Debates of May 31st, 2010

Natural Resources--Main Estimates, 2010-11

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, I would have a hard time agreeing with my NDP colleague, despite the fact that I like him personally. Our positions on the subject are diametrically opposed. He does not think we should exploit Canada's oil resources. I think that we can achieve a balance, and that is our government's position. This is an economic driver that we have to use to ensure our energy security and position Canada as a major player, as well as to ensure responsible development that respects the environment.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Chair, by the time the National Energy Board becomes involved in regulating the offshore in the Arctic, companies have already signed the contracts obligating them to spend money. Does this not restrict the NEB's ability to ensure the safety of our coast?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, no drilling has been authorized in the Beaufort Sea. No authorization has been granted for any deepwater drilling in the Arctic waters in general. I repeat: the National Energy Board is an independent body. It is a quasi-judicial board with its own legislative framework that must be rigorously followed. That is the current situation.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Chair, the National Energy Board has no mandate for environmental protection. Does the minister agree with the government's current position to move more environmental protection to it and away from the environmental assessment office?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, that is false. The National Energy Board has environmental procedures that must be respected. I refer my colleague once again to the Canada Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations, which include many conditions. In the past, the board has conducted environmental assessments that may have overlapped those of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Our Bill C-9 aims to clarify the entire process to make it more user friendly, but more importantly, to better protect the environment. The public will have greater access to any assessments the board conducts.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and for the Canadian Wheat Board]

Madam Chair, it is good to be here this evening and it is good to have the debate that we are having. These are important issues for Canadians.

In keeping with the discussion, I would like to say a few words about the many good things that have been happening and are happening in our natural resource sector and in our resource-based communities, as well as some of the steps that the government is taking to ensure that Canada's status as a natural resource powerhouse continues to grow.

Our natural resource sectors are starting off this year better than last. In fact, they are leading the economic recovery that is now under way. For example, the mining sector is proving to be a real engine of economic success. Its real GDP grew by 3.3% in February, which is 1.6% above the level of February 2009. About 5,000 mining jobs have been created since January 2009.

Our forestry sector is benefiting from softwood lumber prices, which are up 71%, and pulp prices, which are up 50% since the same time last year. Several companies have started reopening idled mills, for example, in Boiestown in New Brunswick, Cornell in British Columbia and St-Séverin-de-Proulxville in Quebec.

As members will recall, with the launch of the economic action plan for Canada in budget 2009, the government made a commitment to support Canadians during the global economic downturn and to invest in measures to create jobs and economic activity today, while strengthening the foundation for prosperity in the future.

I will be splitting my time, Madam Chair, with the member for Saskatoon—Humboldt.

As a cornerstone of our economy and feeling the impact of the downturn, many of these measures were directed at our resource sector. Natural Resources Canada continues to play a key role in delivering these successful measures. I would like to talk about a few of those.

For example, NRCan, in partnership with the government's regional development agencies, is closely involved in the delivery of the action plan's $1 billion community adjustment fund. This is an unprecedented initiative to support workers in resource-dependent communities. The fund is creating jobs while supporting community-based initiatives to renew and diversify the economic base in communities across Canada, from exploring the tourism potential in Conception Bay North in Newfoundland and Labrador to upgrading wireless networks in Fort Steele, British Columbia.

NRCan is also leading the delivery of a two year $170 million action plan investment in forestry related initiatives. This investment is supporting the development of new markets, new products and new processes that will allow Canada's forest sector to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the global marketplace.

Of the $795 million clean energy fund, some $466 million has already been committed to work with public and private sector partners in the development of three large-scale carbon capture and storage projects. These projects are creating high-skill green jobs today and they are advancing Canadian leadership in this key technology. As the minister has already noted, the clean energy fund is also supporting 19 smaller projects across the country, demonstrating a wide range of renewable and cleaner energy technologies.

We have heard about the tremendous response by homeowners to the expansion of our home retrofit program. Beyond allowing another 300,000 homeowners to participate in the program, this $300 million action plan investment is generating an estimated $2.4 billion in economic activity across the country. Just as important, homeowners participating in the program are saving an average of 23% on their energy bills and reducing their household greenhouse gas emissions by an average of more than three tonnes per years.

