Debates of June 11th, 2025

Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2025-26

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, how many of these LNG projects were completed without having to bypass the laws passed by the previous government, Bill C-69 and the carbon tax?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, we are looking forward. We have seen good development in the LNG sector, and with the one Canadian economy act, we will see even more. We are excited about it. We hope the member will join us.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, if that were the case, there are a whole bunch of projects that the previous government inherited. How soon is it until all of those projects are completed?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, we look forward to watching the ribbon-cutting for LNG Canada later this month.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, that is one, and it needed an exemption from Bill C-69, Bill C-48 and the carbon tax.

I am going to ask the minister this again. How many projects are they going to be cutting the ribbon for that did not need an exemption from the laws of the Liberal government of the last 10 years?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, the Conservatives are looking backwards. We are looking forward. We are trying to pass the one Canadian economy act to accelerate and speed up projects. We really hope, if they are so interested in seeing projects—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, how much did the Government of Canada spend to buy the Kinder Morgan expansion pipeline?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not sure how that is relevant for moving forward. What we are focusing on is how we move forward.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, what did Kinder Morgan have budgeted to complete that project?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are focused on moving forward. We are focused on building new projects of national interest. We are focused on ports, roads—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, did the Government of Canada spend $34 billion to build a pipeline that Kinder Morgan was going to build for $9 billion?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, we are looking backwards. We are trying to look forward. The one Canadian economy act would accelerate the development of projects of national interest. If the Conservatives want—

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

The hon. member, for the final question.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Ponoka—Didsbury, AB]

Mr. Chair, does the minister think there is a business case for LNG exports to Japan, Germany, Poland and Greece?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, there are very good opportunities for LNG. Canadian LNG is the best in the world.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Chair, Conservative, John Nater]

Order. There has been a lot of back-and-forth. I will ask members to try to keep the back-and-forth to a minimum if they do not have the floor.

Resuming debate, the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, when we talk about wildfires in this House, we are not talking about distant headlines in some far off place, we are not speaking in hypotheticals and we are not debating future possibilities. We are talking about the lived, tangible experiences tragically experienced by Canadians across this great country over the last several years. Canadians have woken up to orange skies and smoky air thousands of kilometres from the nearest fire. Canadians have had to flee their homes, neighbourhoods and communities. Canadians have risked their lives as first responders to extinguish flames.

We are talking about children in my home province of Alberta who cannot play outside because the air is orange, including my own. We are talking about entire towns in northern Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba that have had to evacuate with just minutes to spare, homes left behind, schools closed, family pets crated in back seats and highways jammed with uncertainty. We are talking about flames sweeping across forests and grasslands from Jasper to Gaspé, consuming not just trees and brush but also memories, livelihoods and entire communities.

Just two years ago, wildfires shattered every known Canadian record. Fifteen million hectares of land burned, an area larger than England and roughly the size of Tunisia. Over 230,000 Canadians were forced from their homes. Nearly 11,000 domestic and international firefighters were deployed, and eight Canadian firefighters tragically lost their lives. Annual national costs for fighting those fires totalled over $1 billion, which represents a 60% increase to the annual average from 1980 to 2009.

Just last year, in my home province of Alberta, the Jasper wildfire burned approximately 32,700 hectares, making it the largest blaze in the park in over a century. It devastated about one-third of the town's structures, tragically killed one firefighter and forced a mass evacuation of 25,000 residents. Now, in 2025, earlier than expected and in regions we once thought immune, it is beginning again.

Canada is facing two interconnected crises, twin challenges that strike at the heart of our communities and identity. The first is the climate crisis. A warming planet is no longer just a projection and a report; it is our lived reality. Our fire seasons now start sooner and end later. They burn hotter, move faster and stretch deeper into once-untouched regions. What were once once-in-a-century fires are now annual events. What was once predictable is now erratic.

The second is a crisis of sovereignty, where global volatility, unjustified trade actions and fragile supply chains test our ability to remain self-reliant and strong. When wildfires shut down transportation corridors, we all feel it. When pulp and paper mills close because forests are scorched or inaccessible, towns lose both jobs and community. When foreign tariffs hit our resource exports, it weakens not just industry but our national independence. We cannot afford to treat these as separate problems. We must face both, together and head-on.

That is why the 2025-26 main estimates are not just an administrative exercise. They are not just columns on a spreadsheet. They are a blueprint for resilience, a statement of values and a declaration of action. They represent the government's resolve to protect Canadians, not just from the fires of today but from the risks of tomorrow. Through these estimates, we are investing where it counts: in people, in preparedness and in prevention.

We are supporting the brave firefighters who suit up when everyone else is running the other way by funding modern gear and expanding training. We are empowering indigenous fire stewardship, recognizing that traditional knowledge and land-based practices are not just cultural heritage but critical science. We are investing in data, early warning systems, predictive modelling and real-time mapping, because when seconds count, so does every bite of information. We are also supporting communities before fire ever strikes, with education, FireSmart retrofits and land-management strategies to stop sparks from becoming infernos.

These are not abstract commitments. They are line items in this year's estimates: $52.53 million for the wildfire resilient futures initiative, funding proactive strategies to manage risk and build national preparedness; $81.65 million for fighting and managing wildfires in a changing climate, training frontline firefighters in partnerships with provinces and indigenous governments; $1 million for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, coordinating vital information and equipment sharing between jurisdictions; $2 million for wildland fire resilience, focusing on building community and landscape resilience to wildfires with prevention, mitigation and preparedness efforts; and $10.5 million for the spruce budworm early intervention strategy, addressing pest outbreaks, more likely because of climate change, that turn forests into tinderboxes, particularly in Quebec and the Atlantic.

