Yukon’s protected area strategy and seeking a balance
WHITEHORSE, YUKON–Seeking a balance between a healthy economy and protecting the wilderness for future generations will always stimulate a thoughtful and passionate debate among Canadians. There are unique land features in each province and territory that should be protected for the future. There are Yukoners, like other Canadians, who require good paying jobs to nurture […]
Federal leadership on alternate fuels: fighting poisonous air with hot air
PARLIAMENT HILL–North American deaths caused by air pollution each year now equal deaths resulting from breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. We Canadians, of course, are justifiably terrified of breast and prostate cancer. We don’t seem to be nearly as terrified of pollution. If we were, Canada’s politicians would be paying a lot more attention […]
Let’s stop the fiction, GDP is not enough
Canada’s decision-makers have no way of measuring whether we have adequate ecological resources to maintain our current level of economic activity and prosperity into the future. Because we haven’t kept track of our ecological resources, we don’t know if we are running down our stocks of this “natural capital” to the detriment of future generations’ […]
Bloc wants environmental assessment mechanisms
PARLIAMENT HILL–I would like to remind the House that for Quebec, environmental assessment is a very important matter. Why? It is of course because Quebec adopted its own legislation back in the early 1990s. You must realize that it is perfectly legitimate for the Bloc Québécois and the various successive governments of Quebec to ensure […]
Alliance would massively increase fines for illegal oil dumping
PARLIAMENT HILL–The most powerful force for improving our environment is people. It’s every Canadian’s aspiration to make our environment cleaner, healthier and safer for our future. To that end, the Canadian Alliance environment policy is based on experience, science and wisdom. It affirms that people are the most important natural resource and that we must […]
APF promised to bring in financial stability
PARLIAMENT HILL–The Agriculture Policy Framework (APF) announced by the federal government on June 20 2002, promised to bring financial stability to Canada’s agriculture industry. However, there are no stakeholders who support the program and some provincial leaders have not signed on. The current set of safety net programs have expired and federal Agriculture Minister Lyle […]
WTO deadline missed
PARLIAMENT HILL–On March 31, a very important deadline in the Doha Development Round international trade negotiations was missed. That was the day when WTO-member countries were to have agreed on the basic framework, or modalities, for an agreement on agriculture. For most WTO member countries, including developing and least developed nations, agriculture is the most […]
Free and fair trade is the answer
PARLIAMENT HILL–Changes in the world’s trading practices are a hot topic of discussion on the world stage. The goal of these talks is to increase trade liberalization to provide all players on the world market equal opportunity and increased prosperity. Liberalization of trade is in Canada’s national interest. Trade is an essential component to a […]
Vanclief’s responses to House Agriculture Committee
PARLIAMENT HILL–On March 20, Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief was called before the House Agriculture and Agri-Food Committee, chaired by Liberal MP Paul Steckle, to talk about the department’s spending estimates and the Agriculture Policy Framework. Liberal Mr. Vanclief was there along with the Agriculture Deputy Minister Samuel Watson; President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, […]
Grit Dairy Caucus monitoring WTO negotiations
PARLIAMENT HILL–The Liberal Dairy Caucus was formed to provide a forum where Parliamentarians can meet with dairy industry representatives and improve their understanding of the sector. As Chair of the Liberal Dairy Caucus, I have been pleased to be in a position to contribute to an improved level of public understanding of this important industry. […]