These investments are a complement in addition to our very substantial investments in renewable energy and renewable fuels, to which the minister has already alluded. Clean energy includes nuclear energy and our government has made proper and responsible management of nuclear issues a priority right from the beginning.

Natural Resources Canada leads this important file as part of the government's commitment to meet Canada's energy and environmental needs. We must address the need to reduce the financial risk for taxpayers and ensure that Canada's nuclear industry is in a strong position to compete, sustain and add to the thousands of high-skill jobs it provides for Canadians.

As the hon. members here are aware, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is a central part of Canada's nuclear industry. Members are also aware that the government launched a review of AECL over two years ago. The review found that AECL's current structure was no longer appropriate to carry out its mandate. That is why we are moving forward with the restructuring of AECL.

The reactor division needs strategic investors to access new business opportunities, while reducing the financial risks carried by Canadian taxpayers. Restructuring will strengthen Canada's nuclear advantage and ensure that nuclear generation remains a viable option for emissions-free power at home and worldwide.

Addressing nuclear issues is part of building a stronger and more resilient resource sector. To achieve that goal, we must also look to our regulatory system. We want Canada to be the most attractive place in the world for new investment, investments that create jobs and prosperity for Canadians.

This is not only a concern for the Government of Canada, but stakeholders, including all of our provincial and territorial partners, agree that the system at this time is too cumbersome. I am pleased to say we have made significant advance in improving our regulatory regime. Two years ago, we established a major projects management office to provide overarching management of federal regulatory reviews. We are seeing real progress across departments in addressing systemic challenges.

Projects are monitored and tracked and deputy ministers receive weekly performance updates. Aggressive service standards are in place and these timelines are integrated into project agreements signed by deputy heads.

We are putting into practice a whole of government approach to aboriginal consultations. This emphasizes the importance of engaging aboriginal stakeholders in a meaningful way and doing it early in the process. The major project management office is also allowing for greater application of existing provisions of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act that can reduce duplication and overlap. Together all of these add up to a good start as the work continues.

Most recent, the Speech from the Throne committed the government to implementing simpler, clear processes that would improve environmental protection and provide a provide a greater certainty to industry. We followed through in budget 2010 with a proposal for targeted amendments to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. These changes would allow assessments to begin sooner. It would reduce delays and duplication and they would result in better assessments overall.

The goal of these changes is to take the focus away from the process and put it where it belongs, on results, results for our economy and for our environment. These changes would allow the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to conduct public hearings related to the environmental assessment of projects falling under their respective areas of expertise. This would make the process of negotiating formal agreements and organizing joint hearings with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency more efficient.

Certainly there is an efficiency to be gained, but tonight I would like to ask the minister this. What assurances can he offer Canadians that the changes we make will not compromise the effectiveness of environmental assessment for such projects?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, both the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission have a long history of conducting environmental assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. They have demonstrated their independence and their commitment to safety and the protection of our environment time and again.

The proposed amendment will not change the heart of the law. Environmental assessments, led by the NEB and the CNSC, must meet all the standards of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, period. That includes the provisions for public participation.

We are giving the NEB and the CNSC the authority to establish participant funding programs. This will ensure that Canadians, including aboriginal Canadians, have the support they need to prepare for and participate in environmental assessments in a meaningful way. In fact, the opportunity for public participation will increase since these funding programs will support participation at all levels of the process, not just for public hearings.

I can assure Canadians that the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act will continue to be met and that Canadians will have even greater and more meaningful access to contribute to and be part of the process.

[Bradley Trost, Conservative, Saskatoon—Humboldt, SK]

Madam Chair, I would very much like to speak tonight about some of the important issues relating to Canada's north, in particular an issue that is dear to my heart, having previously worked in the NWT, Nunavut and Yukon as an exploration mining geophysicist.

