Natural Resources Committee on May 28th, 2026

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Thank you, Chair, and hello, colleagues.

Thanks to the witnesses for some really great testimony.

My questions are for Mr. Milligan.

Mr. Milligan, where are you today?

[Chris Milligan]

I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia, today.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Is it windy?

[Chris Milligan]

Today, I can see that the flags are blowing outside my window, and I regularly keep track of that.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Yes, I bet you do. It's also very windy in Cape Breton, so my wife tells me.

I want to talk a little about the potential. You talked in your opening testimony about the potential for offshore wind. A lot of discussion is happening right now with respect to Wind West. I'm wondering if we can unpack that a bit and talk about some of the tangible impacts.

What was brought up in one of the questions is “why wind?” I wonder if we can unpack “why wind?” and its impact on the grid, which is probably the obvious question. If you can, talk a bit about the impact on economic activity in Atlantic Canada and also on jobs and potential jobs.

[Chris Milligan]

I'm happy to talk about that.

The opportunity with offshore wind on a national scale probably mirrors the opportunities we've seen with onshore wind already in Nova Scotia. That means a couple of things. It means a shift to a greater domestic supply of energy, from an energy security lens. It means a shift to a lot more activity in the construction sector locally. That would apply even more so at a greater scale for offshore wind. It means there's a significant decarbonization opportunity that comes with wind. All of those are key elements of that shift in the portfolio.

When we think about offshore wind and the potential opportunity there, it really is important to talk about it on a national scale. Nova Scotia, from an electricity perspective, is a small market, and even the Maritimes is a small market. Our peak demand in Nova Scotia is about two and a half gigawatts. For the Maritimes, it's about six and a half gigawatts, and for Quebec, it's about 45 gigawatts. You can see from that sense of scale the difference.

As we understand it today, the smallest commercially viable size for an offshore wind project is about one gigawatt, or more than Nova Scotia could absorb on its own. The opportunity for economic impacts by moving to a domestic, secure supply of energy is in construction jobs, not just for the wind facility itself, but for the ports that are used to supply the infrastructure there and for the transmission infrastructure that would connect offshore supply to other jurisdictions, whether that's through New Brunswick, through Quebec, perhaps as far as Ontario or through other jurisdictions.

Then there are the ongoing operations and maintenance activities. All of those come without a fuel cost that's tied to global markets. They also come without the greenhouse gas emissions that sometimes come from other emitting sources of energy.

Those would be some of the advantages that we would see to that source of supply.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

That's very helpful, Mr. Milligan.

In terms of employment and jobs, estimates may be hard to pin down. I guess that would depend on the amount of wind power you generate. Are there estimates or prognostications on that in the near future and long term?

[Chris Milligan]

They're out there from reputable sources, including through work that's been done by, for example, Net Zero Atlantic here in the Maritimes. At the Independent Energy System Operator, our focus is more on the energy system planning rather than on economic impacts.

That's not something that I'd have on hand today, but I can certainly follow up afterwards.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Yes, I'd appreciate that.

We can pivot, then, to an item that the federal government recently released: the national electricity strategy. I'm wondering if you could share your views on it, number one. I'm also wondering if you think it provides a clear signal to the market with respect to the potential for investment.

[Chris Milligan]

Thanks for the question. That's a really good one.

We were excited to review that strategy when it came out. There are some really helpful elements in there, and it would align closely with what Mr. Powell mentioned earlier.

Providing a clear signal of growth certainly aligns with demand forecasts here in Nova Scotia, but it's always helpful to see that confirmed on a national scale. I would say that the tax credit for intraprovincial transmission inside the province is going to be extremely helpful from an affordability lens. We've discussed affordability here today already, and affordability is important—very much so—to customers in Nova Scotia. The growth in demand will lead directly to a need for additional investment in the transmission system, and the opportunity to have cost savings from that investment tax credit for customers will be very beneficial.

In terms of a direct signal on economic growth and investment, the other one that was helpful—and we see this through the lens of our energy resource procurement activities—was continuing to get greater clarity on the emissions policy framework going forward. It will be very helpful in enabling and unlocking some of those investments. The clarity that was provided on the trajectory for the carbon price, in parallel with the electricity system release and the discussions to come around the clean electricity regulations, will be important for unlocking some of the investments in the balancing resources we discussed earlier.

