The host country’s courts would not be prejudiced against the foreign investor and would reach a decision under the law. Sometimes, though, this would not happen. The court might well lean in the direction of its own government at the expense of the foreign investor, which, in a case of interest to us, could well be a Canadian company doing business abroad. I should say as well that another advantage of the arbitration process is that the parties choose the arbiters. When the matters in dispute are highly specialized, for example petroleum development or marine issues, choosing arbiters who are experts in the field can make the process more effective and result in better decisions.

The arbitration process in the ICSID Convention is therefore one of the processes that are most often used for settling disputes between investors and states. My colleagues pointed out that more than 150 countries have already signed on to this arbitration process. The Convention has been ratified and is one of the international instruments to which the largest number of states belong. What distinguishes the convention to be implemented here in Canada by this bill is the mechanism for enforcing arbitration awards. It is an effective mechanism and that will help to protect investors. This is a key advantage of the ICSID Convention.

In the great majority of cases, the losing party in arbitration will pay the award of an arbitral tribunal without the need for the successful party to take any enforcement proceedings. The same is true for investor state arbitration.

In Canada, arbitral awards, including investor state arbitral awards, are currently enforced pursuant to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. This New York convention permits a limited review of an arbitral award by domestic courts. It allows a court to refuse to enforce an award if to do so would be contrary to public policy. In addition, it permits a state to exclude certain subjects from the application of the convention and thus from enforcement.

ICSID provides a better enforcement mechanism. It does not permit a state to exclude from dispute settlement any matter which the state has consented to submit to arbitration. ICSID awards are enforceable as if they were final decisions of a local court. This simple, efficient mechanism guarantees better protection for Canadian investors abroad.

We can also think of companies like Bombardier, the mining companies, the large consulting engineering firms and SNC Lavalin, whose head office is in Montreal.

Here are a few of the elements or clauses that make this bill an advantageous one for our businesses in Quebec and Canada.

For example clause 8 in the bill provides for the automatic recognition and enforcement of an award given by an ICSID tribunal. Such an award is recognized and deemed to be a final judgment by a superior court of Canada.

Under the same clause, any superior court of Canada may recognize and enforce awards coming under the law. The superior courts include the Federal Court. The Federal court will have the necessary jurisdiction to hear requests for recognition of awards involving the Government of Canada and awards involving foreign governments and their political subdivisions.

This same convention provides explicitly that awards are binding on the parties and cannot be subject to any judicial appeal or remedy.

Thus a foreign tribunal cannot hear a request to the effect that an ICSID arbitral tribunal has gone beyond its jurisdiction or was not properly constituted. These cases, when they are undertaken for awards other than those of the ICSID, delay resolution of the dispute and payment of damages. The convention does not allow such dilatory remedies.

Clause 7 of the bill provides that an award under the convention is not subject to any remedy, such as appeal, review and annulment in a Canadian court of justice. From this we can infer the very final effect of awards given under the convention. The decision to seek arbitration is entirely voluntary, but once the parties have agreed to it they cannot seek remedy from any other body, such as a court of justice.

The only remedies allowed in erroneous decisions are those laid down in the convention. Requests for review, interpretation or annulment of an award are heard, should the case arise, by the Secretary-General of ICSID.

Thus questions of error concerning awards cannot be submitted to national tribunals, but there remains a guarantee that erroneous awards will be remedied.

The ICSID Convention provides a good mechanism for resolving disputes and enforcing awards efficiently. This is an international instrument promoting arbitration and fair solutions for international investment disputes. This is why our government is presenting for second reading Bill C-53, which implements the ICSID Convention here, in Canadian law.

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to the speech by the hon. member for Madawaska—Restigouche. I want to take this opportunity to say hello to the people of New Brunswick and tell them that, fortunately, with a Conservative government, gas prices are twice as low as they would be if our Liberal friends opposite were in power, because with Bill C-288 and its draconian reductions of greenhouse gases, and after 13 years of their inaction, our gas prices would be twice as high. This is a major concern.

I was in Lévis Monday morning before coming here and the price of gas was $1.17. I think about all the workers from Bellechasse who go to work and sometimes have to make wage concessions. This is a worrisome situation and that is why our government is concerned about this situation and is putting more money back into the taxpayers' pockets, by reducing the GST, for example, to help workers better cope with these price increases.

There is one thing the previous government did not do. Why did it do absolutely nothing in 13 years to reduce greenhouse gases, while our government has invested several billion dollars in the past 15 months to encourage people to buy fuel efficient vehicles? We are even putting surcharges on vehicles that consume a lot of energy. We have implemented tax credits for public transit and we want to ensure that our economy is no longer dependent on hydrocarbons with the ecoenergy and ecotrust programs.

My question for the hon. opposition member is the following. Why is his leader, who is in support of gas prices being twice as high with Bill C-288, pleased—it was in the Calgary Herald on August 24, 2005—that the price of gas in Canada is high for the short, medium and long terms when that is detrimental to the country's workers?

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2007]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, we are here to make progress on the environmental issue, and that is what we are trying to do on this side of the House.

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to be able to speak without being interrupted. I would ask my colleagues opposite to let me speak.

