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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was countries.

Last in Parliament September 2021, as Liberal MP for Kitchener Centre (Ontario)

Lost his last election, in 2021, with 16% of the vote.

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Statements in the House

Food Waste June 17th, 2021

Madam Speaker, Canada is currently facing an entirely avoidable crisis. Every year, we waste approximately 13 million tonnes of food, one of the highest per capita levels in the world. This wasted food creates some 56.5 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions, uses 1.5 billion cubic metres of fresh water, uses land three times the size of PEI and could feed 24 million people if it were recouped. This massive waste is only made worse by the fact that four million Canadians still struggle to access healthy food. All along the supply chain, from farm to fork, are inefficiencies that end up leading to more than half of all food produced in Canada being wasted.

It is time for the federal government to take a serious look at the avoidable crisis of food waste and develop a comprehensive federal strategy to address it.

As spoken

Committees of the House June 16th, 2021

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States, entitled “Buy America Procurement Policies: An Interim Report”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

As spoken

International Trade May 25th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, we know that Canada's long-standing trade relationship with the United States and Mexico under NAFTA, and now the new modernized NAFTA, has been a model to the world. In 2019, Canada exported more than $440 billion of merchandise to the United States and more than $7 billion to Mexico.

Given the CUSMA free trade commission meeting last week, could the minister kindly update Canadians on how the new NAFTA is creating good-paying jobs and strengthening the middle class in Canada?

As spoken

Line 5 Pipeline Shutdown May 6th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, right now what we are dealing with is the safety of Line 5, and it has been safe, especially under the waters of the Straits of Mackinac. In 68 years there has never been a spill, and I am very confident with the ideas that Enbridge has to encase the pipeline in cement and bring it lower under the lake-bed. I think it will be protected.

As spoken

Line 5 Pipeline Shutdown May 6th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, as the minister mentioned earlier today, we are using all of our resources and will leave no stone unturned to make sure that we engage at the political level, at the diplomatic level and at the stakeholder level. At the committee on the Canada-U.S. special relationship, we heard from a lot of stakeholders on both sides of the border who are worried about this closure and are engaging with their counterparts.

Right now, the Government of Canada is fully seized and engaged on this file, and we look forward to an amicable resolution between Enbridge and the State of Michigan on this issue.

As spoken

Line 5 Pipeline Shutdown May 6th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, I think the concerns will be resolved by making sure that the pipeline is built to standards above what are required today. If Line 5 gets shut down, we will see the environmental impacts of putting 15,000 trucks and 800 railcars on the road. There will be a higher chance of spills and a higher chance of accidents on the road. We will see a huge disruption across the border and a thickening of it. Other products will be delayed. Trucks will be all over the road.

If we want to talk about the environment, we know there has never been a spill on this pipeline. We recognize that to get to net zero, we need to make sure that we incentivize our transport industry to either go electric or minimize the impacts. This pipeline serves all of those purposes, especially for the environment.

As spoken

Line 5 Pipeline Shutdown May 6th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his kind remarks. That is the first time a Conservative has ever said anything about my speech.

Right now we are dealing with a reality that is in front of us. We see that if Line 5 gets shut down, it will have a devastating impact, not only economically, but also environmentally. As I referenced in my speech, this pipeline is very safe. It was made safe in 1953 by the technology used then, and it will continue to be made even safer by the adjustments and the new infrastructure that Enbridge has proposed to build.

I am very confident that this pipeline will serve its purpose, but more importantly, it will serve an environmental purpose by keeping 15,000 trucks off the road and 800 railcars off the rails. We will minimize the environmental impact while still maintaining a robust economy.

As spoken

Line 5 Pipeline Shutdown May 6th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time this evening with the member for Don Valley West.

I thank the hon. member for Banff—Airdrie for initiating this emergency debate. This a pressing issue and a national priority that belongs on the floor of the House. Just as importantly, it is one of those rare matters upon which members from both sides of the House are in complete agreement.

The Governor of Michigan's attempts to shut down the Line 5 pipeline through the Straits of Mackinac strike at three key pillars of our future. First, a shutdown would significantly stall the robust economic recovery we need to help us build back better from this global pandemic. Second, it would badly damage North American energy security. We need to power our post-COVID-19 recovery. Third, it would undermine our commitment to creating a low-carbon economy that leaves no one behind.

Why is Line 5 so critical for all these priorities? First and foremost, it supports thousands of jobs on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. It supplies the fuels and other essential products that underpin our national economies and support our pandemic responses, such as heating our homes and businesses and powering everything from farming and manufacturing to air travel. Second, Line 5 is critical to our continent's highly integrated energy sectors, linking western Canada's petroleum industry to key markets and refineries in both central Canada and the northern U.S. Third, Line 5 allows us to get our resources to global markets and generate the revenues we need to invest in a clean energy future.

