Evidence of meeting #18 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was pipeline.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Wade Grant Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, all, for being here.
It's good to see you, Mr. Hubbard. I want to follow up on my colleague Mr. Ross's conversation with you about indigenous title and rights.
You said we don't have a prescriptive way of addressing those as targets and whatnot. Why do we have a target, rather than a prescriptive drop-dead date? What's the importance of that when it comes to relationship building between first nations, Inuit, Métis and the government?
President, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
We have more than 600 nations across the country, each with their own approaches and processes. We found that in developing our relationships, we really need to sit down and work constructively to develop a meaningful consultation approach and dialogue.
What works in one part of the country or with one nation doesn't necessarily work with another. As part of a well-established and defined approach, following numerous court decisions and jurisprudence and following policy commitments that have been made, developing a community-by-community approach allows us to adjust our approach to meet the needs and desires of communities in how they want to be engaged and how they want to be consulted within our processes. That is core to developing a meaningful consultation approach.
We do that nation by nation as part of our processes, while we have clear service standards and a two-year commitment. Within those service standards, there are core parts of the process that we define timelines around. This provides certainty not only for businesses, but for the nations we're working with on expectations and how they can best organize themselves to participate within our processes.
Liberal
Wade Grant Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
That's great. Thank you. It's about mutual respect and recognition of the relationship.
I'll move on with my questions for the panel.
I noticed a part of the supplementary estimates that is particularly interesting to me on this file. It's a $673-million commitment to funding Canada's international climate finance program. Could somebody tell us a bit more about this program and how it helps countries transition towards low-carbon economies while strengthening Canada's international reputation?
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
Part of what we do when we are in international engagement with other jurisdictions, through our work at the UNFCCC and other places, is to work with partner countries to find opportunities to lower emissions through international organizations and direct work with countries. It's part of a program that we have with Global Affairs Canada as well.
This has been very successful in supporting the reduction of megatonnes around the world. I think this really speaks to the fact that the challenge of climate change is one of the global commons.
Canada has a role to play, but we alone are not going to solve an issue that is directly impacting us and our changing climate and imposing direct costs on us as a nation. Our work on international climate finance and climate change is really important in being able to support others in taking action.
Liberal
Wade Grant Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Thank you very much.
We've heard the minister speak about the $2.75 billion allocated to ECCC and SSC to acquire a new high-power computing solutions. Can you tell us more about what that is and how it's helping ECCC and the Meteorological Service of Canada prepare Canadians for a rapidly changing environment?
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
I would say the first thing my father said to me when I came to the job, which was, “Cool, you've got the weather.”
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
When people think about environment in Canada and climate change, they think about the Meteorological Service of Canada. There is just a huge amount of data that ECCC and the MSC absorb every single day and, in doing that in an AI-rich environment with computing power, we need to have that computing power in order to do that in a reliable way.
It's not just what's going to everybody's cellphones. It's what's going to support our military and our Coast Guard, and it's also connecting with the Canadian Space Agency to support earth observation data as well.
This investment is what's positioning Canada to have the best kind of data to support us, to support our sovereign interests and to position us to reliably take care of our country and be a good partner in the world.
Liberal
Wade Grant Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Thank you very much.
Another part I'd like to ask about is the $13-million increase in contributions to the energy innovation program. Would you be able to expand on what that program does and how it helps Canada maintain a reliable and affordable energy system while moving towards a low-carbon economy, please?
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
We might need to get back to you on that one, if that's possible. It's under our low-carbon economy fund, but on the exact details of the program, we'd be happy to get back to you. This is a program whereby we're able to provide funds back to provinces and territories and work in partnership with them to support their transition to a low-carbon economy.
Thank you.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Angelo Iacono
Okay. Thank you.
Mr. Bonin, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Patrick Bonin Bloc Repentigny, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would be happy to take my colleague's 30 seconds, if possible, of course.
I'd like to return to the budget. The latest budget mentions tax credits for carbon capture and sequestration, as well as an extension. Are you aware of the financial impact of what is planned for the period from 2030 to 2035? How much money does this increase represent? Officials told us it was $3 billion. Do you have the same figure?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch, Department of the Environment
I'm not aware of the impact of the tax credits on an individual basis, but I believe the Department of Finance has estimated an increase in the investment required for these tax credits at about $70,000.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch, Department of the Environment
I'm sorry. I meant to say “$70 billion”.
Bloc
Patrick Bonin Bloc Repentigny, QC
Okay.
With regard to the cost of the tax credits, can you tell us what the figures are for the changes to carbon capture and sequestration in the latest budget?
I understand that you may not have those figures with you, but you can submit a document.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch, Department of the Environment
I think that's a question better answered by the Department of Finance.
Bloc
Patrick Bonin Bloc Repentigny, QC
Okay, but can you check? It's your main measure, after all. Thank you.
The two billion trees program has been cut. The government now says it will plant one billion trees. There was $3.2 billion in that program. Can you tell us how much of that has been spent to date?
Also, how much do you estimate it will cost to plant one billion trees, half of two billion originally planned? What will happen to the rest of the money? I imagine there is or will be some left over.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and International Affairs Branch, Department of the Environment
Unfortunately, this falls under the responsibility of Natural Resources Canada, but we can try to get the answer.
Bloc
Patrick Bonin Bloc Repentigny, QC
Yes, thank you very much.
We also see that there are 15% cuts at the Department of the Environment. If I'm not mistaken, you're saying that there will be a reduction or elimination of program activities that aren't part of Environment Canada's core mandate.
What activities aren't part of the core mandate? Also, is there a mandate letter?
Deputy Minister, Department of the Environment
The results of the comprehensive expenditure review will be in the main estimates. We look forward to coming back and speaking about the details when they are tabled in the main estimates in March.
The year-over-year reductions are available to you in the budget. I won't repeat them, but I'm happy to, if that is helpful. We do have a reduction of about 15%. The key items in there, as you noted, are reducing and winding down—
Bloc