Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 1st, 2024

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

It isn't actually a point of order. I'll just admit that right off the—

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Okay. Then you shouldn't be using it as a point of order.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

I have to say that MP Angus is just making things up now.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

You're correct, Mrs. Stubbs. That is not a point of order.

We should not be using points of order for debate opportunities or to cut other members off as they're speaking.

Mr. Angus, I will come back to you.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

That is the sound of a glass jaw cracking I just heard.

We are dealing with this false claim that—

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Angus, I'll ask you to hold for a second.

We have a point of order from Mr. Patzer.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I don't know why he has to default to violent imagery here. As the chair, you know we're not supposed to say things that are going to incite the committee or elevate tensions. He is deliberately using inflammatory language.

I would ask you to be judicious in making sure members don't do that. Maybe he forgot what happened the last time he tried to do that. I would encourage you, Mr. Chair, to rein that in before he gets going too far down a path he does not want to head down and—while he's at it—to tell the truth.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Colleagues, once again, there was nothing unparliamentary stated by the member, but I would ask all members, as a reminder for everybody on the committee, to use language that's appropriate and to focus on the study and questions on hand.

Thank you, Mr. Angus. The floor is yours.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Absolutely.

I want to apologize deeply to my Conservative colleagues for talking about facts, because I know that winds them up.

I want to go back to what we were talking about. Ms. Tobin, you mentioned the veto power the province has. The Conservative provincial government shut down an oil and gas proposal. If the feds had tried to push it through, the province has the veto power, or if the feds had tried to stop it, the province has the veto.

Is that correct? Is that how the accord works?

[Annette Tobin]

Yes, more or less.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

It's going to be very helpful for my Conservative colleagues, because they really don't want to have this come out. They think Justin Trudeau brought up this bill and all the oil and gas companies ran away. They're very opposed to the fact that this legislation will allow the province to make decisions about offshore wind without a veto from the Conservatives to stop this proposal.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

I have a point of order.

On Monday, and repeatedly, I said that the Conservatives support the inclusion of provincial ministers in Bill C-49. We have said that repeatedly. That remains our position.

Again, MP Angus should start telling the truth.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Colleagues, once again, procedurally that is not a point of order.

There will be an opportunity for the member, when they speak, to clear the record and answer the questions as to the members here—

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Maybe a point of order could be, Chair, that you ask my colleague to apologize to me for invoking an image of my jaw breaking.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

I would ask the member, once again, to use points of order that are procedurally relevant.

I would ask my colleague to proceed and focus the questions on Bill C-49 and the work and study of it.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

I'm trying to work my way through the dark labyrinth where the Conservatives have gone on this, because they said they were going to oppose the legislation. If they're opposing the legislation, they're going to oppose the right of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to create an offshore industry.

They have said they're going to oppose this, yet we have a veto power for the provinces under the accord. Is that correct?

If we update this and there are problems with offshore wind, which I know my Conservative colleagues.... Who knows what will set them off on that. If the province doesn't like it, they'll have the veto on that as well.

[Annette Tobin]

Yes. Under the accord acts, there are certain decisions that the offshore boards can make that require ratification by ministers. In the instance where there is a disagreement, the province has the veto if we are in times of security of supply. That was the “more or less” that I was referring to.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Okay, that's what I'm trying to get to in terms of facts. The province has a veto, and they really don't want them to have that veto. They want Pierre Poilievre to have the veto over the legislation.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

On a point of order, Chair, that's untrue. We have said that we absolutely support the inclusion of provincial ministers.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Thank you, Mrs. Stubbs—

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

As I said in my opening comments on Monday, Conservatives recognize that this is why the—

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mrs. Stubbs, I'll ask you to turn off your mic. This is not a point of order.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

—provincial governments of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia support Bill C-49. It's because of their inclusion—

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mrs. Stubbs—