Environmental Enforcement Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the science first. The member is absolutely right. For two million years carbon dioxide stayed stable in the atmosphere. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, it started to increase and has increased 32% since the Industrial Revolution. Other gases have increased by 131%.

Environmental Enforcement Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-16 at second reading. This bill requires a respect for and an understanding of science and innovation, a discussion of climate change and real investment in climate science. Science and innovation must be fundamental to this bill. Environmental enforcement requires monitoring and surveillance.

Sri Lanka  Mr. Speaker, Canadians with family members in Sri Lanka are desperately worried about their safety. Today we learned that a hospital was shelled, victimizing hundreds, and that hundreds more cannot be rescued from the war zone by the Red Cross. What action will the government take to ensure the safe evacuation of the affected population and the delivery of much needed aid?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I present a petition on behalf of my constituents. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to use every diplomatic means at its disposal to seek an immediate ceasefire, to work with the international community to pressure the government of Sri Lanka and its military to respect the human rights of the civilian Tamil population and the embargo on food, medicine and other essential items to the combat zone and to restore the unequivocal freedom of the press and freedom of movement for the UN and the international aid organizations throughout the whole of Sri Lanka.

Contraband Tobacco  Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the release of the RCMP's contraband tobacco enforcement strategy. The RCMP notes that the growing trade in contraband tobacco challenges health objectives to reduce tobacco consumption; provides easy and unmonitored accessibility to tobacco by Canada's youth; requires increased criminal justice spending; supports other criminal activities, such as drug and gun trafficking; and takes away hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the government.

Renewable Energy  Madam Speaker, today I rise in the House in support of the private member's motion to increase support for Canada's renewable energy sector and to enlist Canada as a full member of the International Renewable Energy Agency, or IRENA. Leading entrepreneurs, scientists and thinkers identify the greatest challenges facing humanity over the next 50 years as producing renewable energy, reprogramming genes to prevent disease, and reversing the signs of aging.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I wish we did not need to go to corporations to help our schools. Our students see the opportunities that other communities have and want do know why not them. They are at risk of joining gangs because they suffer from the greatest inequality and they are also in danger of using drugs and becoming involved in serious crime.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I grew up in beautiful Etobicoke and I have always been proud of my green community ever since my grade three class at Silver Creek Public School produced its first map and then walked our neighbourhood. We had to tell the teacher what we liked best about Etobicoke.

Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act  Madam Speaker, climate change is the most pressing environmental issue facing Earth. Temperatures will increase over the coming century by about 2°C to 4°C. We are already seeing impacts here in Canada, such as an increase in extreme heatwaves and weather events. The Great Lakes water levels are going down.

Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act  Madam Speaker, climate change is the most pressing issue affecting our planet. We must look at both mitigation and adaptation. On the mitigation side, we have to look at technologies that will be good for the environment as well as the economy. We must take a lesson from the corporate world.

Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act  Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to lend support to Bill C-3, a bill to protect Canada's Arctic environment and sovereignty. The Arctic grail, or Northwest Passage, was the water route through Canada's northern islands that explorers sought for three centuries. In 1903, Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, waited months for the ice to sufficiently melt so that his vessel could be the first to successfully navigate the passage.

Health  Mr. Speaker, health officials missed the opportunity to act in Mexico, where there are 2,500 suspected cases of flu. CDC and WHO officials say that the flu may turn out to be more similar in both Mexico and the United States; that is, more mild cases may be uncovered in Mexico and more severe ones found in the U.S.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the swine flu outbreak is very dynamic, fluid, and is rapidly evolving. The increased threat level signifies that we have taken a step closer to a pandemic. Should a pandemic occur, how will it be decided who has been exposed and requires treatment? How will antivirals be distributed?

Human Pathogens and Toxins Act  Madam Speaker, we are currently facing a very serious threat in Canada with influenza A(H1N1) that started in Mexico. It is a new virus. It has segments from avian, swine and human flu. We started with clusters in Mexico which then spread to the United States and Canada. The pandemic alert level has been raised from a phase 3 to a phase 4 and now phase 5.

Human Pathogens and Toxins Act  Madam Speaker, these were certainly questions that were raised in committee. It is our understanding that we received a letter from the Privacy Commissioner and that conversations are ongoing with the government to address those concerns.