Environment Committee on Sept. 27th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We can start the meeting.

For our first panel, I'd like to welcome Steve Barrett from eDNAtec, Randy Wright from Harbour Air, Christopher Morgan from Hoverlink Ontario, and Frédéric Côté from Nergica.

Each witness will have three minutes to make an opening statement, and then we'll go to rounds of questioning.

I'll remind the witnesses, especially those online, that they can choose the language of interpretation. There's an icon at the bottom of the screen. Of course, you may use either official language. When you're not speaking, if you could put your mike on mute, that would be appreciated.

Without further delay, we will start with Mr. Barrett.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Excuse me, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Ms. Pauzé, you have the floor.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I apologize for interrupting, Mr. Chair, but given that the meeting is starting 15 minutes later than scheduled, I'd just like to know if it will be extended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The meeting will end at 5:50 p.m., so we won't lose any meeting time.

Without further ado, I invite Mr. Barrett to give his opening remarks, for three minutes.

[Steve Barrett, Chief Executive Officer, eDNAtec Inc.]

Good afternoon. I'm Steve Barrett, the CEO of eDNAtec, and I thank you for this invitation today.

Our company uses DNA technology to measure, monitor and characterize the environment. We analyze environmental DNA, or “eDNA”, as we call it.

My first point is that biodiversity loss is the next megatrend. We were slow to recognize climate change, and now the next wave is biodiversity loss, which is accelerating. Today, one million species are at risk of extinction, ecosystems are being devastated, and our Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

Given this trend, how can eDNAtec help Canada with its ambitious environment goals, such as conserving 30% of our MPAs by 2030, supporting indigenous self-determination and reconciliation, net zero, and numerous DFO mandates, such as stock assessment, invasive and endangered species, and marine spatial planning?

The thing is that the environment is notoriously difficult to measure. Traditional “catch and look” approaches haven't changed for decades. Scientists watch for whales, catch some fish and listen for birds, but only a handful of organisms are considered. It's very costly and it takes months to analyze the information. These techniques are entrenched and simply cannot scale. You can only manage what you measure.

We measure the environment with environmental DNA. We take samples of the environment, such as water, soil, sediment and even air. A litre of water can identify thousands of organisms—everything from bacteria and plankton to fish and marine mammals—and provide a highly granular baseline of biodiversity. It's 10 times faster and 10 times cheaper, and it yields 10 times more information. It's no joke—our customers tell us this. It's non-destructive to nature, and it's easy to take water samples.

We are a St. John's, Newfoundland company. Over $23 million has been invested by industry and government. We are the inventors and globally recognized experts in this area, and we've conducted hundreds of projects with DFO, the oil and gas industry, and three Atlantic indigenous communities. We are currently raising $10 million to fuel our own commercial growth.

Here are our recommendations for the government.

First, we urge you to embrace a new approach and new thinking, and to partner with SMEs like eDNAtec, with our private sector expertise.

Second, we urge you to support the expansion of the BlueGene eDNA ocean management system, currently under way. It's an indigenous-led eDNA program that incorporates traditional knowledge with advanced eDNA science, specifically in the regions of Nunavut and Nunatsiavut. It supports indigenous self-determination, reconciliation and capacity building, and we're seeking a $10-million investment from the government to the first nations-led program to support this—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you, Mr. Barrett. You'll have an opportunity to share more information and insight in answers to questions.

We'll go to Mr. Wright.

[Randy Wright, President, Harbour Air Ltd.]

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Thank you to you and your colleagues for having me here today.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that I'm speaking to you from the traditional and unceded land of the Lekwungen-speaking people here in Victoria, British Columbia.

My name is Randy Wright. I am the president of Harbour Air Seaplanes and have been overseeing the operations, business development and overall growth of the company for the last two decades.

Harbour Air is the world's largest all-seaplane airline and has extensive operations throughout British Columbia, providing safe, reliable and convenient transportation to the travelling public. Our B.C.-born company flies 500,000 passengers a year on 35,000 flights across 14 scheduled destinations, and we employ over 400 people throughout the province. We provide a key link with the Cascadia corridor and are a central component in the connectivity to this crucial economic and innovation gateway.

Over the past 40 years, Harbour Air has become renowned for our award-winning safety culture, excellent customer service and commitment to sustainability and innovation.

As Harbour Air expands, we are committed to green destination development. In 2007, Harbour Air was North America's first airline to become fully carbon-neutral. In 2019, Harbour Air announced its partnership with Washington-based magniX, the company powering the electric aviation revolution. Together, we connect communities with clean, efficient and affordable electric air travel by converting Harbour Air's seaplanes into an all-electric fleet. We are uniquely positioned to be a leader in commercial electric flight due to our short flight missions, single-engine aircraft, low-altitude flights and access to renewable electric power.

