Natural Resources Committee on March 5th, 2009

[Mel Ydreos]

I would just add that I think if you try to build anything these days, you're going to find opposition. It seems to be that society's turning that way.

One cure for that--and again I refer back to the green energy act that was just introduced--is to set out to meet certain setbacks that have to be met for wind projects, for example. As long as those setbacks are met, from key positions, these things can be built. In fact, regarding the setbacks, the approval process has been taken away from the municipalities and has been put into the provincial arena in order to fast-track a lot of these projects and get away from all this localized opposition to just about anything you're trying to construct these days.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you, Mr. Allen.

Thank you all very much for coming today. You've provided a lot of very useful information for the committee. I wish you an uninteresting trip home.

We will suspend the committee for two minutes to go in camera for discussion of committee business, but first we will deal with a motion from Mr. Regan.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman--

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Excuse me, Mr. Cullen, we're going to deal immediately with Mr. Regan's motion. We'd like the witnesses to move away from the table as soon as they can so that we can get right to the motion.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, I too would like to have gone back and thanked the witnesses, but I'll have to do so at another time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Yes, go ahead, Mr. Regan. Let's start.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

As you know, I gave a notice of motion on this a week or so ago. Here is the motion.

In light of the deep concern expressed by every member of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources with respect to the impact the current economic crisis is having on key resource sectors, I move that the committee ask the natural resources department to provide the committee, through the clerk, with updates that contain the number of job losses or job gains in the following sectors--mining, forestry, energy; and that the clerk circulate these reports to the members of the committee, and that the first report should be delivered to the clerk on April 1, 2009, followed by reports on June 1, August 1, October 1, and December 1, 2009.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Would you like to speak to your motion, Mr. Regan?

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chair, I think all of us are concerned about what's happening in the economy. It seems to me that it's our responsibility, as members of this committee, to keep an eye on what's happening in the parts of the economy for which we have, in a sense, responsibility.

Clearly this kind of information would probably originate with Statistics Canada. However, there's no doubt in my mind that Natural Resources Canada keeps a close eye on this. They would be watching it and would be able to assemble the kind of information we're looking for.

What I say in here is that the first report should be delivered to the clerk on April 1, 2009. What I have in mind is that they would give us the most recent information available. I'm not saying what dates it must cover, but clearly we'd like to have something up to date, giving us a clear picture of what's happening in these sectors of the economy. I think it would be valuable for all of us to have that. And maybe it wouldn't be too bad to make sure that the department is actually watching this. They probably are anyway, but it doesn't hurt to make sure of that.

[An hon. member]

Hear, hear!

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You have heard the motion. Would anyone like to speak to it?

Mr. Cullen, and then Mr. Trost.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

My first thought is that we do have our parliamentary secretary back, and I want to hear from the government side on what accounting Natural Resources does in terms of tracking jobs. I want to make sure we're asking the department to do something that they actually do. And if they do, then I think the idea of a comprehensive report is a “state of the economy” type of thing.

I would also be curious to know, through you to the parliamentary secretary...because in some government agencies there are projections done as well, or estimates, that obviously are not held fast and firm. It's important for the committee, if we do receive these reports periodically, to see that point in time. Some agencies also attempt to do some sort of projection based upon the numbers they're getting in terms of investment cycles, etc.

I'm initially supportive, then, unless there seems to be some reason this couldn't be done. Coming from a sector of the country that has all of these industries represented, I know the job losses in the last little while have been extraordinary. And I would suggest that these are structural job losses. These are not temporary. There is something structurally shifting in our resource extraction economy in this country. Obviously it's beyond worrisome--an understatement.

So I am initially supportive, but I'm curious to hear from the parliamentary secretary on the viability of this motion.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

I had Mr. Trost as next on the list, but Mr. Anderson, if you would like to respond, Mr. Trost appears to be willing to let you proceed.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I want to be careful here about what I say, because I don't have full knowledge of how complete the department's analysis is of job statistics.

That said, having been involved with the department for a year and a half now, I am not aware of anywhere in the department where they collect job loss and job gain numbers. They may do that; if you want, I can check into it.

My perception is that they do what many of the other departments do, and that is work through Statistics Canada. They collect the data for departments to use and to release publicly. I don't want to be held to that for sure, because I'm not fully confident on that. I can find that out for you.

Perhaps an amendment could suggest that the clerk gather the information when it becomes publicly available and present it to the committee. That would allow us to take Statistics Canada's numbers and get the reports. But that would be up to the committee. We can certainly vote on it.

We'll be opposing this motion as it's written, but I think we would be comfortable with having the clerk gather the information when it becomes publicly available and make a presentation to the committee.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

On a point of order, Mr. Regan.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

This may be helpful. I did mention that Natural Resources probably gets information from Statistics Canada, but it would seem to me that surely the minister is made aware of what's happening in this regard on a regular basis.

What I'm going to propose, Mr. Chairman, is that we suspend debate on this motion and I'll hold it in abeyance until the next meeting and ask Mr. Anderson to check with the department on this, because it seems to me this was probably not a difficulty for them in particular. They probably do get this. Yes, they may get it from Statistics Canada, but they're watching this kind of stuff, I would think, and could easily provide it to us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay, are you moving to adjourn debate on this motion--

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

And defer it until the next meeting.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

That is with the understanding that some homework be done.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

That's okay.

The motion is to adjourn debate. There is no debate on that. We'll go to a vote. Those in favour of adjourning debate on this motion?

(Motion allowed to stand)

Now we'll just take a minute to go in camera and then we'll discuss the calendar for our committee for the next weeks and months and years, if you wish.

[Proceedings continue in camera]