Environment Committee on March 12th, 2026

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I appreciate that, but it's not really answering the question, so I'll move on.

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

It's actually directly answering the question of how we're working together, creating something—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

It's not working, because the uncertainty still exists, and projects are being cancelled.

Minister, exactly a month ago, I discussed with officials from your department exactly how many businesses in Alberta and Saskatchewan would fall under the newly proposed industrial carbon tax threshold of 10,000 tonnes. We've had no data yet. Could you please provide that to this committee as soon as possible?

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

Right now, the federal system is in place. Alberta has a provincial agreement for its form of a tier system—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I'm speaking to the reduction in the threshold from 100,000 to 10,000.

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

I'm just saying that there's a federal system. It's the provincial system that applies in the province of Alberta. We work together.

The industrial carbon price actually creates a threshold. Companies that are over the threshold will have to pay the industrial carbon price—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I understand that.

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

—and the ones under the threshold get credits.

By the way, Jackpine was one of the ones that got the credits.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

The threshold is being reduced to 10,000, which will capture more companies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

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

Mr. Fanjoy, you're on mute.

Your time's up.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

I'm sorry about that. I thought I would be taken off mute automatically. I apologize.

Minister, thank you for joining us again at the environment committee.

Canadians are concerned about affordability and climate action. While Conservatives think that these two concepts are opposed to each another, I believe they are very much connected. I'd like you to comment on how we can move towards a more affordable future by addressing climate change.

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

Thank you. I will say two things in response to that.

The first is that we're making sure that we can create jobs for the economy of the future—good-paying jobs, often union jobs. That's what we need if we want to have a strong economy. That helps to make sure that Canadians earn the money they want. Canadians want those good-paying jobs. It is making sure that we are manufacturing in a way that is compatible with the low-carbon economy of the future and that we continue to diversify our trade to more countries and create more of those opportunities. That is what Canadians want to see. When we talk about building Canada, that is a big piece of how we do it right.

The second piece is about protection. We know that if we do not fight climate change, there is a cost. That's often lost in the conversation when I hear Conservatives pushing back against every one of our policies. There is a cost to not fighting climate change. In fact, Conservatives raised some of those examples when we were talking about concerns about wildfires and the like. This other piece is about how we make sure that we continue to fight climate change and take climate action, so that we are actually protecting communities from these additional wildfires and the strength and intensity of the wildfires or floods that we're seeing in our communities.

There are two parts to it, then. One part is how we fight climate change, because there is a cost. I'm just talking about the economics, but there's also a moral cost. I want to make sure that the future I'm giving to my children is a bright future. I think that's what Canadians want—clean air, clean water and a strong future. It's about how we are creating these jobs for the future in a global low-carbon economy. That is where all the dollars are going globally. It's about making sure that when we're building Canada strong, we're building it well.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

We've recently seen a spike in energy costs, particularly in relation to oil and gas, that has been driven by the conflict in Iran and the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz. This is impacting Canadians. Even though we're half a world away from this conflict, it's impacting Canadians in terms of the price at the pump.

However, what has not increased is the cost of renewable energy. Just last week, you were able to join me in Carleton, and we visited a terrific project here in Carleton. It's a solar farm operated by EDF Power Solutions. They have a unique partnership with a local lamb farm called Shady Creek. Perhaps you could talk about how that partnership shows that there are opportunities to combine clean energy and agriculture in rural Canada.

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

Thank you for taking me to your community and enabling me to see this. It was a great example of how things can work so well together.

We met. You introduced me to people who were sheep farmers, who were saying that to be able to grow their herd, they needed more land, but they couldn't afford to buy all that extra land. Then there was this opportunity. There was a solar farm nearby that needed to maintain its lands, so the sheep farmers were able to expand their herd by using these lands from this solar farm. It was actually a source of money for them to be able to do this, and it was a great win for the solar farm as well, because, as I learned, sheep don't gnaw through any of the wiring or anything like that. They get closer to the posts around it.

I also learned about how this was creating good jobs in small rural communities. People don't have to leave the community they're in. They were there, working on a solar farm and staying in this rural community so that they could be close to their home farming communities. It was a really nice example of how we could bring the two together, creating renewable energy while farming, and supporting and building the strengths of rural communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much, Minister Dabrusin.

We have a couple of minutes left, so I've decided to give every party the opportunity to ask one question.

We will start with the Conservative Party. It's a question and answer. Who will it be from the Conservative side?

Mr. Gill, go ahead.

[Amanpreet S. Gill, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Minister, for being here.

Regarding the proposed pollution prevention planning notice for primary food plastic packaging, an impact analysis conducted by Deloitte suggested that some food growers could relocate packaging operations to the United States if the requirements increase compliance costs.

Has the department conducted its own analysis on whether the proposed P2 notice could affect investment decisions or lead to packaging and processing operations moving outside of Canada?

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

What I will say broadly in response is that industrial carbon pricing and the like do not increase the cost of food. Climate change does increase the cost of food, and we are seeing that we need to take more action. We are building out greenhouse infrastructure, for example, so that we're more food secure right here in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Mr. St‑Pierre, you have the floor for less than one minute.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

Minister, last week I believe you were at a Carbon Removal Canada conference. Carbon Removal Canada is an excellent organization that I take some credit for creating a few years back, and at the conference there was an announcement on $100 million being mobilized for the advance carbon removal coalition.

Can you quickly comment on how the work around carbon removal benefits Canadians? I know this is not CCUS. I know there's confusion there.

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

Canada has some really great opportunities. We have the geology for carbon removal. We have the know-how. Some of the top clean-tech companies are based here in Canada. It's an exportable knowledge that we can bring out to the world.

The announcement there was about the government being a first mover to help create more market certainty and to build out that industry. We need to move away from combustion as a country. Where that's not possible, carbon removal helps us to make that last bit, so that we can continue to reduce emissions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Mr. Bonin, you have the floor.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Minister, Canadians have sent us information about the Weatheradio program. According to that information, a major change is taking place on March 16, and some people won't have access to the information without LTE coverage, among other things. They'll no longer have access to information in the event of a disaster. According to some figures, 172,000 people were without LTE coverage at the end of 2024. It seems to affect many people who, in the event of a disaster, will no longer have access to Weatheradio.

Are you aware of this? Does that worry you or not?

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

Thank you for the question, which gives me the opportunity to provide some information on the topic.

The Weatheradio system we had was less effective for the future. What we have now are systems that allow people to obtain the same information. Now, in terms of disasters—

We have a breakthrough.

In a disaster, all radio and television stations can be required to provide people with the necessary information on a daily basis. It's not just online. There's information online, but there's also information for people on the water.

There is the Coast Guard radio, and there are satellites.

There are two systems, and I'm very happy to provide information to everyone so they know how to access them. However, I want to assure you that, in a disaster, we require that radio stations, television stations and apps indicate that there is a dangerous situation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, everyone.

I would like to thank the minister for her time today.

I will briefly suspend the meeting while the minister departs and we add some new witnesses to the panel.