Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I am afraid the record does indeed speak for itself, and it speaks for itself very loudly that this country is failing the world and failing our children.
To correct a few of the things on the record, I think those in the House may have gotten the false impression that Canada had contributed $30 billion to the fast-start climate program. That is of course the contributions of all countries around the world.
Canada did put forward $1.2 billion, which is important, but it was only supposed to be a first step, not the whole commitment, and 74% of that was in loans, the largest level of loans of any country in the world. Others put forward real dollars, new and additional.
The only reason emissions have gone down in Canada at all is a combination of the recession of 2008 and Ontario’s committing to close down its coal plants. This administration’s car regulations are great, but we only did them to stay in concert with U.S. action, and the coal regulations will not take effect until I am 99 years old. Frankly, 40 years from now is not good enough to have regulations take effect.
We need real action, and we need it now.
Colin Carrie: Mr. Speaker, of course I will disagree with some of those comments.
I want the member to know that our government remains committed to transparency. Last month, we released the third Canada’s Emissions Trends report. The report clearly shows that our sector-by-sector approach is getting real results.
Canadians should be proud of this incredible accomplishment. Our government will continue to make progress towards our targets.
Upcoming federal policies will contribute to additional emissions reductions, including in particular—and this is very important—oil and gas sector regulations, as was indicated in last month’s Speech from the Throne.
Likewise, our government supports the efforts of the provinces and territories as well as consumers and businesses to lower their respective emissions.
I would like to address the matter of the Canadian delegation this year. As has been the case for the past several years, it will consist of government officials who take part in the government-to-government negotiations that are at the heart of the Conference of the Parties. Our Minister of the Environment looks forward to meeting with her international counterparts in Warsaw to continue addressing climate change.
If the member opposite would like to help Canada, then she should start by voting in favour of all the stuff we are doing, all our great initiatives.