Environment Committee on Sept. 22nd, 2025

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

Specifically within the sector, though, in Newfoundland and Labrador, they're saying that they're not getting growth or investment. Where do they play within that conversation, then? I'm curious.

[Megan Nichols]

I would have to come back to the committee with more details on the specific impacts on the offshore sector. We can certainly do that in a follow-up.

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

It would be great if you could provide us with some more information. From all the meetings I've had and the discussions that have come through, I'm getting a completely different response from the industry, so I would really appreciate that.

I want to shift gears just a little bit. None of these offshore projects are on the national projects list. We've talked about Canada being an energy superpower, its strategic location to tidewater and our diversification of trade. I'm wondering what concrete measures the government is putting in place. If these projects aren't on this national projects list, how do we move some of these projects forward?

[Alison McDermott]

I think our colleagues at NRCan would be better placed to talk about the steps and actions the government is taking to promote these types of projects. I would just offer a reminder that no projects list has been scheduled at this point. A prospective list is being examined and considered to be scheduled.

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

Okay.

I guess one last thing is in terms of the emissions cap. Is there a timeline around when some decisions might be made on this? This is something that's super-important.

[Megan Nichols]

Understood. Unfortunately, it's not within my purview to know what that timeline would be.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you very much.

Mr. St‑Pierre now has the floor for five minutes.

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

I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Grant.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Mr. Grant, the floor is yours.

[Wade Grant, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

I apologize. I'm a bit under the weather. That's why I've been trying to save my voice.

I'm from an urban first nation. We've done a lot of work with different partners on conservation and the effects of climate change. What can you share about engagement and learning from first nations, Inuit and Métis about conservation and how that could benefit us in the future?

[Tara Shannon]

Thank you for the question.

We have a number of partnerships with indigenous nations across Canada. We have distinctions-based nature tables with first nations, Inuit and Métis. In addition, our programming includes things like the indigenous guardians initiative. We have entered into a number of innovative agreements focused on conservation, including most recently the “project finance for permanence” initiatives in both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, along with a recent initiative in the Great Bear Sea in British Columbia. Those leverage private, philanthropic money to match investments made by the Government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments.

There are more I could speak to, but those are the top-line partnerships that I would highlight in the conservation space.

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

How many megatonnes is Canada producing annually, and what percentage of Canada's total emissions comes from the oil and gas sector?

Related to that, can you quickly comment on which sectors in Canada are reducing emissions and which sectors are actually increasing them?

[Alison McDermott]

Our estimate is that the largest source of emissions is the oil and gas sector, at 30%. Other important sectors contributing emissions are the transport sector, at 22%, and buildings, at 13%.

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

Are you aware of whether the emissions for the oil and gas sector are increasing or decreasing?

[Alison McDermott]

Production in the oil and gas sector is increasing, so the absolute emissions are as well, although some success has been had in reducing the emissions intensity of the oil and gas sector.

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

Thank you.

[Bruce Fanjoy, Liberal, Carleton, ON]

The question of dealing with our climate challenges and environmental responsibilities has come up in the context of the need to find savings in our budget. I want to make it clear that there's nothing more unaffordable than unmitigated climate change.

Can you expand on the cost of pollution and the cost of climate change to the Canadian economy?

[Alison McDermott]

I apologize. We will have some more of our own numbers for you, but I can give you a third party figure. For example, the Insurance Bureau of Canada says that extreme weather caused an estimated $9.2 billion in insured losses last year alone. That actually made 2024 the most destructive year in Canadian history.

As I mentioned, we have some other estimates that we could compile from our own analysis, as well as those of third parties, but that's a good measure of damage—at least, of insured losses last year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

You have time for a short question.

[Shannon Miedema, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

I'll follow up on that. That's for extreme weather events. What about the economic cost of pollution? Do you have any numbers on the impacts of air quality on health and things like that?

We know the oil and gas industry in Canada is committed to a path to net zero by 2050, and there are lots of ways we're going to get there, but does some of that information drive our decision-making now?

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Give a short answer, please.

[Alison McDermott]

It does, absolutely. The air quality considerations are like an additional factor that brings benefits when we reduce climate change impacts or when we reduce pollution.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

Now the floor goes to Mr. Leslie for five minutes, please.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Thank you.

I would like to pick up on a piece of testimony that came out there, which was that the carbon tax had a limited effect of 1% to 2%.

In 2024, the Canadian Climate Institute released a report saying that the consumer carbon tax was 8% to 9%. I listened to Liberal politicians use that stat as a defence of why they couldn't possibly get rid of the consumer carbon tax. Now that the political winds have changed, why is it that the department is using such drastically different numbers with regard to the importance of the consumer carbon tax in terms of emissions reductions?

[Alison McDermott]

I'm sorry. I probably wasn't as strong in my French language when I answered that question. The 1% to 2% was talking about the impact on our reductions vis-à-vis our 2005 levels. I think that the 8% that you heard estimated by the Canadian Climate Institute would be the share of overall emissions reductions accounted for by that consumer fuel charge.