Dr. Sherman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the aftermath of the billion-litre coal slurry spilling into the Athabasca River, we received two conflicting messages. The environment minister said that everything was fine. There are no public health concerns with the water, she said. However, Dr. James Talbot, the province's chief medical officer, reported alarmingly high levels of mercury and cancer-causing compounds in the river. His advice was: don't draw water as the plume was going by, and don't drink the water. To the health minister: in a situation like this, should we believe the environment minister or the chief medical officer of health, who works for you? Mr. Horne: Mr. Speaker, I'm sure that my hon. colleague will want to supplement this, as well. If the hon. member is suggesting that the chief medical officer of the province told people not to drink the water out of the river or out of other sources of untreated water, he is absolutely correct. That is exactly the same advice that he would give to anyone in southern Alberta who was in a community affected by the flood or, in fact, anywhere in the province. There has never been a question about the quality of drinking water in any of the areas that have been affected by the slurry. The hon. member knows that. To suggest something to the contrary is a disservice and is, quite frankly, fearmongering. 2:00 Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government's inaction on the environment is hurting our credibility. It is hurting our economy. I guess we'll just say that the environment minister may have misspoken. Unfortunately, this isn't the only time she's done so. In fact, in the House on October 30 she said: "We have reduced greenhouse gas emissions. About 40 million tonnes of greenhouse gases have been reduced since 2007 levels." Well, this is pure nonsense. The data doesn't support it. To the environment minister: why do you insist on pretending that the massive increase in greenhouse gas emissions is actually a decrease? Mrs. McQueen: Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to answer both questions. First and foremost, the information we gave with regard to the water quality was correct. The first thing that I said to you on the first day this question was asked in the House was that we were there on the scene right away; we notified municipalities so that no drinking water would be used or withdrawn from this. That's exactly what Dr. Talbot has said as well, and if you look at news releases that'll be out here very shortly, you will see Dr. Talbot also quoted in that and clarifying misinformation that was reported on him. With regard to the greenhouse gases, Mr. Speaker, as I said on the day that question came forward, we have seen a 26 per cent reduction of intensity per barrel. This hon. member should probably listen to the answers. Dr. Sherman: Mr. Speaker, the minister should actually listen to our partners in the United States and our European partners and our neighbours who want us to take real action on the environment. On the first day of this session the Premier acknowledged that Alberta faces reputational challenges when it comes to the province's poor environmental record, something that just provides one more target for the opponents of our oil sands and our pipelines to get our product to market. It seems that the minister's black-and-white comment about greenhouse gases, parroted by the Premier in the U.S., is the sort of thing that hurts our reputation. To the minister: why do you insist on hurting our credibility and our industry by not taking real, meaningful action on the environment? The Speaker: The hon. minister. Mrs. McQueen: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very glad to answer this question. I just got back from Poland at about 3 o'clock this morning, and I've got to tell you that I spoke on a couple of panels and spent a few days talking with many different people. I've got to tell you what the message there is. People are really impressed with what Alberta is doing on the technology side. Nobody else is having the per-barrel emission reduction that we are. The work that we are doing is being recognized internationally. They know and everyone knows that part of it is renewables, but more importantly carbon capture and storage and technologies like that will be the key that will help unleash the technologies that we need and actually reduce emissions. We were recognized for that, not only by the panel members but also by other NGOs like Zero from Norway.

• published: 21 Nov 2013
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