Natural Resources committee  It's about 32 degrees outside, and the air quality is miserable, so maybe that will make you feel better about your situation. You talked about carbon taxes. I'm not an economist; I can tell you, though, from my experience, that the most destructive thing in moving towards some sort of future is tremendous fluctuation in the prices. We've experienced that in the last couple of years, but you can already see that the carbon tax that's being proposed is going to be small compared to some of these fluctuations we've had.

Price of Petroleum Products  The member for Vaughan has said that a carbon tax is certainly not an option for him, and former leadership contender and Liberal candidate Gerard Kennedy is of the opinion that a carbon tax is the clumsiest of the options they have so far.

The Economy  Someone may have dreams of killing the resource sector in B.C., or the auto industry in Ontario, but his real dream is to impose a job-killing carbon tax. Since first suggesting the idea decades ago, someone has championed the carbon tax idea in the Liberal leadership and during the last campaign. If imposed by now, someone would have crippled the Canadian economy.

Carbon Tax Policy  Had we gone the way of the carbon tax, would people be paying less or paying more?

Carbon Tax Policy  Had we gone the way of the carbon tax, would we have more trade or a trade war?

Carbon Tax Policy  In these uncertain times there are two things we can be certain of, that the Conservative government's economic action plan is the right way to go and that the leader of the Liberal Party was 100% wrong on the carbon tax.

Natural Resources committee  We aren't dealing with the true problem, which is greenhouse gases. It makes perfect sense to speak about this here. It is not the carbon tax that is going to change this situation. The situation is deteriorating. A carbon tax can help change people's attitudes or not. We will have to see, that is another topic. I refuse to say that a carbon tax will be devastating and will eliminate jobs.

The Environment  That is the Liberal way. Kyoto had no targets. We never know if the Liberals are for or against carbon taxes.

The Environment  Speaker, not only is Quebec being penalized by the choice of 2006 as the reference year, but it could also be the first to pay for this government's inaction, since it exports the most to Europe. Does the government realize that if Europe follows through on its carbon tax threats for offending countries, Quebec will be paying for Alberta?

Environment committee  To elaborate on the points by my colleagues, clearly there's that issue of Canada versus U.S., and if we were put in a position where we had to, in essence, either face a carbon tax in the U.S. or buy carbon credits to somehow match up, that has a direct economic consequence for producers here. Even if Canada and the U.S. more or less move in lockstep, the other factor, frankly, is this growing dominance of China in terms of world steel trade, and that's really a core factor in our industry.

Environment committee  I mean, China's essential trade obligations are its WTO obligations--which it sometimes doesn't always respect; nonetheless, that is the trading framework. With respect to the issue of carbon taxes, for example, certainly the starting framework would be the WTO. That would apply, presumably, to measures that other countries would take as well.

Environment committee  Can you tell us how your sectors are reacting to this reality? Someone mentioned that Quebec and B.C. have carbon taxes. Ontario is about to bring in emissions trading legislation; it will be joining the western climate initiative with other provinces. We have a 20% target from 1990 levels in Quebec, a 15% target in Ontario, a 13% target in British Columbia, and targets in virtually every province.

Environment committee  Cap and trade now has momentum as the tool of choice around the world, and while CPPI members still have mixed views on the relative merits of cap and trade versus a carbon tax, I'll focus my comments here on cap and trade, given the current momentum, with emphasis on the trade component, which is as important, perhaps even more important, as the cap itself.

Carbon Tax Proposal  Mr. Speaker, earlier this morning the Liberal leader revealed the details of his carbon tax on everything. Besides their show of solidarity, many Liberal MPs are on record opposing a carbon tax. The member for Wascana previously said, “A carbon tax is not a part of our planning or our thinking”.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal approach is to add a massive carbon tax on the north. Our government understands that, as a northern country, Canada is particularly vulnerable to climate change. That is why the Mayo B hydro project in Yukon was the first project to receive federal funding of $71 million for the new green infrastructure fund.