Mr. Silver: I also rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus to pay tribute to Earth Day. Canada is celebrating its 25^th Earth Day by promoting a Rooting 4 Trees campaign with the goal of planting 25,000 trees in the month of April.

Now, Earth Day was originally intended to be a one-time environmental awareness event, but we can all agree that it has gone long past that scope by now, with many campaign ideas like hour-of-no-power use or Rooting 4 Trees. There is a broad vision for Earth Day celebrators but with a common value to preserve our environment.

Mr. Speaker, one person can make a difference. By turning down the heat while at home or in the Legislative Assembly, biking to work once a week, eating less processed meat, not running the water while you are brushing your teeth, or whatever other contribution we may make to lessen our effect on the environment, it all adds up. Actions taken by Earth Day participants across the globe have a significant effect on the world around us.

The Yukon has an environment unlike many others — beautiful scenery, fresh air, clean water. We are very fortunate and must be sure not to take for granted what many countries do not possess. The conscious actions that we take to ensure a smaller footprint don’t have to be grand, but day to day. If we as individuals make small lifestyle changes to protect our environment, the changes will gradually become grand. The opposite is also true, Mr. Speaker. If individuals do not make the effort and choose to simply stand aside, the Earth as we know it will no longer exist.

Earth Day is an environmental movement that spans across the world with over one billion participants. This is a movement in the global village and we need to stand up and to commit to being part of that global village.