House of Commons Hansard #40 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was energy.

Topics

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives of course support every effort to aid Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion. Given Canada's very vocal support internationally and given the threats issued by Putin and the Russian regime to punish those who try to stop them, Canada must be prepared for a worst-case scenario. This is the government's paramount responsibility.

What meetings has the defence minister had with cabinet and her allied counterparts to prepare Canada in the event Russia acts on its threat and retaliates?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

Our government is prepared for any eventuality. We are putting in across-the-board measures to support Ukraine in this situation. We have NORAD modernization as our priority. We are working very closely with our American counterparts. We will leave no stone unturned for the safety and security of this country, this continent and indeed Ukraine itself.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, Russia has 40 nuclear-powered weaponized icebreakers. Does the House want to know how many Canada has? It is zero. Russia has 18 military bases near Canada's Arctic border, whereas we are struggling to get one naval base up and running.

Yesterday, Russia's foreign affairs minister said that a third world war will be “nuclear and devastating”. These remarks are deeply concerning and present a serious threat to our national security and to public safety.

Is the government taking this seriously? I am not quite convinced by the Minister of National Defence's answers. What meetings has she had to make sure we are prepared?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, I would like to assure my hon. colleague and the House of Commons that we are indeed prepared for every eventuality, including those from the information we have received relating to the nuclear allusions that Mr. Putin has been making. We need to be non-provocative, we need to be rational in this situation and we need to act together as a country and support each other in this time of need.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Speaker, according to the former lieutenant-general and former Liberal MP, the only thing that will stop the Russians is deterrence.

Russia has 40 nuclear-powered icebreakers in the Arctic, while Canada has none. Russia has 18 military bases near the Arctic, while Canada barely has one. The Russian ambassador, who is the chief propagandist for the Putin regime, is still here in Canada.

What exactly is Canada doing to deter the Russians and the Putin regime from coming here to Canada?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that our government is very serious about protecting our sovereignty in the North and the Arctic.

What we are going to do is continue working with the United States for our continent and our country. We also have the Coast Guard working for us.

Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, three days ago, 500,000 people had fled the war in Ukraine. Now it is more than a million.

I welcome the government's creation of the authorization for emergency travel, but more must be done, and faster. The minister calls it an authorization for emergency travel, but it is going to take two weeks to set up. After that, who knows how long it will take to process applications. Speedy is not exactly the IRCC's middle name.

I have a simple question. With the number of people fleeing doubling every three days, how long will it take for these people to actually get to Canada?

Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, today we announced a new program that will eliminate many of the administrative formalities to get Ukrainians here faster so they can have a safe place to stay for up to two years. There will be no limit to the number of Ukrainians who can apply. The process will be very fast.

Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Christine Normandin Bloc Saint-Jean, QC

Mr. Speaker, Canada needs to be prepared for a large‑scale airlift operation to receive refugees. We must be prepared to charter as many flights as possible to take into account an influx of exiles that swells by 500,000 people every three days and could still increase, as the Russian strikes become more brutal.

As I said, the government has the support of the Bloc Québécois in its support for the people of Ukraine, but things must move faster, especially since half of the exiles are children.

Will the government organize this airlift operation?

Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, first of all, we will do everything we can to welcome the people of Ukraine.

Second, since we know that family members of Canadian citizens may want to start a new life in Canada, everyone who arrives under these measures will be eligible for an open work permit. They will be able to start working right away if they wish.

We are also going to work very hard for families.

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, we need to stop the war in Ukraine and to do that we need to put pressure on President Putin where it counts, and that is his wealth. We know his wealth is held in the hands of Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovich, so will the Prime Minister commit to specific targeted sanctions to sanction the wealth and assets of these Russian oligarchs that are held in Canada?

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, together with our allies, we are ensuring that Russia's actions do not go unpunished. We have levied sanctions against President Putin directly, key members of his inner circle, his foreign minister, oligarchs close to the Putin regime and members of the State Duma, and we are not done yet. We will keep working with our allies to impose sanctions that are meaningful across the board.

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, we must stop the war in Ukraine and, to do so, we must put pressure on President Putin where it counts, namely, on his wealth.

We know that his wealth is in the hands of Russian oligarchs like Roman Abramovitch. Will the Prime Minister commit to putting in place sanctions against Russian oligarchs in Canada?

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, we have already imposed sanctions against President Putin himself and on key members of his inner circle, the oligarchs close to his regime and members of the Russian Duma. We will continue to exert maximum pressure on the Putin regime with our allies.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

Mr. Speaker, the former president of the United States and the Prime Minister issued a joint statement in February 2017, in which the Prime Minister committed to modernizing our NORAD equipment. Five years later, nothing has been done.

