Evidence of meeting #139 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pricing.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bev Shipley Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses. I've never had quite as astute a panel as we have today.
My questions are going to be pretty basic. Can you tell me the global percentage of emissions that Canada produces?
Mr. Rivers, go ahead.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
We produce just under 2% of the world's emissions.
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
Can you tell me about the global emissions for China, India, Russia, the Eastern European countries, and Asia? These are all economists, folks, so I'm assuming they have all the numbers.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
I'm not sure I can remember them all. China's about 26....
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
Well, I think the United States is actually in the 30%—
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
No, it's a little lower than that. China's ahead of—
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
We're less than 2%.
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
They're our largest trading partner, I think. Can you tell me how much the $20 a tonne will reduce greenhouse gases in Canada?
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
I don't think we can say precisely, but I would have said, in the ballpark—
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
The evidence that we've talked about said that the $30 per tonne price in British Columbia reduced emissions by between 5% and 15%.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
It was introduced in 2008.
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
So that was during the recession, as my colleague mentioned.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
When it hit $30, it was 2012.
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
I'm just trying to get a handle, because one of the things we're talking about....
Mr. Chair, quite honestly, I've yet to hear about what it's going to do. All I hear about is the amount of money we're going to collect from people. For a bystander sitting out there, and me—I'm in agriculture, and this has a huge.... I know the panellists said this isn't going to...and everybody agrees with it. I can tell you that, in my riding, they don't agree with that.
My concern, then, is how much the reduction at $60 a tonne would be. We're going to start at $20 and go to $50, $60, $100 or $600. I'm not sure where it's going to be, because the government actually hasn't told us. What is the impact going to be in terms of carbon reduction at $30 a tonne?
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
The government has published estimates for what it believes the price will achieve.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
It's based on models, yes.
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
The estimate, if I remember right, is between 50 and 90 megatonnes from the $50 per tonne price, and we're at about 710 megatonnes right now.
Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, CPC
Can you tell me, from all your research, if CO2 is a pollutant?
Mr. Sawyer, go ahead.