Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 27th, 2013

[Serge Dupont]

We have started tendering some of the major projects. Some of the water treatment facilities are being built. First, all of the environmental assessments have been completed and so forth, so the project designs are well in hand, and some of the major contracts will soon be tendered for the construction of the waste management facilities themselves. There is a lot of activity on the ground already, including in small properties, to properly characterize the situation and the mitigation work that will need to take place. There are shovels in the ground, and trucks and roads are being built in Port Hope, and this will continue to pick up over the next couple of years.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Okay.

I think I have time for one or two more questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You have two minutes.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

A lot of people are concerned about our forestry sector with the spruce budworm, pine beetle, etc. I know we tend to focus a lot on the oil and gas industry, because that's helping Canada to pay its bills, but a lot of people employed in the forestry sector are wondering about the future of that industry. I wonder if you could just update us on what NRCan is doing with regard to forest pests, and whether there's any additional spending in the supplementary estimates.

[Serge Dupont]

There is none in the supplementary estimates, but we do spend, if memory serves.... I wonder whether Glenn Mason could come to the table. We are doing work related to at least three key pests—the spruce budworm, the emerald ash borer, and, of course, the mountain pine beetle. Essentially we are providing the science to help inform the interventions that the provinces are taking in each of their jurisdictions. NRCan in the past has actually developed some of the agents essentially to address infestations of pests, and we're continuing to work in collaboration with the provinces.

Glenn Mason from the Canadian forest service sector might be able to tell me roughly the amount we spend on it per year.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

How are we doing on getting them under control?

[Serge Dupont]

The one thing about forest pests is that once you have an outbreak it is very difficult to eradicate. These outbreaks of the spruce budworm, for example, occur every 25 or 30 years or so. When they take hold, it is very difficult to actually eradicate this outbreak. So you try to control it. You try through different interventions to slow it down, to mitigate it as well as you can, but there simply is no remedy. We saw this with the mountain pine beetle. Had there been a way to ensure this was addressed in British Columbia—and it is now moving to Alberta and potentially Saskatchewan—certainly we would have devoted the resources. But you can't in a sense. You do what you can in terms of mitigating, and we're working collaboratively with the province.

I think we're doing good work. I think it is helping and we have been able to slow things down, but those things are difficult for the economies of the affected regions. Basically, it's a matter of applying best efforts.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Thank you, Ms. Crockatt.

Unfortunately, Mr. Mason, we don't have time for your answer. We are completely out of time.

I'd like to thank all of you actually for being here, Deputy Minister, Monsieur Dupont, and Kami Ramcharan, assistant deputy minister.

Thank you, committee members, for your questions.

Just before we close the meeting, we do have votes on the estimates.

So for supplementary estimates (B) for 2013-14—

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Go ahead, Mr. Julian.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Through you to the clerk, I would like to ask the clerk if he could provide us with some recommendation on how to take out the advertising funding, the $12,497,886, from vote 1b so it's in a separate vote.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You can, of course, vote three ways on any of the votes I was about to outline.

You can carry the vote, or you can defeat the vote, or you can reduce the vote. It certainly is possible to have a motion to reduce a vote, but we'll have to get to the vote you want to look at first. As I said, we're looking at the estimates and dealing with the estimates and dealing with the supplementary estimates (B) for 2013-14 ending on March 31, 2014, which have been referred to the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. Those are votes 1b, 5b, 10b, 15b, 20b, and 25b. If you know which vote this would be handled in, then at that time you can certainly state your case and propose that the vote be reduced.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

What I was asking you to ask the clerk was how to separate out, in vote 1b, the $12.4 million for the advertising. I just wanted some procedural advice on that, through you to the clerk.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Julian, we will be dealing with vote 1b first. If you would like to reduce vote 1b, just make a motion for the amount that you would like to reduce it by, and we can go to a vote on it.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer. I appreciate your fulsome explanation.

I'd like to move that vote 1b be reduced by $12,497,886. That would be the equivalent of the funding for the advertising campaign that the minister has just spoken about.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You've heard the motion.

Those in favour of the motion to reduce?

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Mr. Chair, could it be a recorded vote, please?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

We'll have a recorded vote.

Those in favour of reducing vote 1b by—

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Chairman, on a point of order, can I clarify this? Can we be certain that if this is removed it will be taken from advertising?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

I don't understand the question.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Can we be certain that if the $12.4 million we're talking about is removed from the estimates it would end up being taken from advertising by the department?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Regan, you were a minister. You know what this means. This means that the supplementary (B)s would be reduced by that amount. That's what this would mean. It's that simple. It's that clear.

Again, Mr. Julian, the amount?

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

In vote 1b, it's the amount that is there for the advertising campaign that we've just spoken about. The amount is $12,497,886. That is for advertising that I just don't feel is justified, given all of the reasons that we've mentioned today and the minister's inability to explain the use of the money.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Okay. Again, now we go to the recorded vote.

Those in favour of the reduction as proposed by Mr. Julian?

[The Clerk]

It's five-five.