Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 15th, 2024

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

In the coming weeks, will your group be putting amendments forward to the committee? I think we have about a month to get them in. Are you working on any amendments right now?

[Daniel J. Fleck]

Excuse me, sir. To clarify, do you mean written submissions to this committee?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Yes.

[Daniel J. Fleck]

Yes, sir, we will. We're active with the Impact Assessment Agency. We're hoping the recommendations from the Impact Assessment Agency and the regional assessment will be enshrined in this legislation.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Why are fishermen so concerned about not having an adequate seat at the table and about their voices being neglected? That's basically what's been coming forward to us from the fishing industry. What leads the fishing industry to think that way?

[Daniel J. Fleck]

Well, it's a 450- or 500-year-old fishery that's been feeding people in Canada and around the world. They're quite nervous about having thousands of tonnes of concrete or whatever else for this construction placed in these shallow waters—and it has been mentioned before that this is where they want these to go—in the prime fishing areas, for technology that might be obsolete in 10, 15 or 20 years.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

If the consultation process were proper, would there be compromises? Could the proponents of offshore wind locate their projects in areas that are possibly dead zones for fishing? You personally probably know that some areas are just not productive. Could you work together to work out compromises like that?

[Daniel J. Fleck]

We are looking forward to being able to work together on that very subject. We're working now with DFO on marine protected areas. We bring our concerns and our comments forward. We're heard. We don't know that we're always listened to, and the decisions don't always align with what we've suggested.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

On that note, we will now proceed to our next member, Mr. Sorbara, for five minutes.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's nice to see everyone this afternoon.

I'd like to start off with Alisdair McLean.

Mr. McLean, I wrote down some of the comments that you made in your remarks: a regulatory regime in place without delay; global power and offshore wind and the potential thereof; and significant opportunities for an offshore renewable sector. You also mentioned Northland Power and their business activities off Thailand. They also have significant business activities off Poland. As president of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, I visited Northland Power's offices in Poland when we went there on a country visit about two years ago, and I can tell you that, I agree with you, there are significant opportunities around the world, but there's also a significant opportunity in Canada.

With that, I would like for you to re-emphasize just how big the significant opportunity is off the east coast of Canada and, secondly, how competitive that jurisdiction is, relative to the rest of the world, in producing renewable power.

[Alisdair McLean]

First, on how competitive the region is, it is world-class. Everyone who has been to Atlantic Canada knows it's very windy. That's easy, but it's not just the wind. It's the combination of the wind, the sea depth and the geology. It's a very attractive area for the offshore wind industry, and I'm not sure there would really be many better areas in the world.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Secondly, as we all know, we need a robust regulatory system in place to allow that development to occur, and Bill C-49, I take it, would be a large piece of that regulatory apparatus.

[Alisdair McLean]

Yes, there's no question about that. The offshore energy regulators are going to be an essential component to making sure there's a good regulatory process in place and we have an industry that's sustainable and inclusive going forward.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you, sir.

To Elisa from Marine Renewables Canada—

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Mr. Sorbara, I'll ask you to pause for a second.

Colleagues, a 30-minute bell is ringing. Is there unanimous consent for us to finish with our round? We will finish on time. That will give colleagues an ample amount of time to get back to the House to vote in person, if required.

Do we have unanimous consent?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Sorbara.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Unanimous consent. It's always good when we all work together in a collegial manner. I love it.

To Elisa from Marine Renewables Canada, I listened intently to your testimony as well. In this transition that is happening around the world to renewable energy, in your view, how will this legislation bring certainty for proponents looking to build renewable energy projects off the east coast of Canada?

[Elisa Obermann]

At this point, there really isn't a path for projects to move ahead, particularly in areas where there would be joint management. You would be dealing with two different governments on trying to get a project to move forward. To me, number one, that is very important, and this legislation does that.

The other thing I mentioned during my remarks is also just timing. The fact that this legislation is being considered, obviously, will bring certainty as well once it is established, to both very important aspects of development and attracting investment to Canada.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I will stop there, seeing we are 13 minutes away from a vote. I know my colleagues will have questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, George Chahal]

Thank you, Mr. Sorbara.

We'll now go to Mr. Simard for five minutes.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you.

Ms. Arnold, would you support an amendment to the bill that resolves the issue of conflicts over use? If a renewable energy project conflicts with an oil and gas project, the renewable energy project should take precedence. Would you support this type of amendment?

[Shannon Arnold]

I'll probably defer to my colleagues at East Coast Environmental Law as to whether there needs to be an amendment for that or not, but we have put forward an idea that we want to see in the “purpose” section. We would like to see it reflect the mandate of the new acts and aim to include language that we're looking at, about renewable energy transition and acknowledging the urgency of moving away from climate change and fossil fuels.

We would prefer that this really be dealing with offshore renewable energy and making a move, as much as possible, away from fossil fuels immediately.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you.

I'll turn to you, Mr. McLean. In your presentation, you spoke about a study that you conducted in 2021. The study showed that offshore wind could be a better option than onshore wind.

I don't know whether you have any figures, or whether you have conducted an analysis regarding a shift in the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, from the oil and gas sector to the renewable energy sector through wind power.