House debate  Madam Speaker, I want to go back to the previous comments of my colleague opposite with regard to a green energy strategy and point out some shortcomings of a Liberal colleague of hers in the Ontario government. The premier of that government implemented a green energy strategy, which the auditor general of that province noted would see electricity prices potentially rising in that province by up to 41% and significant job losses in the private sector due to that increase.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by addressing the question of my colleague opposite by quoting something from the International Institute for Sustainable Development. A report by this agency noted that “Canada is moving in the right direction on GHG policy...” and is “establishing the policy architecture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, earlier my colleague brought up the year 2005 and her government. In 2005, the Commissioner of the Environment said, with regard to the Liberal government's inaction regarding the environment: When it comes to protecting the environment, bold announcements are made and then often forgotten as soon as the confetti hits the ground.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague opposite for her question and her response because we do agree on one thing, that we do need to have action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in this country because we want to see action on climate change. Our government fully supports that.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, what the no development party has done is voted against the eco-energy retrofit program. It has voted against any sort of measure that makes sense to support our energy sector from a sustainable development perspective, and it lobbies against Canadian jobs. We have a sector by sector robust regulatory program for greenhouse gas emissions.

Natural Resources  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his understanding of the importance of the over 500,000 jobs in this country and what that means for social programs, what that means for having Canada as a world leader in the global economy. Our government is committed to the sustainable development of our resource sector and ensuring that we have a robust environmental protection plan in a time of economic growth.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, that is very rich coming from a party whose former leader said that his party did not get the job done on climate change. We are so proud of our team of scientists at Environment Canada and the work that they do. In fact, last year I believe they conducted over 1,000 interviews with the media.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, in the last budget we committed almost $870 million to Canada's clean air agenda, including $252 million to support regulatory activities to address climate change sustainable development technology, but my colleague opposite voted against it.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, our country has an excellent environmental regulatory system in which the public can participate in a law-abiding way. However, any groups or individuals who resort to criminality or violence will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague opposite that his party continually votes against any budgetary measures to assess any part of this country. With regard to environmental assessment processes, our government takes those very seriously. They are rigorous processes and we are committed to ensuring the integrity of them and the timeliness of them.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague opposite that shale gas development as well as natural resource development are primarily issues of provincial concern and provincial jurisdiction. I would also like to encourage her to take a look at what some of the industry is doing.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how my colleague opposite and her party can have any credibility when they consistently work against Canadian jobs in our energy sector. With regard to the Kyoto protocol, our government has been very clear in saying that in order to see real reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions, we need a new international agreement, which includes all major emitters, including those that were not included under the Kyoto protocol.

Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identity During Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak in support of private member's Bill C-309 introduced in the House of Commons on October 3. In my remarks today, I will explain why Bill C-309, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (concealment of identity), is consistent with our government's commitment to protect law-abiding citizens and keep our communities safe.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, that leads me to wonder why my colleague opposite continues to vote against budgetary measures which support research and development. We are looking at our research and development system. We are asking how we can be more competitive internationally. However, that is also saying that we are competitive here at home.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about a mystery. I will try to clear up the mystery. I will refer to the environment committee testimony which happened before we broke in late December. We discussed the ozone monitoring program. The minister and I stood in the House numerous times and talked about the fact that this capacity will be maintained.