House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 45% of the vote.
Oil and Gas Industry December 5th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, that seems like an odd question. We meet with people from all sectors of the economy. It is important for the government to have those conversations so we can make sure we have heard everyone's perspective before we implement public policies.
Questions on the Order Paper December 5th, 2023
Mr. Speaker, to date, a total of 496 firefighters have been trained through the fighting and managing wildfires in a changing climate program’s training fund, and $5,535,637 of the $28 million has been spent in the following cost categories, which are the expenditures: training, working groups and professional development costs and costs to develop training; salaries, benefits and stipends; materials supplies and equipment; travel expenditures; honoraria and ceremonial costs; conference fees; overhead costs or administrative expenses; and capital expenditures such as the purchase, installation, testing and commissioning of qualifying equipment, materials and products, including of equipment for managing wildfire risk.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, it is very important that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions everywhere, in all sectors of the economy. We need a plan to accelerate economic development in all the provinces and territories. It is very important.
One hydrogen company in Quebec used the tax credit set up by the government. It is a tool that speeds up—
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, I would correct a couple of things my hon. colleague said.
There is actually an interim action plan that has already been released for the period 2023-25. What the bill would do is put into law the requirement that we actually have the action plans going forward, every five years. That is for the purpose of transparency and accountability. It is a very important mechanism, just like was done in the Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act a couple of years ago.
The reason we are moving forward is that this is urgent. The world is moving. Countries around the world are moving. To build an economy that is going to create jobs and economic prosperity in a low-carbon future, they are working with labour and industry to ensure that is done.
We have just gone through five weeks when nothing occurred at the natural resources committee, because the Conservatives refused to allow anything to happen. That is a shame. It is a waste of taxpayers' money. It is something that should not happen in the Parliament of Canada.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, this is about two things. It is about ensuring that we actually have a plan to build an economy that can be strong and prosperous in a low-carbon future, and it is about ensuring that we have workers who are available and equipped to succeed, to actually ensure that we are able to build the economy of the future.
I would say to the hon. member that he just needs to look around him at all of the different projects that are ongoing, whether it is the various electric vehicle manufacturing facilities in Ontario, the battery manufacturing facilities in Quebec, the offshore wind development in Atlantic Canada, the potash mines and the nuclear development in Saskatchewan, the Dow chemical facility and the Air Products facility, the carbon capture and sequestration work that will be going on in the oil sands, or the battery facility and the renewable diesel facility in British Columbia.
It is amazing how fast this is moving, but it is moving because of deliberate public policy to encourage and incent the development of an economy that will be strong in a world that must, from a scientific perspective, be a lower-carbon future. That is something we are looking to engage Canadians in. We are engaging labour. We are engaging industry. We are engaging indigenous people. Perhaps most importantly, we are engaging young people in a conversation that is so relevant to their future.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, my goodness, how should I begin? At the end of the day, this is about creating an economy that would be strong and create jobs going forward. It is not about burying our head in the sand and trying to imagine a future that actually existed 30 years ago.
In order to have a relevant plan for the economy, we have to have a relevant plan for the environment, and our plan is working. At Air Products, it is 230 jobs. At the Dow facility, it is 8,000 jobs during construction. At the Volkswagen plant, it is 3,000 jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs. The World Energy hydrogen facility in Newfoundland will have 4,200 indirect jobs and 2,200 jobs during construction. The Northvolt battery facility will have 3,000 people. The CCUS facilities that are going to be built in the oil sands will have thousands and thousands of jobs.
RBC says that by the end of the decade, we will add 400,000 clean energy jobs on a path to net zero. That is because of the investments we are making and because of the plan. We are engaging Canadians in the conversation in a thoughtful way. Shame on the Conservatives for trying to exclude Canadians from that conversation.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, members will not be surprised to know that I actually agree with the comments my hon. colleague made.
The bill before us is a very important one. It is an important bill for building an economy that would create jobs and economic opportunity in every province and territory in this country, certainly in Newfoundland and Labrador. That includes the offshore wind industry that the member's premier is very keen to move forward on. Certainly, it is an area we have focused on.
It is also across the country. It is the battery manufacturing plant that we announced in British Columbia a few weeks ago. It is the Dow chemical facility and the Air Products facility in Alberta. It is the Jansen potash mine in Saskatchewan. It is the Volkswagen battery plant. It is the Northvolt plant in Quebec. We are building an economy that will be strong and prosperous, and we are involving and engaging Canadians in that process, something that, clearly, the Conservatives are not interested in doing.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, it is incredibly important and needed because we are moving toward a low-carbon future. That is happening around the world. Even if the Conservatives want to deny the reality of climate change, everybody else around the world recognizes that we can have a plan for the economy that does acknowledge moving toward a lower-carbon future.
At the end of the day, it is important that voices from various governments and the proposed partnership council that is part of the bill will have labour representatives, industry representatives, indigenous leadership and youth to have a conversation and help inform government policy about how we grow an economy that will be strong and prosperous going forward.
The president of the Business Council of Alberta said, “The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources that the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals.”
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, I would have welcomed having Luke and Steve come to the committee if the Conservatives had let any witnesses speak at committee. That would have been very valuable. It would also have been valuable to have stakeholders from across the country having a conversation with MPs at committee, as committees are supposed to do. However, the committee was prevented from having any conversations because of a ridiculous filibuster by the Conservatives, who have not allowed people in the House to do their jobs. Taxpayers should be very angry at them for the waste of taxpayer money that we have seen.
With respect to the oil and gas sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, that remains and will continue to be an important part of the Newfoundland and Labrador economy. They have focused very much on decarbonization. It is some of the lowest carbon content oil that is produced anywhere in North America. It is certainly an important element, but there are others, such as the development of offshore wind, which the member is opposing through opposing Bill C-49. I would invite him to have a conversation with his premier when he is here tomorrow about his opposition to Bill C-49.
Government Business No. 31—Proceedings on Bill C-50 December 4th, 2023
Madam Speaker, we are having to move closure because the committee has been blocked by a Conservative filibuster, behaviour that Parliament has never seen. For six weeks, 11 meetings, the committee has been stuck on the same meeting. It has been since October 30. Multiple witnesses could have been called to have a robust conversation about this bill. The committee could have focused on trying to ensure it was understanding the bill and looking for ways to strengthen it, but instead, the committee ends up not being able to have a conversation.
This is a really important bill. Yes, it is important for us to take climate change seriously and not deny the science of climate change, which some of my hon. colleagues in the House seem to do, but at the end of the day, it is critically important for us to move forward to build an economy that will be prosperous and create thousands of good jobs in every province and territory in Canada.