Evidence of meeting #15 for Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was greenhouse.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
You mentioned a program that was called something like the energy program for buildings and construction. Were you referring to the REDI program, as it is called in English?
General Coordinator and Co-founder, Équiterre
I do not know. I mentioned the Commercial Building Incentive Program, the ecoENERGY Retrofit program that replaced EnerGuide, and the LEED certification.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
I think that the PEBC is called REDI in English. Am I right?
General Coordinator and Co-founder, Équiterre
I do not know the English acronym.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
The people with whom I discussed this program told me that since the new government took over, this program has been radically modified in many ways. The rules were changed during the game. Suddenly, they announced that projects had to be submitted very quickly by a certain date. The deadline was practically impossible to meet due to the time that it takes to develop a project.
Were you aware of this?
General Coordinator and Co-founder, Équiterre
The current government abolished the Commercial Building Incentive Program or the CBIP. That program no longer exists.
General Coordinator and Co-founder, Équiterre
I do not know the date, but to my knowledge, it was during the previous budget. I could look it up, if you wish.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Ms. Middelkoop, are you familiar with the C-CIARN program, the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network?
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
I believe they published some kind of tool or guide for the FCM. Is that correct?
Senior Policy Analyst, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
They developed a guide that listed actions that could be undertaken by municipal governments not for emissions reductions, but for adapting to climate change.
Senior Policy Analyst, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Absolutely.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Why do you think the government has thrown the wrench into that program?
Senior Policy Analyst, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
I can't speculate as to why the Government of Canada has cancelled that program, although they are completing the work, as far as I understand it.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Yes, but the researchers—I have some in my riding—who have been working on the all-important issue of how to prevent water catastrophes like we've seen in the past have essentially been told—
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Like Walkerton, essentially. They've been told they will be paid up to a certain point, and that's about it.
Would you be in favour of restored funding for that program?
Senior Policy Analyst, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
The tool that was provided to FCM, in the form of a guidance document to assist municipal governments in understanding the impacts from climate change, was useful.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Excellent. Thank you.
The issue of wood-burning stoves has actually come up in one of the municipalities in my riding, in the municipality of Beaconsfield. How do you approach that issue? Is that something the federal government can do something about, beyond requiring that wood stoves be EPA-certified or EPA-style-certified, or is it up to the municipalities to essentially...?
In this case, some people in my riding would like their use banned. How do you feel about that? Do you feel they contribute significantly to the problem of air pollution and greenhouse gases? Who should be acting, beyond setting standards for the design of wood-burning stoves? Should we be going further? Should municipalities be looking at restricting their use to maybe only emergencies, to when power outages occur, or something?
First Vice-President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
I appreciate the question. It's very interesting. Again, I can't honestly claim to be an expert—
First Vice-President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
—on wood-burning stoves, but I will take this opportunity to highlight the need for federal standards in a lot of different areas.
Everybody can appreciate that when you talk about standards within the context of one municipality, it becomes very difficult. When you talk about standards not only in things like wood stoves, but in things like fuel efficiency standards that can be held to task from coast to coast to coast, then it becomes a lot easier for competition to be levelled interprovincially and inter-municipally.
One of the challenges or problems for municipal governments is that if a municipal government wants to impose a regulation that is a little bit more aggressive, the municipalities surrounding it might enjoy a competitive advantage overnight. We saw the same thing happen with the smoking bylaw. When one municipality implemented it, all the municipalities outside had a different playing field. That's why, in the area of wood stoves, energy fuel efficiency, packaging, and those types of things, the leadership of the federal government can really come in handy to impose those standards in turn.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Laurie Hawn
Sorry, you've already snuck up to seven minutes. Good job.
Mr. Jean, for five minutes, please.