We have tremendous potential in our natural resources in the north, but one of the first steps is to understand and assess the extent of these resources. The Government of Canada has a northern strategy that recognizes this untapped potential of the north. In particular, I am speaking of the geo-mapping for energy and minerals, which all provide public geological and scientific information to help the private exploration that already takes place there. This initiative is a lot more than the natural resource projects. We are looking for outcomes that will benefit northerners and Canadians in all fields of economic development, community well-being and sustainable development.

Canada is a global leader in natural resources. The sector accounts for 12% of our GDP and employs close to a million people. However, to fully realize the immense economic opportunities in the north, we need to expand our ability to tap into the largely underutilized deposits of natural resources. Currently there is a lot of room to expand mineral and energy productivity in the north and one of the roadblocks to increasing our activity is that two-thirds of the sprawling land covering three territories lacks modern geological maps.

Unless one has been a geological professional, it may be hard to grasp. As my sedimentology professor who taught me mapping at the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Brian Pratt, told me once, even the good maps need to be redone, or as Mel Stauffer, another one of my professors said, even maps he himself had done contained errors, not because they were problematic but that is the nature of the mapping.

In fact, one of the last projects I worked on before being elected here was the Salluit in northern Quebec. We worked on a particular site that had been explored by the Geological Survey of Canada, by Falconbridge and by a team of geologists for a couple of weeks before we got there. Yet it was a non-professionally trained geologist, one of the old-fashioned types who just sort of learned by doing, who went out there and found a nickel showing, which we nicknamed blind man's showing because everyone had been so blind in looking for it.

Therefore, even with very good geological mapping information, we need to look over and over again. The average layman may not understand just how important a comprehensive geological mapping is.

The geo-mapping for energy and minerals program is actually the first step in the exploration of natural resources in the north. This program is an extensive series of research projects designed to document the geological structure and potential of the north. These studies involve experts from leading research institutes who are involved in conducting the field work and in subsequent laboratory analysis and data integration.

This work is accomplished through air land surveys, with airplane and helicopters doing airborne geophysics, which are also used to develop preliminary geological and geophysical snapshots of the area. Land surveys are then conducted, some of which I have done myself, observing and analyzing from a variety of sources, such as mountains, glaciers and bedrock, using geological and geophysical data.

Our government's priority is to build a vibrant economy in the north, while protecting its environment. We are currently reviewing and approving regulations so we can create an attractive investment climate for the sustainable development of natural resources. The goal is to make the project review more effective and efficient and to strengthen environmental safeguards at the same time. A number of improvements to the regulatory system have been made and work continues, in consultation with people in communities from all northern regions, on the northern regulatory improvement initiative, an important component of the northern strategy.

Geo-mapping for energy and mineral programs will deepen our understanding of the north and will provide opportunities for economic development for northerners.

While it is clear this program will contribute to the north's future, it also raises some questions about the involvement of northern communities. I would therefore like to ask the minister what is being done as part of this initiative to engage the peoples of northern Canada.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. Minister of Natural Resources has about 40 seconds to respond.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, under the Prime Minister's leadership, our government has introduced the most ambitious northern strategy in the history of Canada, and promoting economic and social development is a crucial component of that strategy. Understandably, a project of this scale must be based on agreement and co-operation.

We are consulting northern communities on all aspects and all initiatives. We want people to become involved in achieving our shared vision of how the region's vast potential should be developed, while facing the challenges that are inherent in an initiative of this kind.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Brossard—La Prairie.

On May 4 the minister wrote a letter to the clerk of the government operations committee stating that he had provided records to the Commissioner of Lobbying as well as to the committee. In fact, no documents from Natural Resources have been turned over to the committee. Can the minister clarify that statement, please?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Indeed, Madam Chair, I sent a letter to the Clerk of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates indicating that there is no record of any meeting with either Mr. Glémaud or Mr. Jaffer. That is what the committee wanted to know. It received a response to the effect that there was no meeting or any indication of any such thing.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, in response to a Liberal access to information request, NRCan officials stated they do hold documents related to either Mr. Jaffer, Mr. Glémaud or Green Power Generation. Why, despite the order, has the minister not turned that information over to the committee? Can the minister tell us to what those documents pertain?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

As I said, the department has informed me that the documents contained in the access to information request only pertain to Mr. Patrick Glémaud's role as Department of Justice legal counsel and the work he did with NRCan as a public servant.

