Summer Career Placements Program  Mr. Speaker, young Canadians will soon be knocking on the doors of not for profit organizations looking for summer jobs. Given that the Conservative government has cut more than $1 billion from programs that help individuals and communities—including cutting funding of the summer career placement program by 50% this year—it will be more difficult for students to find a job.

Health  Mr. Speaker, constituents from my riding are petitioning the government to implement tax incentives to encourage Canadians to take out gym memberships. They believe it is time for the government to focus on prevention rather than treatment as the overarching principle of our health care system.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government implemented a dozen programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current government canceled all of the most effective of those programs, including the one-tonne challenge, EnerGuide and the wind power production incentive. Internal Department of Natural Resources documents confirm that all of those programs were working very well.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that the Conservatives have defaulted outright on the Kyoto protocol, an international treaty signed by Canada. Furthermore, the Minister of the Environment is not taking enough responsibility for this government's ill-considered actions. Twice this month, the minister failed to appear before a House committee to answer questions about the Conservative government's contradictory actions with respect to the Kyoto protocol.

The Environment  Why take such a confusing approach to the Kyoto protocol, and why is the minister refusing to explain her actions to her colleagues and to Canadians?

The Québécois  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his remarks. He spoke about the nation of Quebec while the motion of his government says that it is the Québécois who form a nation. Is there reason to correct the text or is this a distinction that the member is consciously trying to make?

The Québécois  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a Canadian, and I am proud to be a Quebecker. No, let me rephrase that. I am passionately proud to be a Canadian and passionately proud to be a Quebecker. I would like to give a brief account of my personal history, not because it is an extraordinary history, but because, on the contrary, it reflects the history of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the previous government funded a range of climate change programs, including the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network. The network was funding research into the impact of climate change on water at the Brace Centre in Ste. Anne de Bellevue in my riding.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, while there are numerous members of the former Harris government present in this House, I want to ask the Minister of the Environment a question. The contaminated water saga in Walkerton was caused in part by heavy precipitation, which produced heavy runoff of contaminated water into a local well.

Freedom of Religion  Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago today, members of the United Nations signed the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Like the UN Declaration of Human Rights before it, this new declaration proclaimed the fundamental dignity and right to freedom of all human beings.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the minister and her parliamentary secretary are living in a world of illusions and contradictions. The industrialized nations are supposed to set an example by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the Prime Minister met with Australian officials to explore ways to reduce emissions outside the Kyoto framework.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment said that Canada would continue to participate in the Kyoto protocol and that all our obligations would be fulfilled, except those having to do with greenhouse gas emissions of course. But Kyoto is essentially objective based, and targets have to be met by 2012.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, let me come back to the broken promises. On November 30, 2005, the Conservative members from Quebec City, whom their leader was unable to name at the time, revealed their regional platform. They promised to repaint the Quebec Bridge. A year later, rust is still ravaging the structure.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, clearly, this government does not know where it stands. The Minister of the Environment promised a carbon credit trading market in Montreal but, within a week, was contradicted by the Minister of Industry and by the Prime Minister's press secretary. Now, the Prime Minister is contradicting his own press secretary and is also promising a carbon credit trading market in Montreal.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, if the Minister of the Environment plans to support the Montreal Exchange, does this mean she will set specific short-term targets for greenhouse gas reductions? Luc Bertrand, president of the Montreal Exchange, believes that governments have a clear role to play in putting a value on carbon reductions.