The Prime Minister has to realize that Vladimir Putin is a danger to Canada and that our country does not currently have the capacity to defend the Far North. Will he keep his promise to modernize NORAD, or will this be yet another broken promise?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, alongside our American partners, our government is making the investments necessary to modernize NORAD. It is a personal priority for me and for our government, and I have had many conversations with the secretary of defence of the United States about our continued co-operation to protect the sovereignty of our Arctic, to protect our continental defence and to work together for the benefit of the safety and security of our world.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC

Mr. Speaker, that is funny, because according to an April 2019 report from the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, the committee was surprised to learn that Russia's military had significantly increased its air and naval capacities in the Arctic.

The members of the committee said that the North Warning System was approaching the end of its life expectancy and that they did not understand why no funding had been allocated to replace it.

The Prime Minister promised the U.S. President in 2017 that he would modernize NORAD, and the committee recommended that he allocate the funding to do so in 2019. It is now 2022. When will the Prime Minister take action?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Oakville Ontario

Liberal

Anita Anand LiberalMinister of National Defence

Mr. Speaker, we are making major, essential investments in personnel, equipment and infrastructure in the north.

What have we done? We recently awarded a $592‑million contract to Nasittuq Corporation, an Inuit company, to operate and maintain the North Warning System.

We remain strongly and steadfastly committed to defending our national interests.

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC

Mr. Speaker, Putin's invasion of Ukraine has taught us all that we cannot take our Canadian Arctic sovereignty for granted. Russia recently filed a claim that adds 705,000 square kilometres to Russia's current Arctic claims. U of C Professor Robert Huebert said, “We haven’t seen a country before that’s extended over its neighbours. Here’s a situation where they’re claiming the entire Canadian and Danish continental shelf as part of their continental shelf.”

When will the government stand up to Putin and defend our Arctic sovereignty?

National DefenceOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Don Valley West Ontario

Liberal

Rob Oliphant LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Speaker, there is no situation stronger than our own sovereignty in this country, and Arctic sovereignty is an integral part of that. Canada's Arctic sovereignty is long-standing and well established. We work with our partners in the Arctic Council to ensure that we will continue to exercise that sovereignty well. We are taking stands with our Arctic Council partners to ensure that Russia gets the message strongly. We will not attend meetings in Russia and we will put a pause on all activity with Russia as we continue to defend Arctic sovereignty in Canada.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Greg McLean Conservative Calgary Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, with an aggressive Russian invasion of Ukraine, European countries recognize how dependent they are on Russian gas supplies. Forty per cent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia, and Europe’s security now has a gun to its head. Coal plants are being brought back online, undoing years of progress on emission reductions. Energy and security analysts have been warning about this danger for years, and the government has lacked Canadian vision on this matter.

When will the government end its efforts to replace Canadian energy with offshore resources from hostile regimes?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

North Vancouver B.C.

Liberal

Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, given the brutal invasion of Ukraine, European countries have very much made clear their decision to end dependence on Russian oil and gas. European countries have made it clear, including during this week's International Energy Agency ministerial meeting, of the pressing need for Europe to accelerate the transition to renewables and hydrogen.

We are conferring and working closely with our allies on short- and long-term options for stabilizing and ensuring access to a long-term energy supply. I am engaged directly with our American and European counterparts, and we are steadfast in our support for Ukraine and our European allies.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Greg McLean Conservative Calgary Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, it is an interesting approach, but since the government came to power, Russia’s natural gas exports have increased 35% and Canada’s exports have declined. The result is that tens of billions of dollars have flowed to fund Putin's war machine.

A decade ago, Canada had 14 LNG projects preparing to supply energy to an insecure world. Now, thanks to the government’s aimless policies, none are built and only one is under construction. This was a choice with now obvious consequences.

Will the government revise its regulatory regime to allow Canadian natural gas to get to tidewater?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

North Vancouver B.C.

Liberal

Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, as I said in the chamber earlier this week, we have made the decision to ban the importation of all petroleum products from Russia. We are working actively with our European colleagues to ensure both short-term and long-term access to energy supplies.

We are working very, very proactively with the energy sector in this country, including with the Pathways alliance, to ensure we are producing our energy resources in a manner that is consistent with addressing the climate crisis.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB

Mr. Speaker, Ukrainians are fighting for their lives in a war financed by Russian energy exports. Dependence on Russian natural gas threatens Europe’s energy security and fuels Putin’s war machine. The world needs Canadian energy to displace conflict oil and gas now and for a peaceful future.

Will the government agree, today, that an east-west energy corridor is vital, not just for the Canadian economy, but also for global energy security and a world where dictators like Putin cannot finance war?