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to remind the House, and this is a fact, that, in the past 13 years, Quebec's representatives here in Ottawa were mostly from the Bloc Québécois, and it is during these years that no effective follow-up was done and that we saw greenhouse gas emissions increased by 35%. We argue that we are clearly responding to the will of Canadians. We have a bill. My colleague who will speak in a few minutes sat at the committee that wants the legislation on climate changes and air quality. Unfortunately, that legislation was torpedoed a little. I will give the example—

[Business of Supply, April 24th, 2007]

I would like them to let me speak because I let them speak when they are on their feet. I would like to remind them that it is our government that gave $300 million to allow Quebec to implement its sustainable development plan. It is also our government that took measures that benefit public transit users. It is also our government that, yesterday, announced a $200 million investment to develop biofuels.

Businesses from my riding of Lévis—Bellechasse which are doing three feasibility studies were here yesterday. In both biofuel and biodiesel, big agricultural cooperatives are taking part in the studies and it is our government that is taking action. The record of the present Conservative government is entirely comparable to that of previous governments. It is important to mention that.

I am also pleased to rise today and speak to what we will do henceforth to achieve something that the previous government never did, that is to say, targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. To do this, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Alberta, the hon. member for Fort McMurray—Athabasca, who is very environmentally aware and is dealing with stupendous challenges of growth and the environment that sometimes boggle the imagination.

We have proposed a clean air and climate change program. In many cities, even Quebec City, a grey cloud can sometimes be seen hanging over the city in the summer. We did not see this 10 or 15 years ago. Now we do, and we want action. We want action to ensure there is clean air in our cities and to avoid health problems.

Let me be perfectly clear. Our government realizes that climate change is one of the most serious threats to health and world economy. Our government is taking action, therefore, while the Bloc just isolates itself. We know now that the targets that were set cannot possibly be achieved in the prescribed time. Greenhouse gas emissions increased by 35% while the Bloc members sat there representing Quebeckers in the House. Now we have Conservative members here from Quebec who are taking action on behalf of the environment.

The voluntary measures and laisser-faire policy advocated by the previous government not only proved ineffective but left Canada in a position that made it impossible for us to achieve the targets in the Kyoto protocol in the prescribed time. That is very clear. We are doing away, therefore, with voluntary measures. For far too long, our efforts to improve the environment were thwarted by unrealistic objectives like those the opposition parties sometimes propose and by the timidity of a government that showered us with fine words but did not actually do anything out in the field where it counts and did not dare to assume its responsibilities.

We are the ones, therefore, who are taking action. We have proposed a regulatory framework that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants in all sectors of the economy. We are introducing and will continue to introduce other measures as well that fight climate change and air pollution.

I would like to add that the reductions we are instituting in greenhouse gases and pollutants are mandatory under the regulations. The leading organization in the Quebec environmental movement, RÉSEAU, says that legislation is the driving force behind the environment industry and it provides the tools to stimulate the development of environmental technologies in Canada.

We are setting strict but achievable targets. Sustainable development, I would remind my hon. colleagues in the Bloc, is a balance between the economy and the environment in a context in which social measures are also taken into account.

It is the spirit of the Kyoto protocol we want to honour, obviously. Furthermore, our program sets out results obligations. We insist on results—something we have not seen in the past 13 years—in order to speed up reduction target achievement, as required.

I will turn my attention to what I consider some key aspects of the government's approach, aspects which set it apart from the actions, or more accurately, lack of action, by the previous government.

Our goals are the goals of Canadians and Quebeckers: to protect the health, environment and prosperity of Canadians now and in the future, our children's future.

This government respects the principles of the Kyoto protocol and is committed to making real progress toward achieving those objectives. We are setting targets that contribute to significant reductions, not only of greenhouse gases but also of the air pollutants, which originate from many of the same sources, to provide immediate and long term benefits for Canadians.

Over 3 million Canadians have asthma, bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and air pollution is a major factor. Air pollution is also a factor in cardio-vascular diseases, which are the cause of 40% of all deaths in Canada and the source of $25 billion in costs annually. The prevalence of these diseases will increase as Canadians grow older. So we must work to reduce the vulnerability of the elderly to the dangers of these pollutants. Poor air quality has other harmful effects—lung cancer, respiratory ailments, reduced activity and absenteeism from work or school.

The intent of the government is to minimize, indeed eradicate, the health risks posed by environmental pollutants in the air. Clear air is essential to the life and health of all Canadians. We do not consider the approach of the previous government—which obviously failed and which have put us in our present situation—was effective or appropriate. Agreeing to the Kyoto targets without a plan is tantamount to burying one's head in the sand. It will take more than a magic wand to achieve the targets.

Even attempting to achieve them would mean significant risk to our society and our economy. Just last week, a professor from Laval university said that, while we have to reduce greenhouse gases, the method proposed by the opposition will result not in sustainable development, but rather in the destruction of the country's economy. This must be recognized. A balance such as the clean air agenda has to be found. Our government is proposing effective legislation on climate change.

We can say to Canadians and Quebeckers that the Conservatives in Ottawa are getting things moving, working for the environment and inviting the opposition's support in its actions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, here in Canada and around the world.