Environment is important

Submitted by
Ken Boshcoff M.P.

It is often said that some folks learn much more slowly than others. That certainly appears to be the case with the Conservative Government. For over nine months, I have been writing letters and articles, presenting petitions, and speaking in the House of Commons and across the riding about the challenges we are facing with Climate Change. Finally, it seems that the “lightbulb has gone on” for the Conservatives and they are starting to hear the warning bells that have been ringing for such a long time.
This drastic change of direction was most clearly shown by the shuffle of the Environment Minister’s duties to John Baird. During the press conference that followed, Prime Minister Harper indicated that he has heard from Canadians that more must be done to deal with climate change. Thank goodness he has finally started to listen.
In the past week, the Government has announced the return of incentives for renewable power production…incentive programs that they suspended when they came to office last year. The ecoEnergy Renewable Power Initiative provides an investment of $1.48 billion over ten years to boost Canada’s supply of clean electricity from renewable sources like wind, biomass, small hydro and ocean energy.
Hundreds of my constituents signed petitions and sent letters calling on the Government to reinstate the EnerGuide program that was cancelled last Spring. With your help, my colleagues and I have sent a clear message to the Government that this program must be revived. I’m pleased to report that our efforts were successful and the Government has announced the ecoEnergy Efficienty Initiative, which will provide incentives for retrofitting existing houses to increase energy efficiency.
Regretfully, in re-packaging this program some valuable features have been lost - the Government will no longer pay for the final energy audit to ensure measurable results. I am concerned that this change will be most felt by low income Canadians who cannot afford to pay for the audit on their own. The Conservative program is also far less generous with only $220 million of the former $900 million provided for these improvements.
Although I am disappointed in some of the program changes, I am very pleased that my constituents will once again have the opportunity to receive financial assistance in their efforts to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. I thank each person who helped in my activities to pressure the Government on this vitally important issue.
I will continue my efforts to hold the Government to account on the many other program cancellations that are hurting our citizens and communities and I ask for your ongoing support and assistance in these endeavours.