Jonathan Wilkinson

[Carbon Pricing, June 8th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to start by congratulating all of those who put their names forward as candidates in the election that occurred last night.

The impact of climate change does not stop with a change in government, and Canadians expect us to take serious action to address climate change and to grow our economy. That is why we are accelerating the phase-out of coal, making historic investments in cleaner infrastructure, and putting in place a price on carbon pollution to grow the economy in cleaner ways. The science is clear that climate change is real, and we will continue to deliver on what Canadians and Ontarians expect.

[Impact Assessment Act, June 6th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, environmental assessment and how we actually look at these types of projects was a significant issue in the 2015 election campaign. Canadians said they had lost confidence in the processes because of the gutting of environmental assessment in 2012 under the Harper government. We said that we would restore public trust.

The critical issues that Canadians talked about were transparency and participation in these kinds of processes.

Could the minister talk a bit about what the bill does to restore confidence and transparency in how Canadians can understand how these processes are working?

[International Trade, June 6th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the Department of Commerce's decision on supercalendered paper did not comply with the NAFTA panel's decision. We have therefore requested that a NAFTA panel review the determination by the Department of Commerce, and we will be challenging this decision on the World Trade Organization rules. We will always defend our industry and its workers against protectionist trade practices.

I would like to thank the member from Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for raising this issue. Our government was deeply disappointed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to impose preliminary anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of Canadian uncoated groundwood paper.

British Columbia's forestry products industry is vital to the province and to the communities and workers it supports. Is it important that they have a federal government that is willing to stand up and fight for them, and I would like to reassure my colleague, and reassure those workers, that our government is doing exactly that.

We have repeatedly raised with the United States how unjustified and unfair these punitive duties are. Not only that, but they will have a direct and negative impact on U.S. newspapers, especially those in small cities and towns, and will result in job losses in the American printing sector. These duties are not in the interest of Canadians or Americans.

These investigations are an unwarranted use of the U.S. trade remedy system by a single company, North Pacific Paper, which operates one mill in Washington State. It is not right that one company should cause economic hardship to the whole forest products industry on both sides of the border.

We are making this point directly with U.S. interlocutors. We are particularly aware of the fact that Catalyst, the source of 1,200 jobs in small communities such as Crofton, Powell River, and Port Alberni, is facing high preliminary rates. Our government is working closely with the Canadian companies targeted by these investigations, such as Catalyst. We are arguing our points directly with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission as part of the ongoing process.

Canada's forest industry sustains good, middle-class jobs and provides economic opportunities for rural and indigenous communities across our country. As such, our government is very much committed to helping our forest industry enhance existing trade relationships and diversify trade with new international markets. We are also working with the affected provinces, very much including B.C., to discuss options to assist exporters facing preliminary duties.

We will continue working to advance the interests of the Canadian forest industry to protect those good, middle-class jobs in so many communities across the country.

[The Environment, June 6th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the member and I have worked together productively on other files, and I have great respect for him.

We are very focused on achieving the 2030 target. That is absolutely a key focus of this government. We included all of the upstream emissions associated with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in the pan-Canadian framework to ensure that they were addressed in the context of Canada's plan to achieve its Paris reduction targets. In the pan-Canadian framework, we address issues around transportation and the electrification of transportation, the phase-out of coal, methane regulations, clean fuel standards to reduce the carbon content of the fuels that we use, building codes to improve energy efficiency, and a range of other measures. I certainly would encourage the member to have a look at that plan, because it plan will actually get us to our targets.

[The Environment, June 6th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, Canada's first ministers adopted Canada's clean growth and climate plan in December 2016 to take ambitious action to fight climate change, to adapt and build resilience to the changing climate, and to drive clean economic growth.

A landmark achievement of the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change is the first climate change plan in Canada's history to include joint and individual commitments by federal, provincial, and territorial governments and to have been developed with input from indigenous peoples.

The pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change lays out over 50 concrete measures to reduce carbon pollution, enhance our adaptation and resistance to the impact of climate change, and encourage the development of clean jobs that contribute to a strong economy.

We have been actively implementing the pan-Canadian framework, and we are starting to see results, putting Canada on the path to meet our Paris Agreement greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030.

