Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the chance to speak tonight with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the topic of the climate crisis and fossil fuel subsidies.
In my community, no matter what neighbourhood I am in, the sentiment is the same: What is the point of anything else if we are not ensuring we have a safe climate future for our kids, nieces, nephews and grandkids, recognizing this is our last chance to ensure that we do so?
We are already seeing these impacts every day across the country. Recently there was the mudslides and flooding from B.C. to the east coast. This is a reminder that we must listen to scientists, indigenous leaders and young people who are calling for parliamentarians to act immediately, which will require bold and transformational action to reduce emissions by what scientists tell us is required to keep the possibility of 1.5°C alive, our fair share being 60% by 2030.
How are we doing on this? A couple of weeks ago, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development released a scathing report, in which he wrote, “We can't continue to go from failure to failure; we need action and results, not just more targets and plans.”
As of now, Canada's emissions have continued to increase since 2015, as of the most recent inventory, and we are the worst performer of any G7 country. One obvious reason is that we continue, in the midst of a climate emergency, to subsidize fossil fuels to the tune of approximately $17 billion domestically in 2020, including over $5 billion for the building of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The report pointed to one example with a clear opportunity to improve the onshore program of a so-called emissions reduction fund. Launched in November 2020, part of Canada's COVID-19 emergency response plan, the government saw the onshore program as a way to help the energy sector deal with lower oil prices during the pandemic. It was designed to support emission reduction efforts by providing financial support to struggling companies in this sector. This is the important part. It offered up to $675 million to oil and gas companies to maintain employment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a particular focus on methane.
To date, the government has funded 40 projects via this $675-million fund without verifiable emissions reductions, two-thirds of which actually led to increased oil and gas production. The good news is that we have only spent $134 million of the $675 million to date. Now we have an opportunity to use these funds for real climate action, for significant emissions reductions, by creating good jobs, for example, in retrofitting buildings, retraining workers in oil and gas and supporting their transition in a just economy.
Could the parliamentary secretary share what the government intends to do to ensure that the remaining $541 million actually reduces emissions?