Environment Committee on Dec. 1st, 2025

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you very much, Minister.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

But I think it's really important that I would not override indigenous peoples' agreement, and I would not override the province of British Columbia, which is what the Conservatives say they would do.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Does the province of British Columbia have a veto?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

The Prime Minister's been clear that the—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

The Prime Minister has sole responsibility under the Constitution and Bill C-5.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

You are repeating again the Conservative line that you would override the provinces and indigenous people.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

This is not a Conservative line. This is legislation. It's law.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, there's a lot of interrupting. I think it would be nice to give ample time to respond to questions.

Thank you.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I appreciate the point.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

As I said, the Prime Minister's been clear. He said in the House of Commons that there needs to be agreement from the Province of British Columbia and from indigenous peoples. We're not going to override the jurisdiction of our provinces, and we're not going to override the rights of indigenous rights holders.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Fanjoy, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

The Conservative opposition members here on this committee have made it abundantly clear that they're opposed to all solutions for this ecological challenge that we're facing. They're opposed to market-based solutions, non market-based solutions....

Not only do they not have any of their own; they don't want any other solutions to come forward.

Can you elaborate on how climate action supports good jobs and economic growth and talk about some of the clean energy projects under way that are driving innovation and economic opportunity in Canada?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

It actually consistently stumps me when I hear the Conservatives saying that they oppose all climate policies, because it's not just about reducing emissions—and we must—and it's not just about the moral obligation to our future generations, which is there.

I worry. We talked about the economic piece, and it is really important that we do, but it's also really important that we don't lose sight of the fact that we have to do this because it's our obligation to all future generations, and it's essential for our country. We are facing wildfires in extreme amounts. We had the second worst wildfire season on record last year, and the worst one was only two years before that.

I don't want people to get the impression that I'm only talking about it from an economic perspective. I think we need to fight climate change, and we must all do it. However, from an economic perspective, it is also important. There are so many opportunities, and why anybody would walk away from those opportunities is truly stunning to me.

Right now, if we look at some of the major projects, for example, that we're seeing come forward, there are projects like Iqaluit hydro. That is Nunavut's first 100% Inuit-owned renewable energy developer. It is going to get Iqaluit off diesel. That's good for the health of the community. It's good for the environment and provides opportunities as that gets built out.

One project that I'm really excited about is high-speed rail. Right now, taking the train between Toronto and Montreal—I can tell you because I have family in Montreal and live in Toronto now—takes a really long time. High-speed rail would cut speeds between Toronto and Quebec. I think three hours is the estimate of what it would take to get between those places.

What that means is that there are jobs in building it, in designing it—all of those parts. There are jobs in the steel that's going to have to get manufactured for that project and for the aluminum that's going to be needed for the construction. It also unlocks such an important economic corridor for us where people can get back and forth quickly and in a low-carbon way between cities so that they can actually commute and work in these cities. It's an easier way to keep people connected.

The job opportunities are sometimes in the construction and in the design, but they're also in what they're unlocking for the future. That's another space.

I'll also talk about a number of the mines that we are seeing go into development. When we're talking about net-zero mines that will mine the products that we need for batteries and for the items that are needed to get to a net-zero economy, again, there are a lot of economic opportunities right through, in mining but also in the next stages where we're building out battery development and manufacturing here in Canada.

All of those are really exciting opportunities. I think we need to keep looking towards ensuring that these opportunities are being made available to Canadians. If we step away from taking climate action, if we step away from climate policy, we are actually taking away these opportunities for Canadians.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

Thank you very much.

How is the government helping farmers take advantage of emerging low-carbon markets and adopting sustainable, fuel-efficient practices?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

We have clean fuel regulations and their job is to make sure that we reduce emissions from the fuels that we use in our country. These regulations also create a huge opportunity for canola, which is an amazing side benefit, and we hear great input from canola farmers that they're excited about those opportunities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

The floor is yours, Mr. Ross, for five minutes.

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Minister, for coming to our committee meeting.

You mentioned first nations' involvement in this new pipeline—the MOU that Alberta signed with Canada—but you also mentioned that you will not override aboriginal rights and title or rights and title interests, as the Liberal colleagues have also said.

If one first nation out of the many first nations that will be affected by the pipeline and the tanker ban doesn't give their consent, is this project going to end?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

There are a few different pieces to this. One is that the pipeline proposal in this MOU does not actually have a route designed yet. There are a lot of conversations that have to happen.

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Let me put it a different way then. When the Trans Mountain pipeline was approved, many first nations did not give their consent, but the Liberals still approved the project and even bought the project. Is that similar circumstance going to happen with this latest MOU proposal?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

The MOU proposal sets out that we need to see consultation with indigenous peoples. The Prime Minister said that we need agreement from indigenous peoples. That exact process is not part of my day-to-day work on this piece. I am telling you that I think it's very important—

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Actually, Minister, I have to disagree with you there. The Environmental Assessment Act specifically says that it has to deal with rights and title interests. To deflect and say it's somebody else's problem, unless you're insinuating that the Major Projects Office is going to take full control of this process.....

I'm asking this. If one first nation along the pipeline route or if one first nation along the tanker ban exemption area does not give their consent, will that be characterized as running roughshod over aboriginal interests?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

I'll repeat that any project, specifically as set out in the MOU, would need the agreement of indigenous peoples. I can't engage in hypotheticals because, like I said, we have many steps forward.

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

It's not hypothetical, though. The Liberals, with the Trans Mountain pipeline, approved the project even though they didn't have consent from certain first nations, so it's not hypothetical; there's already a precedent.

You've talked a lot about competitiveness, but a lot of the competitiveness and the obstacles you're placing in terms of us being an energy superpower only apply to Canadian suppliers, producers and manufacturers. Is there any legislation or policy coming down from the Liberal government that will actually put the same measures on oil coming from Saudi Arabia or the United States?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

There are two pieces to that. First of all, when it comes to products like LNG and, for example, Asian markets like South Korea, Japan—

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

No, I asked about oil from Saudi Arabia.