Environment Committee on Oct. 9th, 2025

[Dawn Farrell]

Mr. Labonté, do you want to answer that?

[Jeff Labonté]

Thank you for the question.

In collaboration with Ms. Farrell's team and the Calgary team, Natural Resources Canada's assessment of the LNG project, which is on the list of major projects, is ongoing.

We conducted technical and economic assessments. We also carried out assessments to better understand the project managers' action plan regarding greenhouse gas emissions and the activities conducted with natural gas producers.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Can you send us this study if it's completed? If not, can you send it to us when it is completed?

[Jeff Labonté]

The assessment is under way. I don't know exactly how long it will take us to complete our study, but we could send you a summary of our work, if you'd like.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you. We would be grateful if you could also send us the assessment when it's completed.

Ms. Farrell, you say you have experience assessing the climate impacts of projects. You are, of course, known for the Trans Mountain oil sands pipeline assessment.

Is that a good project, in your opinion, for addressing climate change?

[Dawn Farrell]

The Trans Mountain pipeline was completed. It is delivering bitumen primarily into Asian markets.

I was in the Asian markets early in September to talk to potential buyers of that oil. Of course, what I learned is what everybody already knows, which is that most of the bitumen going into the refineries in Asia is being cracked—

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I'm sorry, but we don't have much time left.

Is the Trans Mountain pipeline project a good project for addressing climate change?

[Dawn Farrell]

Yes, and I'm getting to the answer. I'd like a chance to answer.

The answer is yes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Okay, thank you.

[Dawn Farrell]

Most of the oil that comes out of Alberta and goes to Asia is cracked to make naphtha, which goes into petrochemicals, which go into making electric cars to electrify the grids in Asia. That will, I think, contribute to climate change.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Farrell.

Have you declared any conflicts of interest?

[Dawn Farrell]

I don't think so.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

The time is up.

Mrs. Goodridge, you have the floor.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Earlier, you emphasized the importance of giving witnesses time to answer questions without interrupting them to facilitate interpretation.

I notice the exchanges are happening very quickly. It's becoming difficult for those who need interpretation to follow what is being said.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Noted.

The next presenter is Mr. Bexte.

You have five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses. I appreciate your being here today.

Ms. Farrell, for clarity, will the Major Projects Office be the first point of contact for proponents in the future? There are the five that have gone now, but looking forward, is that the intent?

[Dawn Farrell]

No. There are many points of contact right now. For example, a lot of major projects come in through the provinces or through various federal government departments, especially NRCan and Transport. There are projects that can have direct contact with our office, but we anticipate it coordinating all of the projects in such a way that there is a single list.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

How many projects are in your queue now, that you're aware of, that have come in directly to the MPO and through other channels?

[Dawn Farrell]

Right now, from what I can tell from the data, there are 500 projects that think they're major projects. I hope that's not the case because we definitely can't handle that volume.

This month, we're assessing nine additional projects to determine whether they meet some of the criteria I've laid out for you.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

You also indicated that there are different weighting criteria. How are those weighted against each other? Are any of them a “no pass”, like a fatal level or...?

[Dawn Farrell]

There's no weighting of the criteria on a project-by-project basis. Right now, we're looking at the portfolio of those projects. Do they meet the criteria in the act? We then have much more specific criteria that we're applying to how executable these projects are.

One of the challenges I think we'll face is that many of these projects are not what I call ready for prime time. They're way far off in the future, or they're much further down the road in terms of their execution. We want to make sure we have projects that are also executable in a shorter time frame.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

You indicated earlier that climate competitiveness is one of the criteria, but how do you evaluate climate competitiveness if the entire economy is shrinking? If you follow that train of logic and that's your only criteria, it declines to zero really quickly.

[Dawn Farrell]

I didn't say it was our only criteria. In fact, our criteria are strengthening our economy, providing economic benefits, successful execution, advancing the interests of indigenous peoples and contributing to clean growth and our objectives. They're looked at as a whole and they're not weighted.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

When Alberta comes to the table with its pipeline proponent, how long will it take you to confirm whether it meets the considerations for national interest?

[Dawn Farrell]

I can't answer that with any credibility. I'm 39 days into the program. I have lots of work to do to figure out how to do that.