Without Line 5, refineries would have to get their feedstock through alternate forms of transportation that are more dangerous and produce more emissions, such as rail, truck and barge. Estimates suggest that shutting down Line 5 could add as many as 15,000 dedicated trucks, or 800 rail cars, a day to transport the displaced product. Not only would this significantly increase CO2 emissions at a time when we are making efforts to reduce them, it would also raise the risk of rail disasters and oil spills, impacting our communities, wildlife and ecosystems. All of this added risk and environmental damage would be for nothing.

The U.S. pipeline regulator, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, has repeatedly inspected Line 5 through the Straits of Mackinac and, as recently as last year, has consistently found the pipeline fit for service. It is why we have seen such broad and consistent support for the continued safe operation of Line 5.

The Prime Minister and members of the opposition, multiple governments, industry and unions have all come together as members of team Canada to show that shutting down Line 5 on a whim does not make sense. As the Minister of Natural Resources has said, Line 5 is non-negotiable for Canada, full stop.

With that in mind, I would like to use the rest of my time to explore why support on this side of the border is so strong and unwavering. Line 5 is crucial for Canada's energy security. It currently transports up to 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas every day that are vital to central Canada' supply of gasoline, home heating fuels and jet fuel, not to mention the more than roughly 20,000 jobs in Sarnia, Ontario, that depend on this pipeline. Propane transported by Line 5 is used by our schools and hospitals, and by our businesses that are hoping to come back stronger than ever in the wake of COVID-19.

It is not just Canada that will suffer if Line 5 is shut down. Michigan is dependent on Line 5 for 55% of its propane needs, and prices for propane in that state could rise by 38¢ a gallon if it shut down. Additionally, refineries in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as here in Ontario and Quebec, would be unable to obtain the crude oil they require to operate. This could lead to the loss of thousands of jobs here in Canada and in the United States.

While I understand the Governor of Michigan is concerned about leaks, her fear is unfounded. In the 68 years that Line 5 has been operating, not once has it suffered any leaks along the 7.2 kilometres of pipeline that cross the Straits of Mackinac. What is the secret to that success? The twin pipes are made of specially constructed seamless steel measuring almost an inch thick, which is three times the thickness of what is required even today. The pipe was then covered with fibre-reinforced enamel and laid in an area where the risk of corrosion was minimized by cold temperatures and a lack of oxygen.

Furthermore, this stretch of pipeline is carefully monitored using sophisticated cameras and radar on a 24-7 schedule to ensure no vessels drop anchor over it. All of this is managed by specially trained staff using sophisticated computer systems, and is further supplemented with regular inspections by expert divers and remotely operated vehicles.

This is a stretch of pipeline that far exceeds the minimum standards required of it. As a result, there are 68 years of safe, leak-free history to back it up. Despite all of this, Enbridge has proposed even more stringent safeguards including a cement-encased tunnel deep under the lake-bed. It would be a tunnel large enough for a new pipeline system and would also be able to accommodate other future uses, such as electricity transmission, making it a piece of infrastructure that would maintain its usefulness as we transition to a net-zero future.

All of this brings me to my final point, which is that the fate of Line 5 is a matter for the federal government in Washington, D.C., to decide. It is not a matter to be decided by the state governor in Lansing, Michigan.

This is because in 1977, when Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau was our prime minister, our two countries signed a consequential treaty born of the OPEC oil embargo and several years of bilateral discussions to ship oil and gas by pipeline from Alaska and Canada's north to southern markets. In the preamble of that treaty were three key points worth revisiting today.

First, the treaty recognizes that pipelines are “an efficient, economical and safe means of transporting hydrocarbons from producing areas to consumers, in both Canada and the United States”.

Second, it notes that the pipelines operating at the time provided an important service to both Canadian and American consumers.

Third, it states that both national governments were “convinced”, and that is the word used in the treaty, that it was appropriate for the two countries to enter into a treaty to govern the transmission of hydrocarbons by pipeline rather than leaving it to unilateral action.

Canada's preference is for this matter to be resolved amicably between Enbridge and the State of Michigan. No one wants to see a protracted legal battle. There is also consensus on both sides of the border that we want a robust economy coupled with strict environmental stewardship. This is what Line 5 and the Great Lakes tunnel project are all about.

It is for all these reasons that I remain optimistic that cooler heads will ultimately prevail. Ultimately the friendship and mutual economic interests that have defined our nation's 154-year history with the United States will once again prevail with Line 5.

As spoken

Committees of the House April 15th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Special Committee on the Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States, entitled “Enbridge's Line 5: An Interim Report”.

As spoken

Canada-U.S. Relations February 24th, 2021

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister and President Biden met to ensure a coordinated approach to our shared priorities. Our two countries have agreed on a road map for a renewed U.S.-Canada partnership, which prioritizes the fight against COVID-19, economic recovery following the pandemic strains, and the global climate threat.

Can the Prime Minister please update the House on the joint Canada-U.S. build back better together plan?

As spoken