Evidence of meeting #114 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bank.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Mr. McKay, would you be able to send the committee those numbers in writing?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
To be clear, the request was for our financing from fossil fuels.
Liberal
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I want a comparable. He's touting the $15 billion that he says—
Liberal
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I'm looking for the total investments in the oil and gas sector. It's a very straightforward question.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Okay.
It's the total investments in oil and gas.
Could you get those to us?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Thank you.
We'll go to our second round,
Mr. Mazier, you have five minutes.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Before I start my questions, I want to give a verbal notice of motion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Excuse me. I need to take a break for two seconds. I want to clarify something.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
That doesn't take away from my time, does it?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Well, it does take away from [Technical difficulty—Editor], whereas if you were moving the motion, that would be it after you were done moving the motion.
Go ahead, Mr. Mazier.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Okay. Thank you.
I'm just giving a notice of motion.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
It reads as follows:
Given that
(i) the Liberal government released its internal economic data on the carbon tax, revealing it costs Canadians $30.5 billion and over $1,800 for every household in Canada;
(ii) this is in addition to the increased costs the carbon tax puts on gas, groceries and home heating;
(iii) the Liberal government tried to cover up this information from Canadians; and
(iv) when the Parliamentary Budget Officer revealed that the Liberal government had this data they placed him under a gag order and attempted to ruin his reputation;
that the committee report to the House that the environment minister must resign immediately.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Do you have any questions for our witnesses? You can go ahead now.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Thank you.
Thank you to the witnesses for attending virtually here today.
We've talked a lot about investment here. I don't know if I got over $100 billion or how much you guys figured we needed here for transition financing.
Mr. McKay, will the government's capital gains hike drive investment into Canada or out of Canada?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
As you talk about investing in any country, investors look for certainty. They look for opportunity. Therefore, as you think about attracting capital, tax policy is very, very important. There are a number of ways of looking at tax policy, at the end of the day, but tax policy is a big part of how we need to think about being competitive in the world. You have to balance multiple facets, not just one facet.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
Capital definitely is needed. If we want to transition properly, we need a lot of capital. Would you say that a tax hike on capital gains would be detrimental? Would it drive investment into Canada or drive it away from Canada to have a capital gain tax increase?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Bank of Canada
To your point, we need $2 trillion of capital. I won't speculate what it will do or won't do at this time, but a stable, predictable tax regime is very important.
Conservative
Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB
How about the other executives? Do you think the capital gains hike will impact investment into Canada or drive it out?
I'll start with TD.