Agreed.
No.
House of Commons Hansard #304 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pipeline.
House of Commons Hansard #304 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pipeline.
Rural CrimePrivate Members' Business
The Speaker Geoff Regan
[Chair read text of motion to House]
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
The House resumed from May 25 consideration of the motion that Bill C-330, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (landlord consent), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Controlled Drugs and Substances ActPrivate Members' Business
The Speaker Geoff Regan
Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, May 29, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-330 under private members' business.
Controlled Drugs and Substances ActPrivate Members' Business
The House resumed from May 28 consideration of the motion that Bill C-281, an act to establish a National Local Food Day, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
National Local Food Day ActPrivate Members' Business
The Speaker Geoff Regan
Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-281 under private members' business.
National Local Food Day ActPrivate Members' Business
The House resumed from May 29 consideration of the motion that Bill C-262, An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, be read the third time and passed.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ActPrivate Members' Business
The Speaker Geoff Regan
Pursuant to order made on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C-262 under private members' business.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ActPrivate Members' Business
Jody Wilson-Raybould LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table, in both official languages, a legislative background for Bill C-75, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and other Acts and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to five petitions.
James Maloney Liberal Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian parliamentary delegation respecting its participation in the mission to Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom from March 5 to March 9, 2018.
I would like to say a special thanks to all the participants on the trip, who made it a very worthwhile venture. Members from both sides of the House worked tremendously well together, which made the trip a success. I would also like to say a special thanks to our clerk, who put together a great itinerary and made for a very special trip. Last but not least, I would like to say thanks to the hon. member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, without whom this trip would not have happened. He is the chair of the Canada-Europe group, and without his pushing this agenda, it would not happened. For that, I thank him.
Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in relation to Bill C-68, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act and other Acts in consequence.
The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
Stephen Fuhr Liberal Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Defence in relation to the main estimates 2018-19.
Pat Finnigan Liberal Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling two reports.
I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food entitled “Toward a Resilient Canadian Agriculture and Agri-food System: Adapting to Climate Change”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
I also have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food concerning the votes in the main estimates 2018-19 that were referred to the committee.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, I am tabling, in both official languages, the dissenting opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada to the report on climate change and soil and water conservation.
We agree with most of the report and most of the committee's recommendations. However, we wish to draw attention to some aspects of the report and believe that more information should be made available to Canadians with regard to the Liberal government's climate change policies.
It became clear in committee that the Liberal members were deliberately avoiding discussion, particularly with regard to some politically troubling facts related to the economic aspects of the carbon tax, the key element of the government's pan-Canadian framework.
We believe that it is important that the government tell Canadians what impact the carbon tax will have on lowering greenhouse gas emissions and what that tax will cost Canadian farm families.
We believe that it is irresponsible of the government not to assess all of the impacts the federal carbon tax will have on the environment, the economy, the budget, and employment and not to share that information with Canadian farmers and agricultural businesses.
The dissenting opinion contains only one recommendation, and that is that the government scrap the federal carbon tax, which is causing disproportionate harm to the agricultural industry and rural communities.
MaryAnn Mihychuk Liberal Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs entitled “Main Estimates 2018-19: Vote 1 under Canadian High Arctic Research Station, Votes 1, 5, 10, L15 and L20 under Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Votes 1, 5, and 10 under Department of Indigenous Services Canada”.
Kevin Sorenson Conservative Battle River—Crowfoot, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 47th report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts entitled “Report 5, Preparing Women Offenders for Release—Correctional Service Canada, of the 2017 Fall Reports of the Auditor General of Canada”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Mr. Speaker, I move that the second report of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources, presented on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, be concurred in.
I look forward to splitting my time with the hon. member for Carleton.
It is timely today that we talk about the study submitted by the natural resources committee entitled “The Future of Canada's Oil and Gas Sector: Innovation, Sustainable Solutions and Economic Opportunities”.
Before we talk about the future, we need to discuss the importance of responsible resource development to Canada with respect to its impact on the standard of living of Canadians and on our country's ability to provide jobs and funding for social services and social programs that are valued across the country, but also in terms of Canada's position in the world as a global leader. There is no doubt about the importance of responsible resource development, and energy development in particular, to all of Canada.
A professor of economics from the UBC Vancouver School of Economics recently submitted an editorial to The Globe and Mail and eloquently outlined the importance of responsible resource jobs for sustaining Canada's middle class. He said:
Opinions on pipelines [and there sure are more today than ever before] are flowing around Canada more quickly than the oil. The ultimate decisions on natural resource projects, however, ought to derive from facts. As an economist studying income inequality over the last 15 years, I can offer a key fact to the debate. In my view, nothing has contributed more than natural resources to buttressing the Canadian middle class against the rapidly changing global economy of the 21st century.