As published in December 2017 in Canada's third biennial report to the UNFCCC, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are currently projected to be 583 megatonnes of CO2 in 2030, which is 232 megatonnes lower than what was projected in our second biennial report, which was released in early 2016. This decline in projected emissions is the biggest improvement in Canada's emissions outlook since reporting began, and it is widespread across all economic sectors, reflecting the breadth and depth of the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change.

However, it is important to note that these projections do not account for expected emissions reductions in several other areas as a result of historically significant investments in public transit, where $20 billion is being invested to improve public transit infrastructure; extensive investments in clean technology and innovation that will promote clean growth and lead to new technologies to reduce emissions from industry and other sectors; and storage of carbon in forests, soils, and wetlands, which can be significant for a country the size of Canada.

These projections also do not reflect policies that may be adopted by federal, municipal, provincial and territorial governments by 2030.

Along with the provinces and territories, Canada is committed to reporting on and examining the results of these policies so we can become more ambitious over time. Once that process is complete, we may have identified other policies that will be needed in the future.

When the policies and programs within the pan-Canadian framework are fully implemented, they will not only allow Canada to meet its 2030 target in full but also position Canada to set and achieve deeper emission reduction targets beyond 2030, as is required by the Paris Agreement.

This government is firmly committed to addressing the threat of climate change. Canada has played a constructive role on the international stage. We have worked with provinces, territories, and indigenous peoples to develop a comprehensive and detailed plan that will ensure that we meet our Paris Agreement targets. We are firmly committed to actively fighting climate change and to creating and growing a clean growth economy.

[The Environment, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, plastic pollution is a growing problem in Canada and around the world. Our government is taking concrete action to address this problem. We appreciate the constructive discussions that are happening at every level around the country on how we can reduce plastic waste and keep it from polluting the environment.

This week, we will be proposing a plastics charter at the G7 leaders' meeting to align international efforts to reduce plastic pollution. We are also working with the provinces and territories.

[The Environment, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, plastic pollution is an important and growing problem in Canada and around the world, and our government is taking action. We appreciate very much the constructive discussions that are happening around the country, including with municipal leaders, around how we can actually reduce plastic waste and keep it from polluting our environment.

This week, as the hon. member likely knows, Canada will be proposing a plastics charter at the G7 leaders meeting to align international efforts to reduce plastic pollution. We are working with the provinces and territories to develop an approach.

A national consultation is under way, and we encourage Canadians, including the hon. member, to come forward and voice their thoughts and their recommendations on how we should proceed.

[Carbon Pricing, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, farmers and ranchers are responsible stewards of the land, developing best management practices and innovative technologies, such as zero-till farming to reduce carbon pollution. They are on the front line of seeing and dealing with the effects of climate change.

Under our plan to price pollution, provinces and territories can establish a system and use the revenues in the ways that work for them. In British Columbia, primary producers have exemptions from a direct price on pollution for farm fuel and vehicles that transport the food we buy and that farmers sell on international markets. The same is true with respect to the federal backstop. Our government is working hard to address the issues of climate change in thoughtful and substantive ways.

[Impact Assessment Act, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the focus of the conversation today is Bill C-69. I do not think the hon. member was actually speaking to the bill.

The focus is really very much on enhancing the integrity and transparency of the process, and restoring the public trust that was destroyed in 2012 by the Harper government when it introduced significant changes to the environmental assessment process, the Fisheries Act, and the Navigable Waters Act. This government is very focused on ensuring that we are in a position to address legitimate environmental concerns so that good projects can move forward in an expedited way to ensure that we are creating good middle-class jobs for Canadians.

[Impact Assessment Act, June 5th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised two separate issues. The first is that it did take time to bring this law forward. That is precisely because, knowing how important this is from an economic and environmental perspective, we knew we needed to have appropriate consultation with communities, individuals, companies, first nations, and environmental organizations. Therefore, we took the time to ensure that we actually got this right.

With respect to the question around projects, my hon. colleague is exactly right, in that there does need to be a definition that provides clarity about which projects will be included from a federal perspective, because, of course, there are projects that fall out of federal jurisdiction and are managed by the provinces. That regulatory piece is being managed through the project list that is out for consultation right now. I would certainly encourage the hon. member to weigh-in with his thoughts about what should be on and off the project list.