After the successful development of our first ePlane in December 2019, we successfully flew the world's first fully electric aircraft. It was a historic event that made headlines around the world. This was a proud moment for Canada, and especially for our company. Since then, we have performed over 50 test flights, exploring improvements to overall performance and reliability. The second ePlane is now being built, which will act as our prototype and certification aircraft as we work with Transport Canada civil aviation toward flying the first ePlane for commercial use by the second quarter of 2024.

Our goal is to convert our entire 40-aircraft fleet to electric planes and become the first zero-carbon airline fleet in the world. Upon completion, we expect to reduce our carbon footprint and current noise pollution by 80%. As you can imagine, this is a large project with significant capital costs, and we are in discussions with all levels of government to ensure that the appropriate financial support is there to fully realize this initiative. Harbour Air has heavily invested and will continue to invest our own money in this initiative.

Ultimately, our hope is not only to transform our own fleet, but to see the adoption of clean technologies by other airlines and aviation partners throughout our industry. Achieving this outcome will require true collaboration between industry and government.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thanks very much, Mr. Wright.

We'll go to Mr. Morgan now.

[Christopher Morgan, Chief Executive Officer, Hoverlink Ontario Inc.]

Good afternoon. My name is Chris Morgan. I'm the CEO and founder of Hoverlink Ontario.

Hoverlink Ontario is launching, in the summer of 2023, a passenger service that connects the two largest tourist regions in Ontario. The service is fast, reliable and affordable.

I want to expand on that. The service will see two craft of 180-passenger capacity crossing 48 times per day, 365 days per year. They are not impacted by ice, cold or heat. The amphibious vehicle design creates an advantage over traditional marine vessels. It's designed to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.

Hoverlink's mission is to launch a sustainable transit option for the congested Golden Horseshoe and very quickly accelerate the move to an EV platform.

The passenger service is game-changing. Since our press release, we have had over 150 million digital impressions and received significant support for the service from constituents and all levels of government. There is an obvious need for a rapid hovercraft solution.

Why are hovercraft a superior option? Hoverlink’s craft have been modified to enhance their ability to operate in extreme and urban environments. They are significantly quieter than the older predecessors. They are energy-efficient and have reduced sound transference to protect our marine life. They are shoreline-positive as they create no wake or wash.

The assumptions are that the average C02 per car is 0.21 kilograms per kilometre. A 1:1 ratio of passengers on the craft to automobiles provides us with a significant and immediate reduction of GHG for route one at the launch. Our efficiency is unmatched. As we hover over the water, the energy requirements to mobilize the craft do not change with the gross tonnage on board.

In the example that we have listed in our deck, which you all have a copy of, the blue line represents the same volume of our business modelling of cars and freight travelling by traditional means. The orange line represents our craft’s emissions moving that same volume of passengers and freight. We assume modest volume for this phasing, with only four passenger craft moving over six million passengers per year, and 12 cargo craft.

This also accounts for Hoverlink using biodiesel at launch, which sees the cumulative GHG emission reduction improve. We are currently working with Mercedes, Rolls-Royce, Siemens and Marconi to facilitate the move to electric propulsion engines and ensure that we create an end-to-end sustainable transit solution. This represents a move to EV and we are actively developing this technology to meet a net-zero goal by 2028.

Our R and D platform is robust and has us designing, through these models, end-to-end sustainability and a renewable EV platform in an eco-friendly manner. Our infrastructure planning not only sees us providing sustainable passenger and cargo options, but it also ensures that our infrastructure builds are sustainable, renewable and eco-friendly.

The hurdles noted, when asked about this when interfacing with government, are silos of decision-making; navigating the funding programs, champions and electoral changes; reluctance to change; and communication barriers between all governments.

Our business plan is centred around people, planet and profit. We have a value proposition that includes expansion on the Great Lakes and other regions of Canada and North America, sovereignty protection, and a solution for the impacts of climate change on the Great Lakes and surrounding waterways, like the melting of ice roads and the flooding of lowlands and environmentally sensitive areas—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We will have to stop there.

Mr. Côté, go ahead.

[Frédéric Côté, General Manager, Nergica]

Before I begin, I would like to thank you for inviting me to this committee to testify before you and for undertaking this important work.

Allow me to introduce Nergica, an applied research centre in Quebec that stimulates innovation in renewable energy through research, technical assistance, technology transfer and support for companies and communities.

