Natural Resources Committee on Nov. 4th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

We have a point of order.

Minister Freeland, I know you're going to the GDP answer, but I have a point of order from Ms. Stubbs.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Yes, we just note the bizarre spectacle of extremely powerful, elite ministers of the Government of Canada, a G7 country, constantly—

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

That's not a point of order.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

—shutting down and cutting off both women members of Parliament and an ethnically diverse member of Parliament. Perhaps these guys who love to play identity politics should just answer the questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Colleagues, first of all, Minister Freeland is also a strong woman in the government who's here answering questions.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Yes, I certainly don't think she has a problem with the heat.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Let's not target members based on their gender or their ethnicity. I'll ask everybody to just take a deep breath—

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

If you guys want to [Inaudible—Editor] this is how it works.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Let's tone it down a notch, so we can get back to the issue at hand today, which is the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Chair, I only have a little bit of time.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

You do have time, Mr. Hallan. I have it on hold.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Let me move on to my next question.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

I do have a point of order I have to address.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

I'd like my time back .

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Minister Freeland, I want to give you a chance to answer briefly on the GDP answer you were just about to give, and then I'm going to go back to you, Mr. Hallan.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

TMX, which we're supposed to be here to talk about, is adding 0.25% to Canada's GDP. That is important.

In the G7, Canada will have the second strongest GDP growth this year. The IMF forecasts that we will have the strongest GDP growth next year and it looks like we're achieving a soft landing after the greatest recession since the Great Depression. That's something we should all be celebrating.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Minister, just to correct your falsehood, you said 0.25% of GDP. In fact, your oil and gas cap is going to cause a 1% hit to our GDP, according to Deloitte.

You can shake your head all you want, Minister Wilkinson, but that's the truth.

The dollar is trading at $72 right now. In your budget, you had projected that WTI would be at $78. Currently, it's at $71.

The PBO recently said you will blow through your projected budget by $7 billion, which we know because either you can't do math or you can't manage, or both.

Can you please confirm just the number? How much worse will the deficit be?

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

The time is up. Give a brief answer, please.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

What will the deficit be?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Hallan's question was incoherent. It wasn't clear. He said the dollar is trading at.... I think he meant oil—

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

The Canadian dollar is trading at $72.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

—but he mushed up his words in his word salad. It's really impossible to answer a question that is so incoherent and—

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

That's because you don't want to answer. You know how bad the answer will be.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

The time is up.

We're going to our next speaker.

Mr. Jowhari, you have five minutes. Please go ahead, sir.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Let me start by welcoming both ministers to the committee.

I'm going to take us back to TMX. My line of questioning, as part of this study and over the life of the study, has been on the economic benefit.

Minister Freeland, I'll start with you.

It was very nice how you compartmentalized it around four pillars. You talked about the fair market value. You talked about good-paying jobs. You talked about access to the world and the global market. You also talked about the economic reconciliation with the indigenous people, which is a theme that I want to follow up on in this line of questioning.

Can you share some information that you may have on how this project may have impacted indigenous communities?

I know you touched about two elements, but I'd like you to expand on that, if possible.