There were no meetings between the political representatives in my office or the office of the former natural resources minister and Mr. Jaffer or Mr. Glémaud. Natural Resources Canada has not found any files at all indicating any meetings or anything of the kind. That is what I clearly told the committee chair.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, on May 6 the official for the minister's department stated that the information referred to a letter to the LRB and related only to Patrick Glémaud, as the minister has indicated, in his capacity as a former Justice Department lawyer. Now the production of papers motion refers to all documents about Mr. Glémaud. Why did the minister simply decide the information was not worthy to release?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, I think I already gave a clear answer to this question but let me add that the department also looked through its files and determined that it did not give any funding to any companies that Messrs. Jaffer or Glémaud may have been promoting.

In regard to funding for clean energy, our government has spent more than $10 billion since 2006 on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a sustainable environment. To do this, we invested in green infrastructure, energy efficiency, clean energy technologies, and the production of less polluting energy and fuels.

That is much more impressive action than what my colleague is talking about and to which I have responded three times.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, can the minister tell us the dates Mr. Glémaud was employed as a lawyer working at Natural Resources?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

To the parliamentary secretary, I apologize, I did not hear the comment.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Madam Chair, that is fine. I understand that we are here tonight to study the main estimates. The opposition may not know that or maybe the member is unaware of that. I do not know if the critic has told her or not, but this really has nothing to do with the main estimates.

The minister has been kind enough actually to answer the question two or three times. I think we should get back to the main estimates. We want to talk about the things that have happened at Natural Resources. We are certainly willing to talk about the many things that we have done over the years and that we are planning to do this year.

We are here to study the main estimates, Madam Chair. I would ask that you direct the opposition back to the questions relating to them and then we can certainly move ahead.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I do believe that the questions should relate to the estimates and so I ask the member to direct her questions to the estimates.

The hon. member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, this is about a $1 billion fund that is available through Natural Resources and I am concerned about that fund. I would like to ask the minister questions about it. This is about the estimates. These are the estimates. It is a $1 billion fund and it is very important for the discussion this evening. I do not know why the minister would not answer questions concerning this.

I will try the question again about Mr. Glémaud. Can the minister tell us what dates Mr. Glémaud was employed as a lawyer working at Natural Resources?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, as I said before in regard to the clean energy fund, another $205 million were allocated to the ecoENERGY retrofit—homes program. The 500,000 Canadian families that took advantage of it will reduce their energy consumption by an average of 22%. That is quite something. Imagine the reduction in greenhouse gases this entails. One thing is certain: every dollar invested in the program generated some $10 in economic activity. That is unbelievable. If my colleague wants to talk about the clean energy fund, I have good news like that which I will be happy to share.

[Siobhan Coady, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

Madam Chair, I would like to speak about the green energy fund, so I will refer back and help the minister along.

According to documents released by the government, Mr. Glémaud wrote an email on August 13, 2009 referring to himself as an employee at NRCan legal services. I would like to table the document that I just referred to.

I would also like to ask if Mr. Glémaud incorporated his company, Green Power Generation, in November of 2008 and, given that Mr. Glémaud was still an employee of the minister's department 10 months later, can the minister tell me if it is normal for an employee in his department to own and operate a private company that seeks government financing for clients?

[Dick Harris, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Chair, I rise on a point of order. It is obvious that members had plenty of time to ask these questions during their so-called committee inquiry as opposed to wasting the minister's time tonight, who is here to discuss the main estimates in the budget. I am sure the people viewing would like to hear questions specifically surrounding the budget. That is, of course, what we are all here for, at least on this side, notwithstanding the nonsense that the Liberal Party and the members opposite want to proceed with.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

I thank the hon. member for his comments, but I believe the minister has brought his answers back to the substance of the issue. I will ask the minister if he wants to respond to that question.