Environment Committee on March 24th, 2026

[Tim Weis]

There's the Canada-Alberta MOU, which looks at building a new pipeline to British Columbia if the market for oil exists. Private capital should be used, not Canadian taxpayer dollars.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Do you think we need to improve the transparency of the carbon pricing system?

[Tim Weis]

There are definitely improvements that we could be making in the overall system to make it more transparent. Again, there are ways we could harmonize systems across Canada to encourage trade, encourage innovation and encourage investments across provinces.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

How was the application of minimum standards for the stringency of carbon pricing systems in Canada triggered as regards equivalency?

In your opinion, should there be a policy that sets out very clearly how and when the federal system should be implemented?

[Tim Weis]

Forgive me. I'm not 100% sure I understood the question, but yes, whether it's on the equivalency of methane, the equivalency of the OBPS or the equivalency of the Canadian electricity regulations, I agree it's very important that it's very clear that when a province goes out of compliance.... That is obviously making sure that the provincial regulations are meeting the same goals as the federal regulations.

It's pretty clear in the legislation that in a world where that is triggered and emissions are not being met by a province through its regulations, the federal backstop should come in for any type of equivalency agreement for any type of environmental legislation.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Right now, it's not really being implemented. Not in Alberta, for example.

[Tim Weis]

Yes, Alberta has frozen its price, or has said it's going to freeze its price. Once those two prices are not concurrent anymore, then Alberta would be out of compliance, as would Saskatchewan, which I said is not implementing the federal—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

We need to clarify how the federal government should systematically intervene.

[Tim Weis]

I would agree that it should be clear when the federal government needs to recognize when one of the provinces is out of compliance and makes sure that that way, it's fair for all provinces across the country.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

In your opinion, should there be a very clear commitment from oil sands companies to allocate substantial funds to the Pathways carbon capture project?

[Tim Weis]

Could you repeat the question?

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Should oil sands companies make a very clear commitment to fund their project?

[Tim Weis]

Okay. We agree fully that the Pathways project is a very important carbon capture and storage project that we're supportive of, and it's important to reduce emissions in Alberta, but it shouldn't be linked to building a new pipeline. This is something that the industry has promised. It's received a fair bit of subsidies, both provincially and federally, and it really, again, needs to be industry-led.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You did an analysis that I think will be tabled with the committee. According to that analysis, at $130 per tonne, the cost of producing a barrel of oil is equivalent to the cost of a Timbit.

Why does that data contradict claims that the industrial carbon tax makes petroleum products uncompetitive in Canada?

[Tim Weis]

That analysis was from the Canadian Climate Institute, but I think the key difference is, of course, that it's just in how the OBPS is designed, or TIER in Alberta, where emissions aren't fully priced or only, again, are pricing sort of the marginal emissions. Some of the simplistic analyses have applied the carbon price to an entire barrel of oil when that's simply not how the policy works.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You also talked about the benefit of maintaining a carbon pricing policy that has been in place for 15 years.

Why is it important for businesses to have predictability and stability when it comes to their long-term investments, for example?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Give a short answer, please.

[Tim Weis]

The short answer is we're making long-term infrastructure investments, and if you're putting millions of dollars decades into the future, you need to know what the price is going to be and the policy needs to be stable. Investor stability is, I think, something we can all agree on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you, Mr. Bonin.

We will now move to Mr. Bexte.

The floor is yours for five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the first time. I appreciate your candour.

Thank you, witnesses, for being here today.

Mr. Weis, should projects using carbon capture and storage or implementing carbon capture and storage be charged the carbon tax on their operations? They're in the business of storing carbon, so is that kind of not...?

[Tim Weis]

That's fundamentally how the carbon system works. It's that when you reduce your emissions—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

No, I'm sorry, maybe I misread.

Pathways, for example, is in the business of storing carbon, so they're injecting carbon into the ground.

[Tim Weis]

Yes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Should they be charged the industrial carbon tax on their operations?

[Tim Weis]

Any carbon that is sequestered, you usually get a credit for. You can actually sell it.