Evidence of meeting #60 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 travel.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT
Mr. Chair, I didn't have my headset on, so I didn't hear the amendment. I apologize.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
The amendment is essentially to add to the list of invitees the Minister of Environment and Protected Areas from Alberta and the federal Minister of Environment.
(Amendment negatived: nays 9; yeas 2 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
The amendment is defeated. We'll keep going with our previous speakers list.
I was at Mr. Kurek.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Ms. Pauzé, you're on the list as well, but we haven't come to you yet.
Mr. Kurek, you have the floor.
Conservative
Damien Kurek Conservative Battle River—Crowfoot, AB
Thank you, Chair.
After some productive discussion, I believe Mr. Lake has an amendment that he'd like to propose, so I will cede the floor to him.
Conservative
Mike Lake Conservative Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB
There are a few minor cleanup amendments too. I don't know if I should move them all. I think I'll move the main one first.
In the preamble, we would remove the words starting with “and following” all the way to “communities at risk. That”.
It would read, “That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee”, and from there, we'd clean up part (a) a little bit. I can come back to a minor cleanup, but I will say that the words “never happens again” don't really make sense in the context. I think we all agree that we don't want to ever see it again. We want them to come to address the issues resulting from the tailings pond leak. It would end at “tailings ponds leak”, and then paragraph (b) is fine.
The start of (c) is redundant. We don't need the phrase “that these meetings take place in October 2023”. We determined that in (a), so it would just start with “That these meetings”.
We would prefer that we don't make the decision on televising right now, but we talked to Mr. McLeod and he wants to make sure that they're televised. We understand that, so we're good with that. It would be, “That these meetings be televised and that the evidence gathered”. That would all stay in. It would start with “that these meetings be televised”.
Conservative
Mike Lake Conservative Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB
Sure.
As amended, it would say, “That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee: (a) Invite the CEO of Imperial Oil and the Alberta Energy Regulator for a two-hour meeting in October 2023 to provide this committee with updates on what steps they took since April 2023 to address the issues resulting from the tailings pond leak”. Paragraph (b) stays as is, and then it continues: “(c) That these meetings be televised, and that the evidence gathered during these meetings be taken into consideration during the study of fresh water.”
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Is there any debate on this amendment?
Over to you, Ms. Pauzé.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Finally, it's my turn.
First off, I want to say that I missed two of the meetings. I was at the first one, when we heard from the indigenous community representatives. I have to tell you that, since I've been a member, seldom have I felt as much emotion as I did that day. It really gave me a lump in my throat.
I want to thank everyone for their comments. It helped bring me up to speed on what happened at the next two meetings, which I missed while I was paired with a minister.
I am in favour of Mr. Lake's amendment. To me, the fact that the company and the regulator are sending us pages and pages of documents isn't what matters. What matters is finding out what they have done. What actions have they taken since their appearance before the committee in April? Those are the documents that matter most, and the motion covers that.
I support Mr. Lake's amendment. We could meet with them in the fall.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
We are now resuming debate on the motion as amended.
First on my list, I have Mr. Lake, followed by Ms. Pauzé. Does that still work?
Conservative
Damien Kurek Conservative Battle River—Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Chair, on a point of order, is it possible to get the amended version emailed out just so that we are operating with certainty on what our path forward is?
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
You have received the motion as amended, so we can vote. Did everyone receive the motion as amended?
Could somebody call the vote?
