House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 60% of the vote.
The Environment February 7th, 2022
Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, this process has been an ongoing environmental assessment for the past number of years. It has proceeded through a whole range of different phases. It is now in the process of coming toward a decision.
Certainly we will be considering all of the science, including science with respect to migratory birds, the impacts of noise and other issues that have arisen throughout the course of the process and on which the panel has provided information.
Natural Resources February 3rd, 2022
Mr. Speaker, certainly I agree with parts of what the hon. member said. Certainly the energy sector in the country is an important part of our overall economy and will continue to be as we move forward toward a lower-carbon future. We are working actively with companies and with governments to ensure that we are creating the jobs and the economic opportunities for families in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and every province and territory in this country.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, the two billion trees program is a government-led program that was created with the specific goal of increasing tree-planting efforts.
The Minister of Natural Resources, with support from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was mandated to develop and implement a plan to plant two billion trees over the next 10 years as part of a broader commitment to natural climate solutions. This program was officially launched in February 2021, with federal funds secured in the 2020 fall economic statement.
The two billion trees program was launched under the broader natural climate solutions fund, NCSF, a horizontal initiative, which also includes programs run by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Under the NCSF, the two billion trees program received $3.2 billion for funding over 10 years.
The two billion trees program is a proposal-based grants and contribution program. Interested and eligible organizations are required to submit project proposals. Expert evaluation panels assess projects to ensure they meet the primary program goal of carbon sequestration, with strong considerations for other co-benefits such as biodiversity and human well-being. Projects must also pass risk and due diligence requirements before they are retained for funding via contribution agreements. As a result, specific tree planting locations, any related employment and greenhouse gas, GHG, reduction benefits, will depend on the funding proposals put forward by provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, and organizations across Canada.
Following a call for expressions of interest in February 2021, the program received 120 applications for early tree planting in 2021. NRCan has finalized most of its funding agreements to support the planting of over 30 million trees across the country, in both urban and rural areas. Many of the projects began planting in spring 2021 and planting continued through the 2021 planting season. NRCan proactively discloses these grants and contributions on Open Canada: https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/.
Similar to other government grants and contribution programs, contribution agreements with federal funding recipients outline “planned” projects or activities. In the case of the two billion trees program, the exact number of trees planted are reported by the funding recipients on a quarterly basis and after all of their planting activities have been completed. Program recipients will have 60 days after the end of the fiscal year, March 31, 2022, to provide their final reporting. At that stage, NRCan will consolidate and validate the data and is expected to publicly disclose the results on the 2021 tree planting season in spring 2022.
Funding recipients are required to report on their program activities, including details on the number and types of jobs created and approximate GHG emissions reductions. However, the two billion trees program will be reporting on aggregate direct, indirect or induced jobs, based on analysis of information provided by program recipients. Canada’s two billion trees program will create up to 4,300 jobs across the country and will reduce GHG emissions by up to 12 Mt per year by 2050.
The data collected from funding recipients will serve as the basis of performance reporting for the program. Employment information will be officially reported on in the departmental results report beginning in 2025. With the information provided by funding recipients, NRCan will calculate overall GHG emissions reductions from activities supported by the two billion trees program. Reporting on GHG reductions will begin in 2023.
More information on the two billion trees program’s performance indicators, including tree planting, jobs, and GHG reductions, can be found at: https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/2-billion-trees/natural-climate-solutions-fund-performance-indicators.html.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has committed over $100 billion with respect to climate action. The Government of Canada’s “Budget 2021 - A Healthy Environment for a Healthy Economy”, provides a breakdown of this commitment: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2021/04/budget-2021-a-healthy-environment-for-a-healthy-economy.html.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, on May 27, 2021, the Government of Canada launched the Canada greener homes grant program, a $2.6-billion initiative to enable up to 700,000 Canadian homeowners to apply for government funding to make retrofits to their homes. The program will help Canadians make their homes more comfortable and affordable to maintain, support Canada’s environmental objectives, and create good, local, middle-class jobs.
As of December 13, 2021, NRCan has approved 78,344 of the 126,316 applications submitted.
On a quarterly basis, NRCan will publish information related to the Canada greener homes grant program on Open Government: https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), the Government of Canada considers leading international indices assessing energy security.
In response to (b), Canada is one of the most energy secure countries in the world. In 2019, Canada was the sixth largest producer of primary energy in the world.
This is demonstrated in the Global Energy Institute’s annual publication, the International Energy Security Risk Index. Canada ranked third best in 2020 among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, countries for low energy risk. Canada also ranks first in the energy security metric rankings for fuel import metrics among the OECD.
In addition, the United Nations’ World Energy Council Trilemma Index ranked Canada sixth in national energy system performance among 127 countries. Canada was ranked first in the energy security metric given its ability to meet current and future energy demand and withstand and respond to supply shocks.
In response to (c), data regarding Canadian crude oil, liquefied petroleum gases and products, monthly inventories, including over the last 10 years, are publicly available from Statistics Canada.
In response to (d) and (e), Statistics Canada is evaluating the possibility of incorporating an annual or biannual question on storage capacity to existing refinery and midstream surveys. All stockpiled oil and gas in Canada are held by industry for commercial/operational purposes.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2022
Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), in 2019, NRCan estimated that approximately 30.4% of the total energy for heating, consumed by Canadian households, originated from outside of Canada. NRCan does not have information past 2019, as the data is still being collected and processed.
In response to (b)(i), the following indicates the approximate breakdown by source of household heating energy that originated from outside of Canada2 in 2019: electricity, 0.7%; natural gas, 29.7%; less than 0.1% crude and light fuel oil, which can include heading oil. Propane also serves as a heating fuel in rural and remote areas where natural gas is unavailable. However, the total energy that propane contributes towards heating is not tracked to the level of detail required for a comprehensive response.
In response to (b)(ii), Canada imports minimal amounts of electricity from the United States due to variability in regional supply and demand, and propane from the United States for rural and remote communities. Most of Canada’s natural gas imports is sourced from the United States and some from Trinidad and Tobago, and Angola. Canada imports negligible amounts of crude and light fuel oil, which can include heating oil, from various origins to meet Canadians’ heating needs. A further breakdown is unavailable by source country of origin as this information is not tracked to the level of detail required to provide a comprehensive response.
The Environment December 10th, 2021
Madam Speaker, I am happy to see how popular I am with the opposition.
We are focused very much on ensuring that we are doing our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world at a time when we are also looking to incent the development of a clean growth economy and create good jobs and economic opportunities for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. All non-emitting sources of energy are on the table and are a part of the energy mix as we go forward. The hon. member knows that in Ontario, for example, nuclear energy is already an important part of the energy mix.
Health December 10th, 2021
Madam Speaker, protecting the health and safety of Canadians has been and always will be the top priority of this government. We thank the Auditor General for her report and her findings. Our government will work to ensure that we are implementing the recommendations on a go-forward basis.
We have acted quickly and boldly at a time when the Conservative Party wanted us to do less. We will continue to work to protect the health and safety of Canadians as we move forward.
Health December 10th, 2021
Madam Speaker, as I have said a number of times today, the government has worked very hard to protect the health and security of Canadians, and that is what Canadians expect a responsible government to do.
We certainly recognize and acknowledge the recommendations that were made by the Auditor General. We can and shall do better going forward, but we have done extremely hard work. We have put in place measures that have been effective in protecting the health and security of Canadians, and we are going to continue to do that.