Public Safety committee  Yes.

Public Safety committee  Our concerns are more with respect to treating different entities within the Government of Canada differently when it comes to the protection and the use of information, specifically with respect to the Canadian cyber centre. That's where our area focuses with respect to the use of the information itself.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. That is absolutely an excellent question. My remarks and our brief focus specifically on that interface between the bill and our NERC requirements, which are quite onerous. The member is absolutely correct. There are other requirements that come into play at the different levels of government, as well, and also internationally.

Public Safety committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm CEO of Electricity Canada, formerly known as the Canadian Electricity Association. Our members are companies that generate, transmit and distribute electricity in every province and territory in Canada. My comments today will focus on part 2 of Bill C‑26, which enacts the Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act.

International Trade committee  It's a good question. Are we on track? No. Are we heading in the right direction? Yes. We have an organization in Canada called Electricity Human Resources Canada that both the Canadian Renewable Energy Association and Electricity Canada partner with through the Electricity Alliance Canada.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. I think every technology that will be able to produce electricity without carbon emissions will be required. If you simply do the math on triple the electricity required by 2050, we can't turn our back on any good technology. Whether it's small modular or large nuclear, whether it's small hydro or large hydro, or whether it's wind or solar, every technology that is non-emitting will be required.

International Trade committee  Yes, certainly, and thank you for the question. I think it's an interesting one. What have we not thought about? What I would add is that instead of simply thinking about one-off investment decisions, this isn't a matter of whether a single investment will be made in Canada or the United States.

International Trade committee  I think the IRA, indeed, as you suggest based on what you have heard from other folks, is a game-changer. I'm hoping the fall economic statement is the first step in an effective Canadian response. We see that, really, as a first step, and we're waiting to see what comes out in budget 2023.

International Trade committee  As I said, we're working on what we will be proposing specifically in budget 2023, but there absolutely needs to be something in parallel with ITCs for those non-taxable entities. With respect to the challenges you see in Ontario, actually, relative to some other jurisdictions, Ontario is starting in a pretty good place.

International Trade committee  Yes, absolutely. Thank you for that. Again, that's going to be foundational as well. I talked earlier about needing all of these resources and all non-emitting resources. We're going to need hydro and wind and solar and distributed energy resources and so on. However, our ability to actually maximize all of those resources and to be able to do so in an efficient manner is also going to require a deployment of new technology, everything from AI to quantum computing by the time we get to 2050.

International Trade committee  Yes. The future is going to require every type of non-emitting electricity. At the grid scale, we're going to need more hydro; we're going to need carbon capture utilization; we're going to need wind; we're going to need solar; we're going to need distributed energy resources, and we're going to need more transmission to be able to move this between different jurisdictions, absolutely.

International Trade committee  With regard to the top three priorities for an electrification strategy, I think the first priority would be having a clear understanding of, to put it bluntly, who pays and who pays for what. The desire to lower our carbon footprint is something that will fall disproportionately on different people depending upon what the resources are that are available in their jurisdiction.

International Trade committee  Yes. Certainly. Like the other witness, I'm not a direct specialist in this area, but I would agree that certainly we should be working towards that ability. We're even now trying to figure out what happens with those batteries. There may be a role for them as grid storage in the future.

International Trade committee  Sure. I think it's a very interesting question. It is not where we as a sector and association have focused, though I think it certainly is something that the Government of Canada should be thinking about in terms of what their approach is. We've approached this in a very practical manner.

International Trade committee  We're hoping that the regional tables will be the critical enabler to ensure that there is coordination between the various levels of government. What we've seen up until now is that there's been a lack of alignment between federal, provincial and municipal governments. We're hoping that all of the regional tables, as they stand up, will be able to bridge that gap and be enablers for the energy transition, but it remains to be seen.