Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I had hoped to share my time today with the member for Thunder Bay—Superior North. As time will be tight, I would like to at least thank him for his tireless work on behalf of Canadians to finally seek action on climate change around the globe. I wish to voice my support for the motion presented by the member for Ottawa South and hope that all members in the House see fit to support these measures, which are necessary and long overdue.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member referenced the Copenhagen agreement, as did the parliamentary secretary. While that framework does not do much, it does do one thing. Canada commits in it specific dollars for foreign aid. I would like to ask the member why we are the only G8 country that has failed to live up to that commitment and commit a specified dollar amount.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, perhaps we could try this a third time. The government announced in its budget 80 million new dollars to continue the popular ecoEnergy home energy retrofit program. Yet today, day one of the budget year, we learn that the government is set to pull the plug on billions of dollars worth of job creation, retrofit expenditures and energy savings for home retrofits.

Universities and Colleges  Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Edmonton—Strathcona, I am privileged to have three university campuses in my constituency: the University of Alberta main campus, Campus Saint-Jean, and King's University. Faculty, students and their families have shared their concerns that advanced education is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the reply by the hon. member. I am wondering if he is aware of the work by an organization called NESCAUM, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management. Based on its empirical studies, it has shown that the one key trigger for investment in clean technology is not lower taxes.

Aboriginal Healing Foundation  Mr. Speaker, among the first nations chiefs I had the privilege of working with, one was Joe Johnson, the former chief of the Kluane First Nation. The many times I worked with him on his land claim, he told me stories of the trauma he felt from residential schools, how he suffered from having to work away from home in British Columbia, and how he wished that jobs could be provided along with healing services closer to his community.

Aboriginal Healing Foundation  Mr. Speaker, I have had the absolute privilege of working in many jurisdictions in Canada. I have worked with first nations and Métis people in Alberta. I have worked with first nations and Métis people in Yukon. Of all of my experiences in my life as a lawyer I could share a couple of profound experiences that really struck home to me personally why we need to provide these exact services, why the government which has unilateral responsibility for first nation peoples needs to be committing this.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the member alleges, I would like to suggest to the House that, in fact, what the government is doing is creating duplication. We now have the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency in Canada whose singular role is to coordinate among the various federal agencies.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, on March 9, 2010, I asked the government why it was handing over even more environmental responsibilities from agencies legally mandated to protect the environment to agencies mandated to promote industrial development. In other words, why is the government putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to table a petition in the House on behalf of first nations people across Canada, including Swan Hills and Cold Lake, Alberta. I am fully aware of the success story of these healing centres and the hard work of first nations people to establish them.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, after years of drought and unmitigated industrial expansion, Albertans know how precious water is and yet, after four years in power, the Conservative government's actions to protect our water amounts to a drop in the bucket. In honour of the United Nations World Water Day, will the government finally table the long promised aboriginal safe drinking water law, a law to ban bulk water exports, and assert federal powers to address serious climate and pollution threats to Canada's precious water?

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to put a question to the hon. member across the way for whom I have great respect. I think he does a great job on his committee—

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Oops. Mr. Speaker, I would like to put a question to the hon. member in view of the question that was put to him from the member for Edmonton—Leduc. The member and his party have spoken of their great support for innovation. It has been proven through empirical studies, one important one done by a group called NESCAUM, an association of eastern United States air monitoring organizations, that the empirically proven best trigger for investment in new clean technologies is regulation.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I will give the hon. member the opportunity to correct what I consider an incorrect statement made in his speech on the motion. He stated that the business of government does not end on prorogation. In fact parliamentary hearings and the parliamentary committees are shut down, as were two critical hearings in my committee, about which the public was very upset.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I have done my homework and I have plowed through every line of the budget hoping to find some hope. I have not found it. Apart from the fact that the budget mostly talks about what the government did last year and does not give a lot of detail on what it will do this year, it also makes it clear what it is cutting.