Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her support of this legislation, which is extremely important in ensuring we are protecting the environment on a go-forward basis. I certainly agree with her that it is important we have time to debate and discuss issues in the chamber.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I would be more than happy to put this government's environmental record alongside that of the Harper Conservative government, which gutted the Fisheries Act, gutted the environmental assessment process, had no plan with respect to climate change, oversaw significant declines in biodiversity, did nothing to implement the Species at Risk Act and gutted the scientific capacity of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, as I said, an enormous amount of work has been spent on a range of environmental files, not the least of which being species at risk. My hon. colleague knows the conversations that are going on with respect to the protection of South Mountain and Boreal caribou. With respect to chinook salmon, we have fixed and upgraded the Fisheries Act to restore loss protections from what was done in 2012 under the Conservative government.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that my hon. colleague read the bill in detail. There are requirements for consultation in the bill, significant and active consultation, as well as public documentation associated with the consultations on the geographic range and the nature of what is being protected.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I certainly agree with my hon. colleague. There are a number of pieces of legislation before this House that it is very important to Canadians across the country, from coast to coast to coast, we move forward with and ensure are implemented effectively. Certainly Bill C-55 falls into that category.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I would invite my hon. colleague to review the record. This government has achieved far more, from a legislative perspective, in three and a half years than successive Harper governments were able to achieve over the course of a decade. Let me again return to the facts, something I know my hon. colleague sometimes likes to avoid.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, I am more than happy to talk about the environmental track record of this government relative to that of the Harper Conservatives. The Harper Conservatives gutted the protections in the Fisheries Act and gutted the environmental assessment process. They had no plan to address the most significant issue we are facing on an environmental basis, which is climate change.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, the bill is about interim protection. It will enable us to move forward with respect to the protection of our marine environment. With respect to my hon. colleague's comments regarding standards, about two weeks ago, I announced Canada's approach to marine protected areas and other effective area-based measures at a conference in Montreal.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, with respect to my colleague's introductory comments, he has actually never come to talk to me about this bill. I would be more than happy to have a conversation with him about the issues to which he is referring. This particular bill was introduced in June of 2017.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, there has been significant and sustained discussion of this bill in this chamber, at committee and in the other House. Bill C-55 was introduced two years ago. As I said, there were five total days at second reading debating this bill, three total days at third reading, nine total House committee meetings, and eight Senate committee meetings in total.

Oceans Act  Mr. Speaker, let me start by outlining the facts. Bill C-55 was introduced June 15, 2017. Five days in total were spent debating this bill at second reading and three days in total spent at third reading. In total, there were nine House committee meetings and eight Senate committee meetings.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, we have a plan to combat climate change and make the economy clean and affordable for everyone. Our plan includes more than 50 measures, such as investing in renewable energy to ensure that 90% of our electricity is clean, helping schools, hospitals and businesses save money and energy through the low carbon economy fund, and phasing out coal.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, by taking action to fight climate change, we certainly will protect the health of our economy and create good jobs for the future. We stand by our commitment with our international partners to phase out inefficient non-tax fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. We have done much of the work in that regard.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, by taking action to fight climate change, we can protect our health and create good jobs in a clean economy. We stand by our commitment with our international partners to phase out inefficient non-tax fossil fuel subsidies by 2025. We have conducted a preliminary analysis to help us meet that commitment.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, last week, I was in Montreal with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to host a nature summit. It focused very much on biodiversity issues and the decline of biodiversity globally and in Canada. We have committed to 17% terrestrial and 10% marine. We have made substantial progress.