Environment Committee on April 19th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), I call the votes on the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017. Vote 1 under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency; votes 1, 5, and 10 under Environment; and votes 1 and 5 under Parks Canada Agency were referred to the standing committee on February 23, 2016.

We are now going to vote.

CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AGENCY

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$27,512,578

(Vote 1 agreed to)

ENVIRONMENT

Vote 1—Operating expenditures..........$605,313,460

Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$60,539,382

Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$154,303,510

(Votes 1, 5, and 10 agreed to)

PARKS CANADA AGENCY

Vote 1—Program expenditures..........$997,202,390

Vote 5—Payments to the New Parks and Historic Sites Account..........$500,000

(Votes 1 and 5 agreed to)

Shall I report the main estimates to the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

This will be my first report to the House. Thank you for that.

The next order of business, which we weren't able to do at the last meeting is doing a press release that we talked about quite some time ago.

We're just putting it around again for you to have in front of you when we try to move it.

I believe it's very important, as I think we all do, for the public to know what we're doing here and to have a sense of what we're doing in our work plan. I'm anxious to get it out. We've had a month or more. We're working on the work plan; I'd like the public to know about it in a formal way.

Does anybody have any discussion on this item, or can we move to adopt this as our first press release for the committee?

[An hon. member]

I so move.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

It is moved.

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Was there any other business?

I had one item, which Mr. Fast brought forward.

You had suggested our taking part in a climate...Startup Canada.

[A voice]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Okay, maybe it wasn't Mr. Fast; my apologies.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

No, it wasn't me. I'm looking a little puzzled here. I was responding to your request.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Okay. I remember seeing some dialogue back and forth. We were given an invitation to participate in Startup Canada Day. I believe your response was that you were going to go, Mr. Fast.

I just want to make sure that I'm bringing it to everyone's attention. It's a policy round table on the Hill, and I want to make sure we're all aware of it. If we can have some members there, I think it would be very helpful.

Mr. Fast, you have said you will be attending. Is there anyone else?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Ms. Gladu might be wanting to go.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

I'm going, although I'm not like habitually one of you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

That's okay. We welcome everyone.

Do let me know, please. If you could let me know by the end of the day.

Mr. Bossio, are you planning on going?

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

I have House duty, but I will be there for the second half of it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

That's great, because it would be good for us to have a showing there. If you could let me know, I would make sure they are aware that we have a good showing at the event.

Was there anything else?

Mr. Cullen.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

This is a motion that was submitted I believe Friday of last week, Chair, if I have my dates right.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Yes.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Considering the testimony we just had from the minister and her officials, I think this is most apropos. It seeks to have the committee simply follow the motion we adopted on February 25 to look at climate change and our international efforts to limit global temperature rises to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels, as was committed to by this government and reiterated today.

These were some of the key elements we talked about. The committee has discussed this at the subcommittee level numerous times and also at the larger committee level. I think this is absolutely fitting with the testimony and the priority that we've heard from the government. I look forward to everyone's support.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

I appreciate very much you leaving it to discuss it at the end of the meeting, so that we could get all that time with the minister.

I'll open it for discussion. I know we had a bit of discussion of this on the Thursday, so we can just carry on.

Mr. Gerretsen.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and in anticipation of this motion I drafted a bit of an amendment.

I respect the fact that we have juggled things around a couple of times. I appreciate the fact that things haven't been going exactly as we had planned originally, but I do think it's important that we finish the work we have set out to do in the order we had set out to do it originally.

I would move an amendment that we replace the words “the committee hold at least four meetings up to report its findings to the House” and replace that with “the committee hold two meetings as adopted at the committee on April 14, which would be on June 21 and June 23.” I put forward that amendment, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

You're moving that amendment.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

I'm moving that amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

To the motion that's on the floor.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

It's a friendly amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Okay. Any discussion on the amendment?

Mr. Cullen.