Evidence of meeting #39 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was organics.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
I'm insufficiently technical about this to know whether or not you can get power out of an anaerobic digestion system or only by burning. Can you help me out with that?
Manager, Waste Operations, Region of Peel
Sure, an anaerobic digestion plant, whether it's a dry plant or a wet plant—meaning with water or just in an enclosed space—will produce other gases but the majority will be methane gas, the same as you get off the grid now if you have heat by gas. It will be methane gas from the pit, which is exactly identical.
Some people call it renewable natural gas, but yes, you can use that as a fuel source for transportation—you've probably heard about the Robert trucks that are running on compressed natural gas—or you can produce power. We have a landfill gas plant in our area at our Britannia landfill site where we produce five megawatts of power going into the grid, burning the same kind of gas.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
That's all the time you have.
Mr. Choquette, go ahead please.
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank the witnesses today for their recommendations. From a federal perspective, they are really interesting.
The federal government indeed has a role to play. It must not play every role, but it can play an important role, as you rightly mentioned. You mentioned two aspects at least. I hope that those aspects will be part of a report on the matter some day and that it will not gather dust on a shelf.
I am going to move quickly to another matter. Last week, a recent study was published in PLOS ONE. The study mentioned that, of the 369 imperiled species under the Species at Risk Act, the situation of115 of them has become worse, and 202 others have not improved at all, even though they are in peril.
That is why I want to introduce the following two motions.
Given the very minor improvement in the situation of species at risk, the first motion reads:
That the committee conduct a study on the implementation and funding of the Species at Risk Act.
As we would be beginning a new study, the other motion would be as follows:
That the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development end the examination of witnesses for the study on the management of municipal solid waste and industrial materials and proceed to the stage of consideration of a report.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
There is a motion on the floor. We're distributing the copies of the motion.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
May I ask a point of order type of question, Mr. Chair?
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Are we intending at this time to consider the motion, or is it simply being tabled for future note?
NDP
François Choquette NDP Drummond, QC
We are ready to consider the motions.
I would also like to mention something I really appreciated last time. Another member of the committee said that it was not necessary to go in camera to vote on motions. A Conservative said that. I think it was Mr. Calandra.
I also feel that it is not necessary always to go in camera. We can do it in public.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
I want to thank our colleague Monsieur Choquette for arranging things so that this motion would be introduced pretty much at the tail end of the questioning of these witnesses, so that they will not be inconvenienced if we do go in camera to consider it, or at least not inconvenienced much.
As is our usual practice, I move that we go in camera to consider this.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
We have a motion on the floor to go in camera to consider committee business. That motion is not debatable. All in favour of the motion?
NDP
Mylène Freeman NDP Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC
Could we get a recorded vote on that?
(Motion agreed to: yeas 5; nays 4)
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Harold Albrecht
The motion is carried. We will move in camera.
Let me just thank our witnesses for being with us today. Thank you very much for sharing your expertise with us. We wish you the best in your ongoing challenges and the work that you do to protect our environment and hopefully also to make a profitable business case.
We'll suspend for two minutes.
[Proceedings continue in camera]