Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Jacob Irving, and I am the President of the Canadian Hydropower Association. Joining me is Ed Wojczynski of Manitoba Hydro, the chair of our association's board of directors.
The CHA is the national voice for hydro power in Canada. We represent generators, manufacturers, engineering firms, consultants, and construction companies.
Sixty per cent of our electricity is hydro power. Canada is the third largest producer in the world. This makes our electricity system one of the cleanest and most renewable anywhere. As big as we are, we could still more than double our current hydro power capacity, and that potential is spread across every region of the country. It is truly a national resource.
Through hydro power, Canadians have an outstanding opportunity to fight air pollution and climate change while securing our sustainable energy future. Today we'll focus on how Bill C-38 can contribute to that future.
Hydro power facilities can be small or large. Many can be very large indeed. For example, the January edition of ReNew magazine reported that four of the five largest infrastructure projects in Canada are hydro power projects.
According to a recent study we conducted with the University of Montreal, hydro power developers are contemplating investing more than $125 billion in Canada over the next 20 years. This new capacity would help satisfy domestic and export demand. The study estimates it would also create over a million new person-years of employment across the country.
To make these investments with confidence, the hydro power industry needs regulatory efficiency and predictability. Unfortunately, the current federal environmental assessment and authorization regime cannot adequately provide this. I believe you'll find that our message to you today is consistent with what we have been saying about regulatory reform for many years.
Our projects undergo federal EAs and must secure authorizations under other federal statutes, while at the same time dealing with provincial EAs. The result is duplication, delay, and uncertainty. This can discourage investors from supporting renewable electricity in Canada.
An important commercial advantage for hydro power is its very low operating cost. However, its upfront capital costs are relatively large. Hydro power investors are especially sensitive to delays and uncertainty because they must commit substantial capital well before revenues can be generated.
Please though, do not misread me or the CHA members. Environmental stewardship is a priority for our industry. We support a strong and robust EA process, and we support the protection of fish and the recovery of species at risk. We are not asking for a weakening of environmental protection. Hydro power has grown up alongside environmental regulation and environmental regulation has grown up alongside hydro power. Our extensive experience and long-term perspective make us want a healthy and effective regulatory process. This is good for the environment, our industry, and Canada.
We strongly believe that we must continuously work toward social acceptability in our activities. Our members strive to earn this acceptance through hard work with aboriginal and other communities. We also reach out to a wider range of stakeholders, including environmental groups. We start consulting long before any formal EA process begins.
We believe all stakeholders would benefit from an efficient, timely, predictable, and consistent federal EA and authorization regime that also works smoothly with provincial EA processes and environmental regulations.
Bill C-38 is helpful in addressing many of these issues.
At this point I would like to call on CHA chair Ed Wojczynski to continue our presentation.