Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, it is hard to know where to start.
The obvious point is, number one, there is no answer to the question I asked, which was “Will the Prime Minister of Canada accept the invitation from the United Nations Secretary General to attend the leaders’ summit?”
I do have to point out that I was at COP 19 in Warsaw, and no one publicly thanked Canada for our environmental record. It simply did not happen.
I heard the Minister of the Environment, in the House, claim that Mexico had thanked us and Colombia thanked us. Unless she was at a dinner table with one of the delegations and they thanked her for passing the salt, and I cannot rule that out, no one thanked Canada. As a matter of fact, we were singled out as a country that was unhelpful.
As for reductions of greenhouse gases, the only measure the government has taken, and I support it, is the light trucks and cars regulations we took to be in lockstep with the U.S. car market. Those are good. They will reduce greenhouse gases, but only by a very small proportion.
We have seen the leadership coming from provinces. It comes from B.C. with our carbon tax there on fuels and from Ontario with the shutting down of its coal-fired power plants. The figure my hon. friend uses, 734 megatons by 2020, is far above the target of 607 megatons.
In the limited time I have, I have to say there has been no leadership from Canada and there has been no answer from the government.
Scott Armstrong: Mr. Speaker, as I have highlighted, Canada remains committed to addressing climate change as highlighted by our actions and our leadership on this issue.
I have already alluded to these actions, which include our world-leading coal-fired electricity regulations. These regulations will make Canada the first country to effectively ban the construction of traditional coal units. We will be the first country.
In fact, in the first 21 years, these regulations are expected to result in a cumulative reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of about 214 megatons, equivalent to removing some 2.6 million personal vehicles from the road per year.
In terms of international actions, Canada has provided $1.2 billion in unconditional fast-start finance over 2010-12 to support mitigation and adaptation efforts in over 60 developing countries. This represented Canada’s largest-ever contribution to support international efforts to address climate change. That is leadership.
We will continue to show leadership on this file. We are getting the job done, unlike previous governments.