Environment Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2025

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

I know that in support of government initiatives around climate action, the Canadian Climate Institute has done a fair amount of work on the cost of inaction. A lot of times people talk about short-term costs but are not thinking about long-term costs. We see billions of dollars of losses in extreme weather events in our country. Our country's been on fire these past summers.

Is that the work that you rely on as a department, or do you have other work that you could share around the business case for a strong climate policy in Canada?

[Alison McDermott]

Yes. When we talk about economic trade-offs with respect to climate change, they tend to be those in the very short term, because over the long term, the economic costs of climate change are in the billions of dollars, if not the trillions of dollars. I think there's widespread belief that those costs are very high.

We'd be happy to share more. That's very much a part of the thinking with respect to government policy, and we'd be happy to provide more detail. There have been a number of estimates from the Canadian Climate Institute and the Parliamentary Budget Officer, so there are a lot of third party sources of such analysis as well.

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

Mr. Chair, do I have a little more time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

You have about 40 seconds.

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

Okay. I'll be brief.

Mr. Bonser, can you comment on Canada's role at COP30 in Brazil?

[Michael Bonser]

Brazil will be hosting COP 30, as you said. We anticipate that this will be very much an implementation year. Many countries, like Canada, are being asked and expected to put forward new nationally determined contributions—the new targets that you've been talking about. In February, Canada was among the first countries to put out those targets, and the plan. Other countries are coming to the table to do the same, and we anticipate that this will be very much a conversation among leaders, ministers and senior negotiators around how to move forward from here to address the gaps that many countries face, that the world faces, in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. There's much work to do.

There will also be a great deal of conversation, I think, around financing and capacity to deliver and how countries can support the investments in the clean transitions abroad and in countries that are working very hard to move away from fossil fuels and more traditional energy sources to achieve their own climate objectives.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Mr. Bonser.

I'll now forward the mic to Mr. Ross for five minutes.

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

Thank you.

I was shocked when LNG Canada phase 2 got recommended for fast-tracking. I had no idea that they had permits or authorizations outstanding within your department. Can you tell me what outstanding permits or authorizations within your department still need approval or disapproval?

[Megan Nichols]

I don't believe that there are any in our department.

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

Are you saying that there are no permits or authorizations needed for LNG Canada phase 2?

[Megan Nichols]

There are no outstanding ones. I would have to confirm if there are others that were already granted, but there are none that are outstanding from our department at this time.

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

To your understanding, then, what needs to be fast-tracked? If there are no government permits or authorizations needed, what will be fast-tracked?

[Megan Nichols]

I would defer to the Major Projects Office on the actual benefits of fast-tracking this project, but sometimes there can be other barriers, such as funding or other other requirements, before—

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

No, I'm not talking about exterior conditions; I'm talking about your department in terms of what you need to do to authorize phase 2 for LNG Canada.

[Megan Nichols]

Again, there is nothing outstanding for Environment and Climate Change Canada on this project.

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

Okay. That's a surprise, a nice re-announcement there.

You said that there's currently no emissions cap, but there are some outstanding projects within the Impact Assessment Act for Canada. In particular, there are first nations that want to use natural gas to produce electricity in energy-deficient areas. Is there any reason that these approvals or disapprovals are not forthcoming from your department in a timely manner?

[Megan Nichols]

I'm not aware of specific projects. Sometimes projects require provincial approval, so it could be that there's a provincial approval that is outstanding. I'm not aware of specific ECCC permits required on these ones. However, we can certainly go and validate and return to the committee with that information.

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

Okay, that would be great, because it's listed on your website, the impact assessment site, but it doesn't really clearly describe a provincial jurisdiction area.

Is your department aware of a company called Edison Motors in British Columbia? No? Okay.

I was previously an MLA, and they were kind of being given the cold shoulder in terms of their business development idea. They were actually off and running with a great degree of success, but they did not have government support. Now there are some federal programs that are not providing them with any support. They've been approaching not only my office but also a number of different MPs' offices all across Canada, trying to get government support. What restricts the government from supporting this born-in-B.C. initiative seems to fall under environmental standards or regulations or the legislation.

Can I ask you to actually look into this and get back to the committee with a written reason as to why this company is not getting the support of the federal government?

[Megan Nichols]

We can certainly look into this and come back to the committee.

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

Thank you.

Another one I'd like to ask about is the Sandspit Inn in Sandspit on Haida Gwaii. I don't expect you to understand, but I looked at your job descriptions and I saw that real property is one of your jurisdictions.

Are you aware of this hotel?

[Linda Drainville]

No, I'm not aware of it.

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

You're not. Okay.

Well, it's an old hotel in Sandspit. It's a very decrepit, abandoned hotel, but it's federal government property. For years, this developer has been trying to say that he wants to acquire the property from the federal government and turn it into low-income and senior housing, and he hasn't had a response.

With the housing crisis that we have in Canada, as well as affordability issues and seniors' issues, I want to know why the government is ignoring the developer. Is there a reason? It's not only about affordability or senior citizens; as this place rots, it's going to become an environmental issue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

Provide a short answer, please.

[Linda Drainville]

Thank you very much for your question.

This is not a Crown asset that is managed by Environment Canada, so I would encourage you to ask your question of Public Services and Procurement Canada, or PSPC. They should be in a position to tell you exactly who owns that property, and this could help in moving forward with next steps.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you, Ms. Drainville.

Next we have Mr. Bruce Fanjoy for five minutes.