Debates of May 15th, 2012

Environment—Main Estimates, 2012-13

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I am not sure from where my colleague is drawing these numbers.

Climate change remains one of the principal focuses of my department, as does clean air in its various air sheds across the country and through the different programs we operate.

My colleague needs to understand that the central objectives of Environment Canada have not changed at all. We remain focused on providing Canadians with an environment that is clean, safe and sustainable.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, if the minister is incapable of telling us which jobs are going to be cut by his department, could he at least tell us what are the duties of those people responsible for the environment and air quality? Can he say whether this program, in light of all these job losses, will fulfill its mandate despite the approximately 100 jobs being cut?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I am beginning to understand where my colleague may have gone off track.

The main estimates do not include all of the funding initiatives that are continued through a fiscal or calendar year. The central core obligations and services of Environment Canada will be maintained. We are, as are all other departments and agencies, doing our part to contribute to addressing a deficit reduction.

However, the central services and obligations of Environment Canada will continue to be met and funded.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, we are eager to see how services of the same quality can be provided with far fewer employees working on the program.

Let us now turn to environmental stewardship. The Canadian Association of Professional Employees, CAPE, indicated that half of its affected members work for one single branch: environmental stewardship.

Can the minister describe the type of work performed by CAPE members?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, there has been a great deal of exaggeration from some quarters as to the number of jobs that will eventually be declared surplus and those individuals who have an affected status.

I would like to go back and show my colleague how wrong the opposition was a year ago when we issued 776 affected letters. It portrayed this as 776 jobs lost, individuals on the street. In fact, no permanent employees last year lost their jobs. There are still 193 staff being replaced as attrition takes our numbers down. However, again, where it was exaggerating and fear-mongering about—

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, the minister has not answered my question at all. I asked him to describe the type of work performed by CAPE members.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, my colleague asked about jobs that will be lost and I provided her with a good example of how some of her assumptions are based on misrepresentations and inaccuracies.

With regard to this budget year, 2012-13, we have reported that 340 individuals in total are affected. This will, in the fullness of time we assume, result in 200 positions being declared surplus according to workforce adjustment provisions under the Treasury Board. These employees will have 12 months severance with assistance to find a new job.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, once again, they are talking about job cuts, but the minister is incapable of describing the duties performed in these jobs.

Can the minister at least tell us how many full-time jobs there were?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I just gave my colleague that number. There are 340 affected permanent positions, we believe, and again this is not a precise number. As we go forward, the department and the assistant deputy ministers, in their wisdom, will move these numbers around to ensure that our core services are not compromised. However, we believe that there will be 200 surplus permanent positions by the end of the process.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, in terms of scientific research, the department's latest report on plans and priorities indicates that the department is running the risk of not being able to keep abreast of breakthroughs in the science and technology sector, because of challenges with the transition.

So, how many research jobs have been or will be cut at Environment Canada?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Again, Madam Chair, my NDP colleague is using the same selective piece of news media copy that her Liberal colleague used a little earlier. The report on planning and priority is a perfect opportunity for department officials to examine potential risks in the year ahead, and they did. Unfortunately, the paragraph that has been taken out of context was followed by several paragraphs that outline very clearly how we would address that potential risk and how we would maintain the department.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, we keep asking the same questions because we need answers and we are getting none.

Termination notices have been sent to employees in the environmental emergencies program of Environment Canada. That is the unit that responds to oil spills and environmental emergencies.

How many people in total worked in the programs before they were restructured?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, in response to my colleague, I would first suggest that perhaps the NDP members do a little more original research rather than rely on flawed news media reports as the basis for their questions.

With regard to the environmental emergencies offices, we are consolidating six offices—Madam Chair, do you want me to answer the question?

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, we actually rely on scientific facts. I have no idea what the minister is relying on.

Could you tell us how many people in total worked in that office and how many people will be working in the two consolidated offices in Canada's national capital region and in the Montreal area?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to answer my colleague's question about environmental emergencies, potential pollutant spills, oil spills and the like. The fact is we are consolidating six offices to two, but Environment Canada is not a first responder. I am assured by my deputy and officials that we will continue to provide equally sterling services from those two consolidated offices as we have in the past with six. There are new technologies and applications that we expect to use, but that service will be maintained.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, the minister has still not told me how many people are going to work in the integrated offices.

I will change the topic since the minister is unable to give me a clear answer.

With respect to shale gas, a number of Canadians have expressed concerns about shale gas extraction because of its environmental impact. In September 2011, the minister announced that he had asked the Council of Canadian Academies to bring together a panel of experts to conduct an independent study on the state of scientific knowledge on the possible environmental impact of developing Canadian shale gas resources.

When will that study be finished and will it be made public?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, let me remind my colleague that shale gas falls within provincial jurisdiction, except when it occurs on federal lands.

She is quite correct in saying that we are accumulating scientific evidence from a variety of sources. We would expect to have that information probably later this year or early 2013.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry has the floor. There are 50 seconds remaining, which means 25 seconds for the question.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Beauharnois—Salaberry, QC]

Madam Chair, to respond to that statement, following an access to information request, the minister indicated that shale gas is affected by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Canada Water Act and the Species at Risk Act.

Are the regulations on shale gas, which were started in 2010, still being drafted?

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

The short answer to my colleague's question, Madam Chair, is no. However, I have now found the $88 million to which she originally referred. That is a cumulative savings number over a period of three years.

With regard to total job shrinkage at Environment Canada, those 200 eventual surplus positions represent about 3% of Environment Canada's total staff.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

That completes this round.

The hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Minister of Veterans Affairs]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise this evening to salute the remarkable work carried out by my colleague, the Minister of the Environment, who has the opportunity this evening to explain in greater detail his action plan and its measures, not only for the stewardship of our ecosystems throughout the country, but also his strategies for the management of drinking water and sewage, for air quality and, of course, for the reduction of greenhouse gases. As the minister explained, the results in this regard are compelling.

We are already a third of the way to meeting our objective, established in the Copenhagen accord, of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 17% by 2020. Already, there has been a reduction of approximately 48 megatonnes as compared to 2005. We are, therefore, well on track to meeting our objectives—thanks to the regulatory framework established by the minister—particularly in the transport sector, which covers a quarter of our country's greenhouse gas emissions. We are also making progress in the areas of electricity, coal, and the oil and gas sectors.

This action plan provides convincing results, and what is more, we still have a few years left to achieve these outcomes, as our objective was set for 2020.

I am also pleased to rise this evening as a Quebecker, since my remarks have to do with the St. Lawrence River, which is the backbone of Quebec, and in some ways, of the entire country.

The St. Lawrence plan includes measures we have put in place to ensure the sustainability and conservation of the St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence is one of the highest priority ecosystems in Canada. It is an environment inhabited by numerous species and is a major source of drinking water and resources for the population. It is a pillar of economic development; it generates billions of dollars in economic activity. That is why the health of this ecosystem is crucial to a prosperous Quebec and Canadian economy.

It is also why the governments of Canada and Quebec wish to pursue measures undertaken initially by the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1988, by creating the first ever St. Lawrence action plan in order to protect and restore the St. Lawrence River. Since 1988, this plan has produced results. Indeed, the Canadian government invested heavily and obtained tangible results.

The toxic liquid waste of 50 of the most polluting plants along the St. Lawrence was reduced by 96%. We have also protected 100,000 hectares of natural habitats by creating and expanding parks, ecological reserves and wildlife sanctuaries, and by establishing conservation agreements. We have also published a list of species likely to be designated as threatened or vulnerable, which may be given protected status under Quebec's Loi sur les espèces menacées ou vulnérables.

We have also created the Saguenay–Saint-Laurent Marine Park, the foremost marine park in Canada. We have redeveloped and reopened Montreal's Lachine Canal, 20 years after it was closed. Furthermore, 10,000 inspections of agricultural companies from six targeted regions have been carried out in order to identify the nonpoint-source pollution that may be affecting the quality of water in the St. Lawrence River.

Just a few months ago, in November 2011, the government pursued this course of action with the St. Lawrence action plan 2011-2026. I was honoured to join Quebec's sustainable development, environment and parks minister, Mr. Arcand, and our own Minister of the Environment to announce the plan at the Old Port of Montreal.

The agreement involves some 18 federal and Quebec departments, which are working together and taking meaningful action on behalf of the people by improving and maintaining the quality of the St. Lawrence ecosystem.

By 2016, the Government of Canada will have invested $49 million and the Government of Quebec $20.6 million to initiate dozens of projects in key areas, such as maintaining biodiversity and improving water quality.

We plan to focus on sources of agricultural pollution and the effects of emerging substances, such as pharmaceutical products. We want to improve contaminated sediment management tools and learn more about nonpoint-source pollution.

The work on evasive alien species must continue. We will protect environmentally sensitive areas through programs aimed at identifying protected areas and conserving biodiversity.

Furthermore, we will promote responsible fishery management and designate public access sites. We will support sustainable navigation activities and consolidate hydrometric data on water levels and supplies.

This new agreement between the Canadian government and the Quebec government is another example of partnership in the spirit of open federalism and of the excellent co-operation that is taking place with the Quebec government in many areas. This agreement breaks new ground with a numerical environmental prediction program that will also serve as an important decision-making tool.

Environment Canada has been supporting ZIP—priority intervention zones—committees and Stratégies Saint-Laurent since 1993 through an annual funding envelope of $1.1 million.

Lastly, in addition to engaging various federal and provincial departments, this plan makes room for community projects through the community interaction program. The $12.4 million allocated through this program since 1993 has made it possible to complete 375 projects worth $22.6 million, thanks to the commitment of individuals, community organizations and many partners whose actions have contributed to the development and protection of the St. Lawrence River.

This plan will allow us to pursue the excellent partnership we have created with the Quebec government and with our other partners in order to provide sound information based on the expertise of our scientists. It will allow us to get decision-makers and people who use the St. Lawrence involved in order to ensure the health of the St. Lawrence River.

The St. Lawrence River is vital to our development and has played an important part in our history and our daily lives. I live in Lévis, where we have the Quebec City-Lévis ferry, the St. Lawrence cruises, port activity and sailing activities. This summer and in the next few years, Quebec City will be hosting important events such as the Rendez-vous naval de Québec—there will be a number of vessels—and competitions will take place in Quebec City and the St. Lawrence corridor, with the tall ships.

Therefore it is our duty to leave a healthy St. Lawrence River to future generations so they can have the best possible economy and environment.

Before concluding, I would simply like to remind members that the work carried out by our Minister of the Environment has been noticed internationally. In fact, the International Institute for Sustainable Development has recognized that Canada is well on its way to reaching its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

The Minister of the Environment has made massive investments in Parks Canada, including through the economic action plan. We have a Minister of the Environment who has actively committed to increasing protected areas throughout the country in order to protect our ecosystems. Our minister keeps in direct contact with major greenhouse gas emitters in order to ensure that Canada, in co-operation with the provinces, can meet its targets.

[The Chair, NDP, Denise Savoie]

We will now proceed with questions for the minister.