Finance Committee on Sept. 25th, 2018

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Do you have any idea when it will begin?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Poilievre, the witness has the floor. I'm surprised nobody on the government side made a point of order. Your interpretation of what the Prime Minister said may be a little different from what was said.

Go ahead, Ms. Joseph.

[Shannon Joseph]

Thank you.

We're pleased to see some of these things moving forward. As we said in our remarks, we're happy that the government has indicated, through the Generation Energy council, a commitment to clean oil and gas, and a role for Canada in the world. We certainly want to see more of that, and an enhanced discussion from the government about the role that Canada's oil and gas can play in alleviating energy poverty.

Are there things that could go further? There are, and we hope to see some improvements on the regulatory front. We remain committed to a constructive collaboration with the government.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Poilievre.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Do you want the existing policies to go further?

[Shannon Joseph]

We want the policies that are working well to go further, and we want to fix the policies that could be improved.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Do you have any estimate as to when construction will begin on the Trans Mountain pipeline?

[Shannon Joseph]

We know from the announcement that there's a 22-week study period. We look forward to that proceeding as quickly as possible.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

There is a verifiable outrage among people who work in the sector about the government's layers of taxation and regulation, about vetoing a pipeline to tidewater that had already been approved, about regulating to death another pipeline that would have taken western oil to eastern refineries, and about the government's failure to even begin construction, let alone complete it, on the newly nationalized Trans Mountain pipeline.

Do you think there might be a disconnect between oil industry lobbyists in Ottawa and workers and entrepreneurs on the ground?

[Shannon Joseph]

The oil industry is a diverse sector. Many of our companies, and many of their workers are unhappy about what's been going on in this sector in terms of loss of investment. We certainly hope the committee understands that there is an issue with respect to competitiveness that is causing loss of investment, and there are important policy changes we hope this government will address.

That's what we're here to do. We understand what's going on in our sector. There's no disconnect between us and the sector.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Amos.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to the members for letting me join you today.

I'd like to invite Mr. Reilly-King and Mr. Vaughan, both of whom I had the pleasure of meeting in New York this summer at the UN SDG meetings, to speak to the importance of overseas development assistance in the context of a renewed relationship between Canada and the rest of the world.

Obviously, this week is a big one for Canada at the UN, and discussions are well under way around Canada's campaign to secure a seat on the Security Council, which the previous government failed miserably in doing.

Could you comment on the importance of investments in development assistance in that vein?

[Fraser Reilly-King]

The OECD report that came out about 10 days ago definitely recognized the strong leadership role that Canada has played globally in advancing gender equality, but it suggested there was a disconnect between the good words and the good deeds, and the investment Canada is making.

Looking ahead to the Security Council seat effort, if Canada can demonstrate that it can increase the investment for official development assistance by identifying other sources of funding for sustainable development, it will match its leadership in words with its leadership in actions.

[Scott Vaughan]

I think the Prime Minister's comments this week in New York underscore that the world is looking at how we're going to fare with the implementation of the sustainable development goals. The more that Canada, through its development agencies, the embassies, and working with the private sector.... Bringing concrete solutions to the ground in developing countries is critically important beyond the Security Council seat. The more that Canada engages in this, the better for us all.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

I'd love to ask Mr. Savoie a direct question, because I don't think Canadians have necessarily heard the Heart and Stroke Foundation's voice on the issue of putting a price on pollution. It's a debate that's clearly important, and Canadians expect us to protect them. I anticipate that the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be fully onside with measures that will clean Canada's air and help generate fewer air pollution-related deaths and smog-related deaths.

[Yves Savoie]

We haven't taken a position, but the reality is that clean air is important to our respiratory health and to cardiovascular health more broadly.

Our focus has been on healthy eating, and that's because the burden of disease related to poor nutrition or to the sins of affluence—meaning eating too much of the wrong foods in the developed world—is the biggest source of mortality. Interestingly, as our friends from the Council for International Co-operation would know, that has now changed in the developing world as well. More mortality comes from overeating the bad foods than from malnutrition. The food issues have been our focus, but I think your premise is one I will take back home, if I may.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

I would appreciate that, and I think Canadians would like to hear the voice of the Heart and Stroke Foundation on the issue of a price on pollution.

[Yves Savoie]

I thank you for the suggestion.

[William Amos, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Ms. Rudd.

[Kim Rudd]

I want to ask a question, Mr. Chair, on the fuel subsidies. I do have a response.

For clarification, at the G20, Argentina and Canada among other countries agreed back in 2009, I believe, to look at inefficient fuel subsidies. That was ratified in 2016. Canada and Argentina are looking at each others' practices, but there is an agreement writ large in the G20 to look at inefficient fuel subsidies. I think the word “inefficient” is important in this conversation, so I wanted to provide that comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Okay. That's good to have on the record.

Thank you very much to all the witnesses and also for your presentations earlier and for answering our questions.

With that, the meeting is adjourned until we do it all again tomorrow.