Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Before I start, I'd just like to state, on the record, that this is a blatant misuse of a 106(4), which are for emergency meetings. We meet twice a week in this committee, so this kind of alarmist, phony rhetoric from the Conservatives is not new, but misusing a 106(4) is silly and totally not necessary. We know that the Conservatives are doing it for clicks and likes on Facebook and not to actually achieve any progress in this committee.
Once again, I'll state that the net-zero accelerator fund does have emissions reduction targets attached to every contract. That's actually included in the press releases associated with the funding releases. For example, in Hamilton, we're investing with the steel industry to eliminate coal from the production of structural steel. It's fantastic. I went to McMaster University, and there used to be huge plumes of smoke. They continue to burn quite a lot of coal there, but using electric arc technology they will be able to eliminate the need for coal. That same practical application of electrical technology will be at Algoma Steel.
These are the types of things we're talking about. We're also investing in carbon capture and storage technology with some of Canada's largest emitters. In order to reduce emissions, we need to work with Canada's largest emitters. That's called low-hanging fruit. It's the opportunity to address the emissions where they are, and in a place like Hamilton with the steel sector, we can see them with our bare eyes. They're not something abstract. Those emissions are right in front of us. In the case of that investment, it was associated with a large number of emissions reductions that were clearly stated. I forget the exact number of megatonnes, but it was in the order of 2,500 vehicles taken off the road in Hamilton, Ontario, which makes a big difference for air quality in Hamilton.
Mr. Chair, that's not the point. We can talk about that program or literally any other program in normal committee business at any time, but the Conservatives want to be alarmist and pretend there's some sort of a cover-up or a scandal going on, when we're just investing money in Canadian industries when they say they want technology. This is literally technology. We're investing in technology like electric arc for steel production and carbon capture and earth storage. They are always speaking out of both sides of their mouths.
Conservatives like to take to social media and suggest that the government is hiding contracts, but in many cases contracts need to be confidential because we're dealing with companies that want to maintain that confidentiality, so releasing confidential business information sets a really bad precedent for the government. Saying that the government is hiding something when it clearly isn't is just for clips, and it's absurd. All of the information they're suggesting would be in those contracts is literally in the press release.
The point is that our government is open by default, and I think it's fair to request that the department continue to work with companies in advance of the briefing to ensure that as much information as possible is available. Literally all of the demands of Mr. Mazier are addressed in the press release. I'll also state again that a 25-page document was delivered on the day it was requested. It indicates all of the information about the net-zero accelerator initiative from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada because, as I've also stated before, this is not an Environment and Climate Change program. It works with industry leaders, the steel industry and other sectors, ones that the Conservatives pretend they support, but when it comes to investing with them in collaboration to lower their emissions and get them off of dirty coal, the Conservatives seem to be against that too.
We know they don't believe in climate change. We know they don't care about reducing emissions, but we also now know that they don't care about the rigour of committee and using tools like a 106(4) effectively. We have no problem with any of these meetings. I think an in camera briefing from ISED officials would benefit us all. We could probably do that first and then decide afterwards if further meetings are warranted, Mr. Chair. This alarmist approach and lack of collaboration are really disappointing.
Thanks.