Environment Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2025

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

Okay. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

You can have one last question.

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

You mentioned that no authorization or permits are needed for LNG Canada phase 2. There are four other projects listed for the Major Projects Office, such as nuclear.

I don't expect you to provide me with the answer right now, but can you list the authorizations and permits needed from the federal government for the remaining four projects listed within the Major Projects Office? I assume these projects were initiated through your departments.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Give a very brief answer.

[Tara Shannon]

I think we can get the committee a list. Earlier, I mentioned that the Contrecœur project will require a Species at Risk Act permit.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Ms. Shannon.

Thank you, Mr. Ross.

Mr. St-Pierre, you have five minutes.

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

Thank you.

I'll ask the question in English.

The Canadian Climate Institute, or CCI, which you're familiar with, has identified four key policies that would drive decarbonization. The first is strengthening the industrial carbon price; the second is finalizing the methane regulations for the oil and gas sector; the third is finalizing clean electricity investment tax credits, or ITCs; and the fourth, as I mentioned previously, is the made-in-Canada climate taxonomy.

I'm curious to know whether the CCI's recommendations have been taken into consideration. If you could comment on that, it would be very much appreciated.

[Alison McDermott]

They are very much of interest to the department, and they will be feeding into the government's forthcoming climate competitiveness strategy and decision-making on all of these pieces.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Can you talk a bit about the risks Canada would face if it weakened its climate ambition competitiveness and leadership while trading partners and other major players across the globe are strengthening theirs?

[Alison McDermott]

I think, from an economic standpoint, that is, in fact, the major factor driving the Prime Minister's instruction to create a climate competitiveness strategy. It's the recognition that the global trends are very much in the direction of low carbon and that although there's a bit of a setback right now with respect to the U.S. administration's policy, other countries are speeding towards a low-carbon economy. If Canada does not think about that and take that into account in developing its own policies, we could find ourselves, and our companies could find themselves, far behind.

We may expect some shifts over time, even in U.S. policy. Even without that, we see economic trends in terms of the cost of renewables going down and the demand for low-carbon projects, products and services growing significantly over time. The idea of getting Canadian firms, businesses and individuals aligned with where those global trends are going is very much at the heart of the climate competitiveness strategy and the policies of this government.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

If we look at different forms of energy—conventional energy, solar, wind and nuclear—can you tell us which form of energy has the lowest cost?

[Alison McDermott]

It's actually challenging to keep up with the developments and cost curves. I think it very much depends on the types of installations. We know that the price of solar is very competitive right now—solar, wind and batteries in general. Depending on the circumstance and the specific location, one may be more suitable than the other and more cost-effective than the other. However, those are becoming very quickly the cheapest and most cost-effective forms of energy.

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

In Quebec, where my riding is located, we are very fortunate to have Hydro-Québec, which produces renewable energy with few or no carbon emissions.

There's very low intensity in terms of emissions from Quebec's grid system.

Can you tell us about efforts to decarbonize electricity systems in other Canadian provinces?

[Megan Nichols]

I would say that across the government, there are a few different things that we're doing to encourage net-zero electricity. NRCan has made a lot of investments and continues to provide significant funding.

In terms of Environment Canada, we just recently published the clean electricity regulations, which will achieve a net-zero grid across the country by 2050. That brings at least an additional 181 megatonnes of reduction to our GHGs by 2050, as well as at the same time providing an important foundation to attract clean growth and more investment into our economy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Ms. Nichols.

Ms. Anstey, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Thank you.

We have had reports that Prime Minister Carney just gave a speech saying that China is “very sincere” on the climate and has given “a standing offer” to engage. I'm curious to know if your committee has any evidence of that in your communications with them.

[Michael Bonser]

Perhaps I can take that question.

I have not seen the Prime Minister's speech this morning, but what I can say is that China is very active in the world of the UNFCCC, the multilateral United Nations system that drives much of the normative framework around climate action. It drives the Paris Agreement in many ways as well.

We also engage bilaterally with China on issues around environment and climate change, in part to push them to increase their level of ambition and to ensure that they are telling the whole story and not just the story that is convenient for the country itself, but they do continue to engage internationally and they do continue to be seen as a significant player in the international climate world.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I just wanted to clarify, because it's interesting within the context of some of the other figures and numbers that were talked about earlier in our meeting.

I want to pivot for a minute.

There was some conversation around extreme weather events. In my province this summer, we certainly saw the devastation of wildfires across the province. My riding in particular is an area very similar to Jasper, in that there is a lot of deadwood in the forest as a result of the spruce budworm. I know that the community has been actively engaging with stakeholders and volunteers in trying to come up with a plan to deal with this situation. I'm curious to know, based on the lessons that were learned in the Jasper wildfire, what actions the government is taking to mitigate a similar situation going forward.

[Tara Shannon]

I would say that the question is probably best placed for our colleagues at Parks Canada, who are responsible for wildfire management in national parks. At Environment and Climate Change Canada, we don't have a direct responsibility for fire management, as we don't manage the lands.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I'm curious. Would we be able to get them to come to speak to this issue? Is there some way that we can engage on this issue? It is a very big concern.

I think that within the context of talking about extreme weather events, we can't really pick and choose the ones that we want to talk about. This is something that is very important. Could we put that out there and have them come at another time to speak to this?

[Tara Shannon]

I am certain that the committee could make a request. Our colleagues would be pleased to come to present what they have done since the Jasper wildfires.

[Alison McDermott]

I will just note that the government does make some investments in mitigation activities with respect to fire protection.

I know that we have invested. CIRNAC has invested in indigenous communities. There have been other investments through Public Safety Canada and FireSmart, investments that very much help to make a big difference in the way communities are affected by wildfires.

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I think the investment component is great. When people are driving through their communities that look like tinderboxes, it's causing a lot of fear and concern. This would be super-important to me.

I just wanted to pivot to something with respect to the EV mandates. Again, this is something that I get asked about a lot. I know there's a pause in place. One of the things I often hear where I live, with long distances between charging stations and extreme weather conditions, is that typically what's happening in terms of consumer demand is that it has really diminished.

I'm just wondering. When you're looking at these policies, do you consider the challenges in rural Canada and the different impacts they have in these communities? Car dealers have all of these electric vehicles on their lots and an inability to move them. The consumer demand just isn't there. I'm wondering if you could speak to the rural-urban divide on electric vehicles, please.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

I'm sorry. We're out of time.

Monsieur St-Pierre is next.

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

Picking up on that, I've been driving an electric car since 2018. Actually, the range for my EV goes further. I recently made a road trip of about 800 kilometres return from Montreal to Sudbury, Ontario, where I'm originally from. There is available charging infrastructure.

My question is around the EV subsidies. Can you comment on the effectiveness of the EV subsidies and whether they could return?