Evidence of meeting #74 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was alberta.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
I hate to cut you off there. Your time for the question is up. I want the responder to have a little time to respond.
Thanks, Mr. Storseth.
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
I just think we need to do a lot more. No less a person than former Premier Lougheed, who unfortunately passed away, said we needed a moratorium on oil sands development. It's not saying no to oil sands. It's saying, let's stop until we get it right and rethink this for all sorts of reasons, caribou being one of them. So who am I to argue with such an august personality?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
Mr. Wallis, I'm sure Mr. Storseth would welcome a written response to his question.
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
That's a tough act to follow, Mr. Chair.
I think I'll pick up on my colleague's line of questioning, and then move into another area of questioning.
Mr. Wallis, perhaps you could define for the committee what you would deem a complete moratorium on oil sands development?
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
It's a moratorium on new oil sands development. So that means not accepting new applications for oil sands development.
You can shade that however you like, but the group working on cumulative effects management—actually working industry and NGOs—came up with a way of developing over 50% of that area for oil and gas development and protecting caribou. The government didn't accept those recommendations. They went with the 20% figure rather than the 44% or 46% figure. I think industry and the NGOs do lead, by the way. Government often follows, which is unfortunate, but we need government leadership and that's not what we're getting.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
Again, to re-emphasize my question, could you perhaps define what you deem as a complete moratorium? Can you comment?
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
The moratorium would be on new applications, going forward.
Conservative
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
Well, it's until we get the plan implemented and working. I don't have a timeframe. All I know is that there's nothing in place right now. There's no moratorium, although it looks like it's just changing right now. Within the last week the Alberta Minister of Energy has actually said—
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
So you don't have a timeframe for the complete moratorium as part of your recommendation.
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
No. Let's protect caribou first.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
Given that, I'm guessing there probably isn't an economic cost analysis associated with your recommendation related to a moratorium?
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
Actually, there have been economic studies done by the University of Alberta and others on the whole notion of that. But, again, it depends on what your timeframe is of your economic analysis as well.
Conservative
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
We're not saying no to industrial development any time in the future. We're just saying there's so much of it on the landscape right now. There are social pressures. They can't find people to actually do the work up there. There doesn't seem to be any rush to continue, so it depends how you measure things.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
For committee, could you ballpark the economic cost and perhaps give a timeline with your moratorium?
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
It depends. If you say no to industrial development forever, that cost is totally different from—
Conservative
Vice-President, Alberta Wilderness Association
It could be in the billions of dollars.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Centre-North, AB
Okay, thank you, Mr. Wallis.
I'm going to move now to Mr. Quinney.
Along this line of questioning, the case that I'm trying to build is that we are a natural resource-based economy, and I think, yes, Canadians do care about ensuring that we have habitat conservation. A lot of the testimony that we've had here has been very positive in that regard, but a lot of what we've heard from a wide variety of witnesses is that people also understand that we have to have the concept of a working landscape. Would you agree with that characterization?
