Madam Speaker, pursuant to subsection 36(1) of the Energy Efficiency Act, I am honoured to table, in both official languages, the “Smarter Energy Use in Canada Report to Parliament Under the Efficiency Act for 2018-2019”.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2019, with 41% of the vote.
Energy Efficiency November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, pursuant to subsection 36(1) of the Energy Efficiency Act, I am honoured to table, in both official languages, the “Smarter Energy Use in Canada Report to Parliament Under the Efficiency Act for 2018-2019”.
Green Municipal Fund November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2019-2020 annual report for the Green Municipal Fund.
Natural Resources November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, we know workers in Alberta and across the country are worried about the future of Keystone XL. I want them to know we are making the case for this project. The Prime Minister raised it on his first call with the president-elect. We will continue making the case on behalf of workers in our sector.
One of the strongest arguments for this project is that we have a government that is fighting climate change and putting a price on pollution, has committed to net-zero emissions by 2050 and is making investments to help our energy sector become more sustainable than ever. This is the record we will be able to present to our partners in the U.S.
Natural Resources November 20th, 2020
Madam Speaker, Canada is a tier 1 nuclear nation with a sector that contributes $17 billion each year to our economy and employs over 76,000 Canadians. Small modular reactors are an innovation that could deliver safe, non-emitting energy and play a part in getting us to net-zero emissions by 2050. We are working with over 100 partners from across the country to develop Canada's SMR action plan to seize this opportunity, which will be released soon.
Questions on the Order Paper November 16th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is fully committed to delivering on its commitment to plant two billion trees over the next 10 years.
At this time, Natural Resources Canada is working closely with other government departments, including Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Parks Canada Agency to develop a comprehensive approach for implementing the government’s plan to plant two billion trees. The government is also collaborating with provinces and territories, municipalities, indigenous partners and communities, non-governmental organizations, industry, the private sector, landowners, researchers and other stakeholders to move this initiative forward.
Existing federal programs are already supporting tree planting, with approximately 150 million seedlings expected to be planted by 2022 through the low carbon economy fund, working with provinces and territories, as well as trees planted through the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, working with communities. The Government of Canada also continues to support the Highway of Heroes tree campaign, which has planted more than 750,000 of a planned two million trees between Trenton and Toronto.
As part of its commitment to supporting Canada’s forests and forest sector, the Government of Canada took early action in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing up to $30 million to small and medium-sized forest sector firms, including tree planting operations, to defray the costs associated with COVID-19 health and safety measures. This funding helped ensure a successful 2020 tree planting season and the planting of an estimated 600 million trees, while protecting workers and communities.
The Government of Canada is also adapting the investing in Canada infrastructure program to respond to the impacts of COVID-19. The program, delivered through bilateral agreements with provinces and territories, is being adjusted to add some flexibilities, expand project eligibility and accelerate approvals. A new temporary COVID-19 resilience stream, with over $3 billion available in existing funding, has been created to provide provinces and territories with added flexibility to fund quick-start, short-term projects that might not otherwise be eligible under the existing funding streams. The new stream will support projects such as: disaster mitigation and adaptation projects, including natural infrastructure; flood and fire mitigation; and tree planting and related infrastructure.
Natural Resources November 16th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, let me quote: “One of the real problems that I think lingers over [Keystone XL] is, before the pipeline question arose, the [Harper government] deliberately went out of its way to be seen as an adversary of environmentalists”. Who said that? It was the former Progressive Conservative prime minister, minister of Foreign Affairs and member for Calgary Centre, the Right Hon. Joe Clark. I look over to the other side. Its record of inaction and failure on the environment nearly doomed this project. We have been unwavering in our support for Keystone. We do not need any advice from the opposition.
Natural Resources November 16th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister raised this issue with the president-elect on the very, very first call. We have been clear. There is a very strong argument for the project, and that continues regardless of who the President of the United States is. We will continue to make that argument.
One of the strongest arguments for this project is that we have a government that is fighting climate change, that is putting a price on pollution and that is making investments to help our energy sector become more sustainable than ever.
Natural Resources November 16th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear to energy sector workers, especially those in Alberta who are worried about the future of this project. Our government has been and will be unwavering in its support for Keystone XL. We have been advocating for, and will continue to advocate for, this project to the U.S. government. In fact, the Prime Minister discussed this project on his very first call with the president-elect.
Keystone is a good project. We support it. There are 1,500 Canadians working on it as we speak. We support them.
Alex Trebek November 16th, 2020
Madam Speaker, Sudbury-born Alex Trebek never forgot his roots. Born to a French-Canadian mother with first nations ancestry and a Ukrainian immigrant father, and raised with a keen interest in geography, Trebek embodied both Sudbury and Canada.
We know him as the most successful game show host in history, having hosted world-famous Jeopardy! from Hollywood for more than 30 years. Trebek had a broad career before that in Canada. He was a news reader at CBC and a morning show host in Toronto. He was even short-listed to host Hockey Night in Canada. Throughout his storied career, Trebek remained a huge advocate for education, having served as the Royal Canadian Geographical Society's honorary president since May 2016 and hosting the Canadian Geographic Challenge numerous times.
Not long after Trebek announced he had pancreatic cancer, I had a chance to give him a gift from the people of Sudbury. Hundreds of residents had written well wishes on City of Greater Sudbury flags and Trebek shared with me how he was deeply moved by this gesture.
He was a first-rate ambassador for his hometown of Sudbury and for Canada as a whole.
His legacy and memory will long be part of Sudbury's and Canada's proud history.
Natural Resources November 5th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, we have been there since day one. We approved the Line 3 pipeline with 7,000 jobs created. We approved, as well, support to Keystone XL unwaveringly, with 1,500 jobs created right now. We are building LNG Canada and creating thousands of jobs. TMX was approved. We are getting it built and 5,600 jobs have been created so far. NGTL 2021 was approved, with thousands of jobs created. Orphaned and inactive wells received $1.7 billion, with thousands of jobs created, and the wage subsidy went to more than 16,000 resource workers and their jobs in a pandemic in Alberta alone. We will be there for workers. We will continue to be there for workers.