Environment Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2020

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

First of all, let me correct you. The Auditor General hasn't said anything of the sort.

What I would say to you is the clean fuel standard—and it's not the Canadian fuel standard, it's the clean fuel standard—has been under development since 2016. It's been under consultation for three years with industry and with stakeholders across the country. I have personally met with stakeholders who have all kinds of views on this issue, including the CEOs of many of the large energy companies in Alberta, and we have been listening and making adjustments to the policy as we move along.

It is worth 20 to 30 megatonnes in reductions. It will stimulate investments in biofuels and hydrogen and create thousands of jobs across the country. It's an important part of the climate plan. We're not the only one to do it—California's done it, Oregon's done it, British Columbia's done it. Quebec has developed regulations to do it. This is an important part of reducing the emissions associated with transportation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

There's time for a quick question and answer.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

I have 30 seconds, Chair.

Minister, I'll point you to.... I guess it shows how much you follow our committee, because he actually said that at our committee.

In my last 10 seconds, can I ask if the economic analysis on the clean fuel standard that I asked you about a month ago has been prepared?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

As I say, whenever a regulation like the clean fuel standard goes to what's called Canada Gazette 1, the first phase of the regulatory process—to which the clean fuel standard will be going very soon—there is a robust assessment, including an economic assessment, of it. That will be coming out in the weeks ahead.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thanks.

Mr. Longfield is next.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Minister, for being here today. You can see a lot of passion around the environment committee for looking at ways to improve our performance.

I saw passion like that recently when I met with the students at Bishop Macdonell High School in the international baccalaureate program in Guelph. Young people are looking at the opportunities that climate change is going to bring them, and also how that integrates with our government's youth policy.

The students I talked to were expressing a real interest in youth employment and the green economy. In the supplementary estimates, we're showing $11.4 million is allocated to supporting students and youth.

Could you let us know how this funding is going to directly help young Canadians access meaningful skills and work experience for future green economy jobs through programs like the youth employment and skills strategy?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Thank you very much for the question.

It's certainly clear that young Canadians want to develop the kinds of skills and experience that will help to build a cleaner and greener economy. The money in the supplementary estimates (B) is focused on what's called the Environment Canada science horizons youth internship program, which falls under the federal strategy. It provides financial support to post-secondary graduates to help them gain relevant and meaningful work experience in high-potential environmental sectors like clean tech through hands-on experience and mentorships. That is something I was [Technical difficulty—Editor] a company called Terramera in British Columbia and met a number of those folks.

It is an important part of ensuring that youth are brought into helping us to drive the change that we need to see.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Thank you.

It is exciting to see where jobs are heading. There are going to be jobs that don't exist yet that will be contributing, and the students were really interested, so I'll pass that on to them.

I also had the opportunity recently to announce $640,000 from the low-carbon economy fund in support of the University of Guelph and their initiative to upgrade their heating systems.

Could you highlight for our committee how the federal government's support for local climate initiatives like this can help us in terms of engagement and encouraging innovation that increases advantages for us and also contributes to our climate change goals?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

The low-carbon economy fund is an important part of the overall climate plan. It's again focused on driving clean growth while reducing emissions.

About $500,000,000 is available through the low-carbon economy challenge. That portion was opened to provinces, territories, municipalities, indigenous communities and organizations, businesses and not-for-profit organizations, and it's focused on leveraging Canadian innovation across the country. It includes all kinds of sectors—buildings, industrial energy efficiency, fuel switching, etc.

As you just noted, one of the projects that we supported was the University of Guelph's heating system upgrades. That new heating system will reduce emissions by the equivalent of removing 19,000 cars from the road. Innovative projects like that will help us cut emissions and build a more prosperous economy.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

The University of Guelph has it coming and going, because they are also training environmental engineers. The people who are developing the solutions are now helping us get those solutions in place. The University of Guelph has also had district energy since the early 1900s, but in the last five years, we've really seen an acceleration, so thank you for that.

Finally, I have a question on the Arctic Ocean. It's kind of funny that Guelph is interested in this, but it comes up a lot in conversations with community groups in Guelph about how we are protecting our Arctic Ocean.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to be up on Ellesmere Island at a climate change research centre. The scientists up there were talking about the silt that was going into the ocean from retreating glaciers. It was really affecting the ecosystems, and in particular the food supply for more southern people, the Inuit people who were south of there. We're also now seeing the collapse of sea shelfs and really terrible things with increasing frequency in the Arctic Ocean. What are our short-term and long-term goals to help out there?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

We all know that Canada is warming twice as fast as the global average, and northern communities are warming even more quickly and bearing the brunt. We obviously see a lot of issues associated with the impacts of climate change, such as forest fires, the extent of the duration of snow and ice cover, precipitation, the thawing of permafrost, the rising of sea levels and other issues, many of which relate directly to the Arctic Ocean.

We certainly have been doing a number of things. One is working in partnership with Inuit to protect some of the biodiversity that exists there. You saw last summer some big announcements with respect to Tallurutiup Imanga and Tuvaijuittuq. With the Inuit leadership, we're strengthening Canada's presence in an increasingly open Arctic through renewing the Coast Guard fleet. We're investing in climate adaptations. It's going to be really important, and of course we need to mitigate our emissions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

We'll go to Madam Pauzé now for two and a half minutes.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Minister, in your speech, you referred to several items in the Speech from the Throne. I would like to come back to that, specifically to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

This legislation is crucial for implementing climate action like the government's plan. I would like to know if follow-up is under way on the many recommendations made.

Will we be able to see a document on this soon?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act is perhaps the most significant piece of environmental legislation in Canada. From 2015 to 2019, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development conducted a comprehensive study and made 87 recommendations.

We are currently hard at work. Of course, we have taken the committee's recommendations into account. I hope to table a proposal in Parliament early next year.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you for your response, Mr. Minister.

You also mentioned the low carbon economy fund. According to an announcement made today, you are determined to act along those lines.

However, in a recent report, the department's scientists indicated that methane emissions from the fossil fuel sector are nearly double what the national inventory report suggests. That would mean you must cut emissions by 40% to 45% by 2025, which is virtually around the corner.

Do you have any comment on the reduction target, given the departmental scientists' concerns?

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Could I ask you for a brief answer, Mr. Minister?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

The report you are talking about was published two or three weeks ago—I believe—in a scientific journal.

Departments do, of course, discuss the science. We need to make sure that we consider the views of the scientists and, if their claims are correct, we need to take them into account if we want to move forward.

Another report should be released in 2021. If new scientific data is generated, we will need to discuss it and determine how we can do more with it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

Ms. Collins, you have the floor.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Minister, I want to come back to this question of underspending and underfunding in terms of the environmental transfers to the provinces.

You said that the money is going out the door, but the numbers from Environment Canada, through an Order Paper question, show that only 0.4% of the funding that was allocated has been transferred. That's for this year, but the previous year was 50% under budget. Given what Mr. Jones said, and that we know this is a trend, are you concerned about this underspending?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

As I said, it's not underspending. There's a process by which we work through these things, and I think Mr. Jones articulated how that process works.

I work very closely with the provincial ministers of the environment, and there's nobody I work more closely with than Minister Heyman in British Columbia. This has not been an issue with Mr. Heyman, because there is a process, and they are very convinced that the agreements we entered into are being upheld.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

How can you explain the numbers showing that we spent less than 1% this year, and the year before we spent 50%?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Again, I can certainly ask Mr. Jones to go through that one more time, but there's a process and a system—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

But given that the process isn't working—

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

—but at the end of the day we are fully expending the monies that we asked for from Parliament to ensure we're addressing environmental issues.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

But if only 1%....