Evidence of meeting #29 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was projects.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
The key components were sourced by foreign companies.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Minister.
Mr. Kelloway, you have five minutes, sir.
Liberal
Mike Kelloway Liberal Sydney—Glace Bay, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Hello, Minister and Deputy Minister. Thank you for being here today.
I'm going to go through a couple of things that are truths or facts, and those that are not facts.
We talked about quotes earlier in this testimony. We talked about Premier Houston, who said that this project represents not just clean energy and jobs but hope for Nova Scotians, and that it speaks to something real.
We think about 20 years ago, when Stephen Harper spoke about Atlantic Canadians being self-defeatist. That was false then. It's false now. I look at the Mersey River project, and from what we've heard, it was successful in terms of getting a loan based on its merits. That's important to recognize, but it's also important to recognize that if you look at CIB, which we have, this binder would indicate that there are a lot of interesting projects that were funded by CIB.
One was funded to the tune of $31.3 million, connecting 1,000 households to high-speed Internet. Roughly one-third of this particular county had no adequate Internet access before this investment. I'm holding out hope that that project was judged on its merits and judged on its attributes and a solid business plan. That particular project was in Northumberland, home to Philip Lawrence. Were there any Liberal insiders there next to Philip Lawrence? I dare say not, because the process does not enable that.
I am absolutely excited that this project is happening in Mr. Lawrence's riding, because it connects people, and it gives people opportunity in terms of jobs and connectivity from a social perspective and for businesses.
I want to go to Mersey River for just a second.
When we look at the attributes of this particular funding, Minister, can you speak about the importance in terms of the jobs, in terms of the clean energy? A big thing in Nova Scotia is that we rely on Nova Scotia Power. It's a one-stop shop. They have it all. This is an opportunity to power 50,000 homes and create jobs with Nova Scotia ingenuity, not a self-defeatist attitude, that works on the best of who we are in Nova Scotia, working with the province that happens to have a Conservative leader who sees beyond what we're doing here today.
Can you speak to that?
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
Two hundred and fifty jobs in Nova Scotia, in the southern part of the province, are critical. I heard that when I was at the member's riding. The mayor, who was there, was very happy to see a project of this scale, the jobs that it will create and the opportunities that it creates in the local community.
The Progressive Conservative government in Nova Scotia is a strong supporter of this and took legislative action to enable the grid to be diversified beyond Nova Scotia Power, so that a project like this could feed in renewable electricity. They expect that will scale up with other projects around the province. Irrespective of which ridings, I think we're going to see a lot more activity there.
As I mentioned, the Canada Infrastructure Bank also supported the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick intertie, connecting the grids of those two provinces to enable some of this renewable electricity to move out of Nova Scotia and into New Brunswick and towards points to the west and potentially the south. I think there's great commercial opportunity in that.
Building all of this infrastructure means a significant number of jobs, which is a good thing—jobs that are building clean infrastructure. That's literally taking pollution out of Nova Scotia and replacing it with clean electricity.
A more resilient grid, more local production, cleaning up the environment and improving the climate mean a lot of wins are being delivered. I heard a lot of excitement around the jobs when I was there.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Kelloway.
Thank you, Minister.
We have time for one last, shortened round. For that, I'm going to give each party two minutes, beginning with Mr. Lawrence.
The floor is yours, sir.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Clarke, ON
Thank you very much.
Minister, who sets the salary for the CEO of the CIB?
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
The salary for the CEO is set by cabinet through the Governor in Council.
Conservative
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
The CEO's salary right now is.... Give me a second, here.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Clarke, ON
I'll save you some time, Minister. With bonuses, it's over $1 million that he receives. That would give you a fair bit of control over his actions. I would think that the individual who controls your salary has a fair bit of control over decisions. Is that not fair?
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
No. I think there is clear oversight of the work that the CEO is doing through the board. Their reviews do come up for my review as well, but in Mr. Cory's case, he has delivered exceptionally well over 100 projects across the country, with almost $20 billion of infrastructure, and he has attracted $25 billion in private investment.
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Clarke, ON
Thank you, Minister.
It's been your evidence today that, despite the fact that four out of seven are Liberal-connected insiders who received over $200 million, including the CEO, there is no potential for conflict of interest there—that despite your own member saying that your government has a preference for Liberal members getting the money, there is no conflict of interest. Despite the fact you control the salary of the CEO, you have no control or power over the CIB. I don't even know how you keep a straight face.
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
I'm not sure what the question was, but I judge this based on the merits of the project, which are outstanding in this case. Whether it's job creation, whether it's a clean grid, attracting private investment—
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
—or building infrastructure in Canada, those are the purposes here.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Lawrence.
Thank you once again, Minister.
Next we'll turn the floor over to Ms. Miedema.
You have two minutes.
Liberal
Shannon Miedema Liberal Halifax, NS
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. I'm happy to be back here again as part of this fishing expedition motion.
Thanks, Minister, for being here.
I'm the member of Parliament for Halifax. Before that, I was the director of environment and climate change for the City of Halifax, which entered into an agreement to purchase 75% of its energy requirements through this wind development project, should it happen.
I'm a huge fan of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, because it is filling a gap, is being innovative and is being professional and diligent in making projects happen that otherwise wouldn't. It leverages private capital alongside public dollars. I'm really thrilled that this project is happening.
I wonder if you could just speak a little to the importance of the model of the Canada Infrastructure Bank in helping us address what we're facing as a nation today to scale up, to scale big and to build our country strong.
Thank you.
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
Many of these projects that are financed by the Canada Infrastructure Bank are challenged to proceed without private capital involved. They are large, complex projects, and attracting private capital is a critical piece of the puzzle in enabling us to advance, particularly in these times when investment is slowed and when we see the housing market slowed down in some parts of Canada because of uncertainty. I think it's really important that the mix of public and private capital right now restores confidence and gets projects built. That's what we need right now. We need job creation, and we need projects to advance and deliver for Canadians.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much.
Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We learned today that the new floor crosser, Marilyn Gladu, allegedly got a call from your office the day after she went to your side of the House, to the Liberal side. She was allegedly asked what infrastructure assistance she would need in her riding.
Mr. Robertson, you're telling me that decisions are made completely independently and that you weren't aware of the call. We would like to believe you.
That said, if it's true, I certainly find it a peculiar and highly questionable way of going about it. I imagine you're as outraged as I am.
If you are as outraged as I am, will you investigate and report to the committee on what happened?
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
My understanding is that there was nothing directly with the Infrastructure Bank or with the department.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
When the call comes from your office, that's fine. Is that correct?
If favouritism is shown under another program or another project, it's okay. It's not okay only if it's the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Is that correct?
Is that what you're telling me, Minister?
Liberal
Gregor Robertson Liberal Vancouver Fraserview—South Burnaby, BC
No, I'm not aware of any outreach or contact from any of the related entities right now, so I'm not sure what you're asking for. Can you clarify that?