Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, honourable committee members.
My name is Gitane De Silva and I am the chief executive officer of the Canada Energy Regulator. I am joined today by Jean-Denis Charlebois, CER chief economist and Dr. Genevieve Carr, CER chief environment officer.
I want to acknowledge that I am speaking to you today from the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 people of southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy, comprising the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai first nations. Treaty 7 territory also includes the Tsuut'ina First Nation and the Stoney Nakoda, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley first nations. The city of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta Region 3.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss our work at the Canada Energy Regulator and how it relates to your discussions on our greenhouse gas emissions cap for the oil and gas sector. I am going to speak to you today about the CER, our mandate and how energy infrastructure projects under the CER's jurisdiction are assessed, as well as our energy information function.
At the CER we work to keep energy moving in Canada while enforcing some of the strictest safety and environmental standards in the world. Our mandate is derived from our enabling legislation, the Canadian Energy Regulator Act that came into effect in 2019. It provided us with a new governance structure that separated our operational and adjudicative functions. As the CEO, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization. Our board of directors provides strategic advice and direction, and the commission is independent in its adjudicative functions.
Our core responsibilities include safety and environmental oversight, energy adjudication, energy information and engagement. In everything we do, safety and environmental oversight are always at the forefront. It is the reason we exist.
As a regulator, we oversee the safe construction and operation of energy infrastructure. The CER does not develop or set government policy, including federal climate policies. Questions on these matters are best directed to my colleagues from Natural Resources Canada or Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The CER Act established the commission of the CER as a court of record responsible for making independent adjudicative decisions and recommendations on pipeline, power line and offshore renewable energy projects within Parliament's jurisdiction. In making a decision or recommendation as to whether a proposed facility is in the public interest, our commission is required to take into account a number of specified factors, including the extent to which the project hinders or contributes to Canada's ability to meet its environmental obligations and commitments in respect of climate change.
The strategic assessment of climate change and the associated draft technical guidance published by ECCC are valuable tools to support us and industry in considering projects through a climate lens.
As outlined in the commission's filing manual, the commission will look at the magnitude of a project's direct GHG emissions and proposed mitigations, associated upstream emissions, its net-zero plan, the applicability of relevant laws and policies and the project's contribution to climate change commitments, in combination with other factors determined by our legislation.
Alongside our regulatory functions, the CER plays a vital role in providing timely and relevant energy information and analysis to support the energy conversation in Canada via our energy information core responsibility. We monitor energy markets on an ongoing basis and produce a series of publications on topical energy issues, such as energy trade, energy supply and demand, as well as pipeline utilization, among a series of other topics. We also model, based on a series of different assumptions, how possible energy futures might unfold for Canadians over the long term under various scenarios in our “Canada's Energy Future” series.
Our most recent version of Energy Futures, published in December 2021, included scenarios where we explored what Canada’s electricity system might look like in a net-zero world, as well as a scenario where Canada and the rest of the world continue to take increasing actions to reduce GHG emissions.
Our modelling indicates that the evolution of Canada's energy system will depend on such key drivers as energy and climate policies, market prices and the pace of technological development.
The next iteration of “Energy Future” is slated to be released in the spring of 2023, and will be expanded to include modelling consistent with Canada's commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today about the work of the CER, and more specifically, about our role relating to GHG emissions.
I look forward to your questions.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I look forward to your questions.