I would say that it is helpful to see the signal in the report, and there's more to come from there in terms of how it unfolds for the balance of the year.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Shannon Stubbs]

Thanks, gentlemen.

Now we will move to Monsieur Simard for two and a half minutes. I was afraid you were not going to get another chance, but indeed you will.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Powell, Mr. Breton, the share of electricity in China's final energy basket has reached 32%, which is a lot. It also explains why China is at the forefront of all battery technology deployment.

Still, there's an opportunity to develop a value chain in Canada and Quebec. I'd like to know if you have any estimates on what that represents in terms of economic development and benefits, for example with regard to transportation electrification and charging infrastructure or, more generally, the deployment of networks and associated technologies, such as storage technologies.

If you have any statistics that might be interesting for the committee on this subject, I invite you to send them to us in writing. I'd also like to hear your thoughts on the value chain and what it represents.

[Daniel Breton]

We see two extremely important challenges for the future in terms of the supply chain. The first is to have qualified staff. Having enough skilled labour is going to be a challenge. We're already seeing a shortage of skilled labour in charging infrastructure and electricity generation.

The second challenge is to have the necessary equipment. There's already a shortage of transformers and electrical panels, among other things. That increases delays in deploying infrastructure and electrical projects. Our members in electrical equipment production have already said that Quebec and Canada are competing with foreign countries looking to move these companies to Mexico, China or Europe.

There's competition in the supply chain and in the production of material. However, as more and more countries want to electrify their economies, if we don't switch quickly from a less passive and to a more aggressive approach, we'll end up with leftovers. That's a real challenge going forward.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Powell, I'm sorry. The clock is ticking.

I invite you to send us your answer in writing.

[Michael Powell]

We'll talk after.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Shannon Stubbs]

Thank you, Monsieur Simard.

We're at time, and that would be wonderful.

I've made an executive decision to split the round, with three minutes on this side and three minutes on this side.

We'll go over to Mr. Khanna for three minutes.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My question is for Mr. Breton.

Do you believe that the government should enforce the EV mandates?

[Daniel Breton]

Do you mean the federal government?

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Yes. Do you believe in EV mandates?

[Daniel Breton]

The federal government has adopted what we call a GHG standard to reach 75% EV sales by 2035, which is different from an EV mandate because it allows carmakers like Honda and Toyota to get credits when they sell a hybrid, which is not considered a zero-emission vehicle.

We've been advocating for regulation. We think this is a pragmatic regulation, and we are supporting it.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

You mentioned that the pricing of charging an EV during low peak times would be very affordable. How comparable would the cost be to gas when you charge at high peak times?

[Daniel Breton]

If you look at what's happening in Ontario right now, you'll see that they have different pricing systems for electricity demand depending on the time of day. Depending on the package you're getting, it can go as low as five cents per kilowatt hour and as high as more than 15¢ per kilowatt hour. People are encouraged to use their electricity during off-peak demand times.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

I respect each jurisdiction and respect each province, but when it comes to, for example, Oxford County, we have great discussions with automakers there. GM's CAMI plant is in my riding, where the BrightDrop vehicle, an electric commercial vehicle, was not selling. There was no demand for it. The unions came out saying that there was no demand for it. That plant is now sitting idle, and 1,200 workers have lost their jobs.

Farmers are saying that they don't want to invest in buying an electric pickup truck because of the towing capacity. There are concerns about weather. There are concerns about infrastructure to charge those vehicles in rural communities like ours. Obviously, weather plays a huge role, especially on some of those roads.

Last year's market numbers in Canada and the U.S. are showing that the number of sales in the North American market is on a decline. How is that sustainable?

[Daniel Breton]

That's not happening anymore. The market is actually going up again. If you look at EV sales between 2017 and now, you will see that EV sales have started to go up again. There was a decline in 2025. Sales have started to go back up significantly in 2026.

I can tell you, because I live in rural Quebec and work with a lot of people who use pickup trucks.... I actually did 1,000 miles with a pickup truck two weeks ago, and there was no issue at all. I had all the infrastructure I needed.

The truth is that when you live anywhere in rural Canada, most of the charging happens at home because you don't live in a high-rise building. You can charge at home. You get 500 to 700 or 800 kilometres of range. If you use a trailer, it will go down to 300 or 400 kilometres.

The truth is that for most people, EVs are the solution. Because good pickup trucks have been produced and on top of that—