The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the leadership that Canada is demonstrating with the provinces and territories. I am quite surprised that the Conservatives, who believe in the markets, do not understand that it is a market-based system that is going to help us grow our economy and advance.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, let me be 100% clear, because unfortunately the party opposite does not understand. We understand that we need to put a price on emissions. We have two ways to do this. We can do it through a direct price, or we can do it through a cap-and-trade system. We have 80% of Canadians who already live in a jurisdiction where there is a price on carbon.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his advocacy on the north. The impacts of climate change are real. We see it across the country. P.E.I. is shrinking by an average of 43 centimetres a year. We have seen flooding and forest fires in the west. However, nowhere is the impact of climate change felt more than in the north.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, my message is that we are going to continue working them. Politics is politics, but we are here to provide solutions and to work with all Canadians so we position ourselves to tackle climate change and grow our economy.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, let us be clear. The Vancouver declaration said that the provinces and territories recognize, with the federal government, that we need to meet our international obligations and take serious action to do that. I have been working over the last eight months or longer with the provinces and territories.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her advocacy on this file. We have been working with all Canadians to develop our climate plan. We have held town halls across the country. We have had working groups that have heard from environmentalists, industry, indigenous peoples, and youth, and we continue to engage.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, it is a privilege to rise here today to address hon. members and all Canadians about the importance of ratifying the Paris agreement. Today the world is at a turning point as the effects of climate change are already being felt. We know that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history and that before that, so was 2014.

Paris Agreement  Madam Speaker, I am very glad to hear that the member opposite supports the Paris agreement. I look forward to seeing his vote in that regard. Let us be clear that our government is committed to meeting our international obligations. We actually have a plan to do so. Previous governments set a target without a plan.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Our government knows that the environment and the economy go together. We are working very hard on all the files. I am very pleased to say that, next week, we will have the opportunity to discuss the Paris agreement. I hope that my colleague opposite will participate in that dialogue.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, we are very pleased that we are going to be moving forward with a pan-Canadian climate plan that was agreed to by the provinces and the territories in the Vancouver declaration, which also included recognition of the importance of putting a price on carbon. I am very excited about the debate that is going to take place next week on the Paris agreement.

The Environment  Madam Speaker, our government makes decisions based on science and evidence, and we rely on our experts across government, who have been working on this file for the past three years. I apologize if I misspoke, but the reality is we rely on our expert public servants who are scientists to make decisions, and the 190 responsible conditions were based on that science.

Natural Resources  Madam Speaker, unlike the party opposite, we understand that the only way resources will get to market in the 21st century is if we can get a balance between the environment and the economy. We did a review. We spent the time necessary. We have conditions that are reasonable. I can quote from many different people who acknowledge that these are conditions that are normal with any project.

Natural Resources  Madam Speaker, we believe in rigorous environmental assessments, and we believe that what we have done has paved the way for the project to go ahead in a sustainable way. Once again, it is up to the proponents to determine if the economic conditions are there to go ahead. I can read from a number of different people, including the CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia: This decision paves the way for Canada to compete in the international LNG market while continuing our climate leadership on a global scale.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, our government understands that the environment and the economy go together. I was very pleased to hear Rachel Notley, the Premier of Alberta, say this with respect to yesterday's budget approval. She said that this was “...an important combination of sustainable economic growth while ensuring that you address environmental issues”.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, we welcome the joint UNESCO World Heritage Centre and International Union for Conservation of Nature mission to Wood Buffalo National Park, which is taking place from September 25 to October 4. Reactive monitoring missions are carried out around the world as an act of due diligence to assess potential threats to the outstanding universal value of world heritage sites.