Environment Committee on May 1st, 2017

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

—so I can't speak to the budget of the Minister of Natural Resources, but I can say that obviously we are committed to this. We are looking at sequestration. Part of it is an accounting issue. Part of it is how we meet our Aichi targets. Part of it is that we have funding for looking at our building code and the taller wood buildings. Across the board, we are committed to doing this.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

I'll just note before we get to Mr. Lucas—and thanks for being here—that my brother was involved in the design of the 18-storey wood structure at UBC—

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Cool.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

—and is very familiar with how wood can be used as one component in addressing our climate change challenges.

Mr. Lucas.

[Stephen Lucas]

I was just going to note that forest carbon research is part of the core activity of the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, and indeed, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on the side of best practices for zero-till and, as the minister indicated, other carbon sequestering costs. There is further work under way with people across Canada in the role of wetlands, for example.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

You're not aware of any new money in the recent budget that would set that—

[Stephen Lucas]

I think for stored carbon in terms of wood construction at Natural Resources....

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

All right.

Following that line of thought, when you look at forestry, at farming and low-till and no-till methods, at wetland restoration and expansion, and at grasslands and the capacity to sequester, do we know how much carbon our natural environment in Canada presently sequesters?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

As you can probably see, the short answer is no. We know that it's an important part to tackling climate change. I would just like to re-emphasize it's not the whole solution, but I—

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

No, I agree with you.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Through you, I congratulate your brother. Did you see the building at UBC? It's very cool.

I think we need to do more, but we can't be driving it just here in Canada. One thing that is very important in the Paris agreement process is that you have to have defensible accounting. We don't want different countries having different ways of accounting and trying to get around having very serious carbon plans, because they'll just say, “Well, we have wetlands, we have tall wood buildings, and we have zero-till agriculture.” I think your point—

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Minister—

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Yes?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

My concern is that we've embarked upon a climate change plan...and kudos to you for actually coming up with a plan. We might disagree with it, but at least you came up with a plan. The problem is that you've come up with a plan but you don't yet have that elemental information on carbon emissions that tells us exactly how much is reabsorbed back into the environment.

What we also don't know is what our capacity is to increase our natural sequestration capabilities in Canada going forward. You've already mentioned that there is research going on about how we could improve forestry practices to improve sequestration capacity. I'm a little surprised that your government would come forward with a plan when we actually don't know what the playing field is that we're playing on, because we don't know exactly how much of the carbon emissions are being reabsorbed into the environment.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

If you look at our climate change plan, where you actually have the pathway to achieve our target, we have built it in, but we are looking at how we do the proper accounting in accordance with international standards. I mean, there are lots of variables when it comes to climate change. The Arctic is melting, and it's going to release....

It is not as precise as we would like it to be. We are working very hard. I am very proud of the work of the scientists at Environment and Climate Change Canada and across government, who are working on very hard issues and pushing the envelope so that we can share this expertise internationally.

[Stephen Lucas]

We do actually have a comprehensive model, as part of our national emissions inventory, pertaining to stored carbon. It's work that we undertake with other departments and agencies. We just released the most recent update a week or two ago. We have comprehensive models for forest carbon that are worked on in Canada but with international partners, as the minister indicated, to fit into the development of those land use and land use change international rules, but more fundamentally to understand the behaviour of natural systems in a changing climate so we can measure, monitor, and model and then adjust policy and work with provinces and territories and others to find ways to more effectively store carbon in a natural system.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

The last question goes to Mr. Stetski.

Welcome back.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Thank you.

Thank you, Minister, and your team for being here today. As you know, all of us around this table are advocates for parks and protected areas.

I want to make sure I understand the numbers and that we didn't get it wrong earlier, because they seem to be heading in the right direction. Was $1.4 billion, which was an increase of $250 million, for parks and protected areas for this year correct? Then beginning in 2018, there is an additional $364 million over the next two years. I think that's what I read in the budget, and again that's certainly heading in the right direction.

At this point, what will that $364 million be targeted at?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I'll ask Daniel to answer that.

[Daniel Watson]

Parks Canada has approximately 18 billion dollars' worth of built assets that require about two million dollars' worth of work every day, just so we do not end up the next morning behind where we were the morning before. That money will, in a sense, end up in two places. The money itself will be used to make sure we will do the work we need to do to keep Canada's heritage from falling apart. Indirectly it will allow the additional costs that we would otherwise have incurred by letting that fall apart even further to go back into operations inside the agency for a whole range of things.Those could include science or visitor experience or all of those pieces, but the actual amount of $364 million that was noted in the budget is specifically to protect the built heritage and assets that Parks Canada has responsibilities for.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

The Trans Canada Trail, and ultimately responsibility for it, is a great initiative across Canada. There's certainly room for improvement. Some areas are basically alongside a highway, and there's a long-term concern about operational dollars to maintain the trail. Is that on your radar, and whose responsibility will it fall under to make sure the Trans Canada Trail stays viable into the future?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I was certainly proud of our government's announcement that we are investing in the Trans Canada Trail. I think for 2017 there's no better initiative than something that's going to have a very long-term legacy and that connects Canadians from coast to coast to coast. I believe 3,000 communities live within half an hour of the Trans Canada Trail. I grew up in Hamilton, as some of you may know, and I would go running around what is now the Trans Canada Trail. Just below Parliament is another part of the Trans Canada Trail.

The Trans Canada Trail is an independent organization. We as a government have supported it. We've made a new announcement of funding. Certainly it is looking at what its long-term plan should be, including support from the private sector. But, really, it's an organization we've supported. We've stepped up because we think it's very important.

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Okay.

Do you anticipate, though, a role for the federal government in the future? I know it's private, but right across Canada, and certainly in my riding, the concern I hear is about who is going to maintain this after 2017.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I think it's really up to the Trans Canada Trail to come up with a plan. It came in and we had a good discussion. We made a significant announcement in 2017, and we're very supportive of the Trans Canada Trail.