Nergica is a member of the College Centre for Technology Transfer network affiliated with the CÉGEP de la Gaspésie et des Îles. We work specifically in the areas of solar and wind energy and in the integration of renewable energies through storage on microgrids, among other things. We are the only centre in America to own full-scale research infrastructure in a cold climate conditions and complex terrain. We have unique expertise developed over more than 20 years, making us a choice actor for energy transition from coast to coast and internationally, both for industry and communities.

As I've said, we've developed unique cold climate expertise because of the nature of our research site, which faces harsh conditions. We also represent Canada in research groups at the International Energy Agency. That work develops and transmits scientific and technical knowledge on renewable energies internationally.

In our work, we support companies and communities in their energy transition projects through renewable energies. For example, we support Tarquti Energy in the energy transition in Nunavik.

Our findings and recommendations are as follows. According to the scenario from the Canada Energy Regulator, Canada will need to produce 50% more electricity by 2050 to meet its targets. Wind and solar energy and storage represent between 82% and 85% of that new capacity.

We believe that electricity is the energy of the future, and that the future of electricity is wind energy, solar energy and storage. For a successful transition, both businesses and the federal government must invest more in research and development in these areas. Although they're generally more mature technologies, there's still work to be done to adapt to climate, environment and large-scale integration of these technologies from variable sources to the electrical grids.

These technologies will also support exports, since we're seeing the same type of transition and changes outside Canada. In addition, the volume of projects will also force us to rethink how we plan and deploy renewable energies. Instead of a project-based approach, we'll need to develop a proactive territorial approach based on energy potential. That should be done in co‑operation with the provinces, municipalities and Indigenous communities.

Finally, we believe that it would be good for Canada to adopt a national industrial policy to govern the extraction of raw materials to deployment, in order to have greater influence and reach in international markets. Quebec's development of the wind sector in the Gaspé region is one example that could serve as a model.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We will now begin the first round of questions.

Mr. Dreeshen, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all the witnesses today.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Chair, on a point of order, just for the sake of clarity, I heard you say that we are ending at 5:30. Did I mishear that?

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I believe I said 5:50.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Okay, I'm sorry. That's my mistake. I was hoping we could end the meeting on time and potentially just reduce our second round of questioning. Is that a possibility?

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The committee decides.

I thought I had unanimous consent. I didn't hear any objections.

Do we end at 5:30? Is that what you want to do?

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

No, I would not like to end at 5:30. We have some good witnesses here. It's already four o'clock. I don't think we'll get them all in if we end early.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

When I said 5:50, no one objected, so I took that as unanimous consent.

Can the committee reverse that?

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Chair, I apologize for wasting more time. I just wanted clarity.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I'm going to consult with the clerk.

Basically, we don't need consent to go to 5:50; however, if at 5:30 there is a motion to adjourn and the motion carries, we adjourn. We'll see what happens at 5:30, I guess.

Mr. Dreeshen....

Yes, Ms. Thompson.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

I'd just like to get some clarity around the time, because we have phenomenal witnesses.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Unless someone moves at 5:30 that we adjourn and there is a majority decision, we continue to 5:50.

We'll start over, Mr. Dreeshen, because we had just started. You were into it four seconds, I think.

Go ahead. I'll give you back those four seconds.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

I'm up to six right now, but thanks.

It's great to hear the witnesses. There's some great innovation from all parts.

I'd like to circle back to something I've raised in previous meetings with respect to the full life cycle and the importance of measuring the total impacts for whatever process, procedure or new invention we have.

I say this because I was on the public accounts committee and we were studying the F-35s. The biggest thing was the full life cycle. The problem, of course, was that the Department of National Defence had a different time frame than the Parliamentary Budget Officer did, who had a different time frame than the Auditor General did. It made it very difficult for anybody to agree with any of the numbers that were coming. There was great sport made of that.

What I would like to do is start with that same premise: It doesn't matter what it is that we are looking at; we should be measuring it from the first shovel we have to dig it up to the last shovel required to cover it up. That's where the types of energy sources that we are going to use for electricity have to come into play, because if we are going to massively increase the amount of electricity required in a particular area, we have to get it there. We have to find ways in which it would be best suited for that part of the country. It's for that reason that I want to delve into that to see whether or not it's possible for us to get those metrics out there before we start having the government make massive investment decisions, and to go from there.

Perhaps, Mr. Morgan, you could start off with a bit of an idea of where you see the electricity coming from and how you consider ways in which we can get those metrics out in the open.