Together, these investments total over $147 million, but their value cannot be measured by dollars alone. They are a recognition that resilience must be built before disaster strikes and that the price of inaction is far greater than the cost of preparation.

I want to speak for a moment not just about programs and policy, but about people: about the firefighter in British Columbia who worked 28 straight days sleeping in a tent and eating from ration packs to keep the fire line from breaching a town; about the indigenous elder in northern Quebec who taught community members how controlled burns used to protect their land and how they can again; about the Red Cross volunteers who set up cots, sorted blankets and offered hugs to evacuees; and about the business owner in Manitoba who, without being asked, kept their café open to feed weary fire crews and displaced neighbours. This is who Canadians are, and if they show up time and again, then so can we, as a government, as parliamentarians and as a country.

Let us also be honest about the stakes. In 2024, insured losses from extreme weather events in Canada reached an all-time high of $8.5 billion. That is not just infrastructure. That is homes, memories and generational wealth. Natural Resources Canada projects that if we do not adapt, wildfire suppression costs could double by 2040, surpassing $2 billion annually.

While we face fires at home, our global competitiveness is being tested. Canada's forestry sector, a cornerstone of many rural and indigenous economies, continues to be targeted by unjustified American tariffs. We are not only fighting fires; we are fighting for our place in the world, for our workers, for our industry and for our sovereignty.

That is why these estimates also support Canada's long-term strength. We are creating new careers in emergency response, fire science, forestry and clean energy. We are coordinating across provincial and territorial borders so that when one jurisdiction needs help, others can answer. We are centring reconciliation, funding indigenous-led stewardship and governance that reflect deep-rooted wisdom and shared leadership. We are also investing in infrastructure to rebuild with resilience and modernize how goods, people and ideas move across this country. This is what 21st-century sovereignty looks like: not just military strength or economic might, but the ability to protect land, people and our future.

I do not rise today just as a parliamentary secretary. I rise as someone who represents communities that have seen the sky turn grey at noon. I rise as an Albertan whose province knows intimately the ties between the forests and our future. I rise as a Canadian who believes deeply in this country's ability to lead, not in spite of our challenges, but because of them.

I will close with this. We cannot change the winds, but we can adjust our sails, and that is what this government is doing. We are steering toward a more resilient Canada, a safer Canada and a stronger Canada. Let us move forward not as individuals or parties, but as one country united in purpose and ready to meet these twin crises with clarity, compassion and courage.

I urge all members to vote in favour of the 2025-26 main estimates so we can fight wildfires, fight climate change and protect the sovereignty of this great nation we all serve.

I would like to ask the minister about wildfires. This season's wildfires have already been devastating, and it is only June. This is the third year in a row that the severity and intensity of wildfires are clear. There is no doubt the frequency and intensity of these fires are a result of climate change. We need to urgently fight climate change to protect the Canadian way of life, but we must also protect ourselves from the impacts that are already being felt.

Will the minister tell this House about what is included in the main estimates that would help Canada fight wildfires? What will the minister do moving forward to protect Canadians?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Chair, the wildfires are a difficult situation today. We are going to give an update tomorrow. It is a very challenging situation. My thoughts are with all those impacted by wildfires.

We will be there for Canadians. We have deployed the armed forces where the provinces have asked for them. We need to support our fellow Canadians.

We have two threats right now to our way of life. We have climate change and we have American tariffs. We have to fight both. We have to fund both. This government is committing $1 billion in the estimates to the purchase of wildfire-fighting equipment and the training of wildfire fighters. That is what we are doing in the main estimates.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Mr. Chair, the increasing severity of wildfires has not just destroyed communities, but also impacted supply chains, Canadian industries and our forestry sector. Many communities across Canada, including communities in my home province of Alberta, rely on our forests to make a living and to feed their families. These wildfires have taken away these economic opportunities that generations of Canadians have relied upon. They have put a strain on our important forestry sector at the worst time possible.

Simultaneously, Canada's softwood lumber industry is under attack from the United States' unjustified and unacceptable tariffs. This industry has been put under siege from American economic policies for years, and it is ramping up significantly under the current President of the United States.

Can the minister share with Canadians who are worried about the future of our forest industry what is included in these estimates and how we can help them move forward?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, the situation for our forest products industry is indeed challenging. As I have said in many of my comments, it is the canary in the coal mine. The forest products industry is currently on its fifth version of trade wars with the United States. We have contested this in adjudication, and we have won four times. They just keep coming back.

We will support the forest products industry, but this is what Donald Trump is doing systematically across all of the economy today. We will provide, in these estimates, $1 billion of support for the forest products industry in terms of innovation, data collection, wildfire fighting and pest control.

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Mr. Chair, Canada has been the closest friend and ally of the United States for over 100 years. This relationship has delivered unmatched prosperity on both sides of the border and strengthened people-to-people ties as much as it has our economies. Unfortunately, this old relationship we once had with the United States is over. It has launched an unjustified and devastating trade war against us, targeting its closest friend first by imposing tariffs on almost all of Canada's economy. Canadians are feeling the impact of these tariffs already, with many of our industries, communities and livelihoods under threat. We today find ourselves in a more uncertain and dangerous world. We cannot rely on the United States for our defence or our economic security any longer. This requires Canada to build now, to protect our economy and our sovereignty.

Can the minister tell this chamber how Canada will build the strongest economy in the G7?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, by passing the one Canadian economy act, we will build projects of major significance. We will support industries like the forest products industry. We will help them retool. We will provide them the liquidity support they need to deal with these unjustified tariffs.

Since 2017, over $10 billion of duties have been collected against the forest products industry, an unjust and inappropriate duty that is inconsistent with the current free trade agreement. We will continue to support the forest products industry and help it through this unjust and unfair trade war.