Earth Day - the Manitoba NDP are behind on environmental issues

Here is my member's statement in the Legislature for Earth Day:

Hon. Jon Gerrard (River Heights): Today is Earth Day. The NDP in Manitoba have talked and talked about the environment, but their lacklustre performance doesn't even come close to matching their public grandstanding. The latest national report, Canada's first green provincial report card, gives us a snapshot of failure. (go to http://www.corporateknights.ca/home.html to see the report).
Take air quality. Manitobans would be shocked to realize that when toxic release of emissions into the air are considered, Manitoba performs abysmally at 487 toxicity units per million GDP. Almost all other provinces were less than 100.
Our performance is equally poor on climate change. Manitoba is expected to suffer more intense weather, including changes in precipitation and drought cycles. The problems we face are urgent, real and global, and they could irrevocably reduce our quality of life. Yet, Manitoba's greenhouse gas production has gone up by 13 percent compared to 1990 and continues to go up. We're performing much worse than Québec, which has reduced emissions for the fourth consecutive year. Manitoba and Québec both extensively use hydro-electric power, yet Manitoba's greenhouse gas production per capita is now almost double that of Québec. NDP half‑measures are not getting the job done.
Manitoba also scored poorly in upgrading building codes, and the NDP have done little to encourage smart urban planning. Alberta has 105 certified green homes per 100,000 people, while Manitoba has only 34. We've had little movement on rapid transit and the Province's policies promote urban sprawl, rather than smart urban design.
Despite words to the contrary, green industries in Manitoba are not growing, at a paltry 2.3 percent, with the lowest employment in green industries. By comparison, British Columbia had almost double Manitoba's rate of environmental employment at more than 4 percent.
With so much potential for improvement in these areas, the NDP have not only failed Manitobans but future generations around the world. Liberals have consistently forwarded leading-edge ideas to improve water quality and lower greenhouse gases, including measures to reduce phosphorus in waterways and ban the plastic bag. But the NDP have hardly listened for over a decade.
Manitobans are demanding real progressive action, action that can only be delivered through the efforts of a dedicated leading-edge Liberal government.

For reference purposes, Quebec has been able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 82.7 megatonnes of C02 in 1990 to 81.7 in 2006. For Quebec this represents 10.7 tonnes per person. Manitoba, which is comparable to Quebec in depending heavily on hydroelectric power, has seen an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from 18.8 megatonnes of C02 in 1990 to 21.2 in 2006. For Manitoba this means 18.0 tonnes per person, almost double the per capita greenhouse gas emissions of Quebec. We should be doing better.