The importance of resources to middle-class incomes is most clearly seen by looking at a simple measure: the earnings of the middle worker in the economy (the median). Between 2000 and 2015, Canadian median earnings rose by just 6 per cent after inflation.... However, underneath this national number lie vast differences across provinces. While Alberta saw earnings growth of 27 per cent and Saskatchewan topped 44 per cent, Quebec only saw growth of 6 per cent and Ontario suffered a loss of 4 per cent. When researchers have pushed beyond these basic comparisons, the same essential fact holds up: Without income derived from the resource boom, Canadian inequality and the well-being of the Canadian middle class would be much worse than we’ve experienced.
He points out that it is important for social services, nursing, education, and transit. Those benefits help the provinces by providing plentiful resources, but importantly, he notes that, “since our equalization formula uses the federal purse to top up provinces without comparable resource-revenue streams”, even when that revenue is derived in certain provinces in the energy sector, it is shared across the country and benefits all Canadians.
He notes the benefits of resource development to indigenous communities living near natural resources. He also talks about the sharing of economic benefits that indigenous communities deserve for their future, and about the opportunities for them to be partners and beneficiaries of responsible resource development.
As an Albertan, that is something I have seen in my backyard and in northern Alberta for a long time. I often find myself questioning whether I am in a twilight zone when I hear members from other parties spinning the myth and narrative that indigenous people and indigenous communities are of one mind and are opposed to oil and gas and pipelines. It is not at all the truth. In fact, holding back Canadian oil and gas development disproportionately harms people in rural communities and remote areas, and in particular indigenous communities, which deserve to pursue prosperity, a legacy, and opportunities for future generations and for all their young people, just as all other communities deserve to do that through responsible resource development in Canada.
The professor says:
The stakes we face are high. To maintain public support for pro-growth initiatives such as trade agreements and for doing Canada’s part in limiting climate change, we need to ensure that economic growth is felt by everybody in society. Economic growth that brings everyone along gives all families a stake in Canadian economic success. This increased economic security energizes social forces that pull us together.
He also points out:
Around the world, the relentless pressures of technology are hollowing out middle-class employment, leading to stagnating middle-class incomes and exacerbating social tensions. These same pressures appear in Canada too, but resource development has allowed the Canadian middle class to push back on these pressures better than almost any other advanced economy on earth.
It is a reality today that more energy investment has left Canada under the current Prime Minister and the Liberals than in any other multiple-year period in seventy years, over half a century. The Liberals have suggested at times that this is a function of prices. Of course, there are many more factors impacting oil and gas and resource development in Canada other than prices. It has to do with certainty, predictability, stability, and clear, concrete measures, outcomes, roles and responsibilities. Oil and gas proponents talk about the devastating impacts of the cumulative costs of layers of regulations, additional red tape, duplication with other jurisdictions, and tax increases. Therefore, we have to review what has caused investment to leave Canada at historic rates and hundreds of thousands of Canadians to lose their jobs in the energy sector under the Liberals.
Last year, the Prime Minister told the world that he wanted to phase out the oil sands. In case Canadians thought that this was a slip of the tongue, unfortunately he reinforced it again just a couple of weeks ago in Paris, when he said he regretted that Canada cannot get off oil tomorrow. Therefore, at the outset, is it any wonder that oil and gas proponents and investors around the world might be wondering whether or not the Prime Minister and the Liberals actually welcome oil and gas development in Canada? The Liberals campaigned in co-operation with anti-energy activists, denigrating Canada's world-leading track record as the most responsible oil producer in the world, and denigrating our track record for the highest standards, second to none, for science-, evidence-, and expert-based decision-making, and for consultation with impacted communities and first nations, including the incorporation of traditional knowledge.
The Liberals froze the regulatory system in February 2016, causing massive uncertainty for energy development in Canada. They announced interim measures, most of which had been hallmarks of the Canadian regulatory system for decades. However, one was not, and that was the consideration of upstream emissions for pipeline approvals. Not only was that an overreach into provincial jurisdiction, because that is where upstream emissions are regulated, but it was later magnified by the Liberals instructing that downstream emissions coming from tailpipes should also be attached to a pipeline for consideration of its approval. Ultimately, that is what caused the abandonment of the potential nation-building opportunity in energy east. However, before that, the Liberals had vetoed the northern gateway pipeline, previously approved by the Conservatives, which was the only new stand-alone opportunity to reach tidewater to get Canada's energy into the Asia-Pacific, which will continue to demand oil and gas for years to come. Then, the regulatory delays caused the abandonment of two LNG projects, holding Canada back by missing Asian contracts.
On top of all that, the Liberals decided, at the very worst time for energy workers, to remove the tax credit for new oil and gas drilling and exploration wells, and then imposed a carbon tax on all provinces, increasing costs right across the board. They imposed an offshore drilling ban, which the Premier of the Northwest Territories said destroyed hope for the future of people in his communities. The ban was imposed without adequate consultation, and it does not apply to any other Canadian coast. It stops exports, and it clearly targets the oil sands and the pipelines, because it does not address foreign tankers or American tankers in the region.
Here is the reality. The world is going to continue to demand oil and gas. Developing countries need oil and gas. Canada should be the choice as a world-leading, responsible provider of oil to the world. The Liberals need to stop implementing policies, legislation, and costs that shut down Canadian energy.