Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the committee for inviting me. I'm honoured to appear before you today. I'm a huge fan of rail and an expert on energy policy. I'm not an expert on trains. That said, I'm interested in energy consumption and Canada's energy

Finance committee  No, I don't think that's the case at all. We know that the price of oil has risen sharply. Various factors contribute to the rising cost of living. Our dependence on hydrocarbons means that we are attached to petroleum products, and this is a major contributor. In fact, by fight

Finance committee  The urgency is there, but what I'd like to focus on is that while there is a climate urgency we need to act on, there's also a spending urgency. We are spending on the wrong items, and then we are wasting money on pollution and on uneconomic activities. When we put more vehicles

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. I don't think it's the only tool, but it's a key tool. It's a very important tool, and it's a very efficient tool.

Finance committee  Sadly, I think we're doing very badly. As I explained, we are spending a lot of money on continuing the same system that pollutes and impoverishes us. There was $81 billion spent last year on individual cars to basically increase the fleet of cars, increasing congestion in our s

Finance committee  No, not at all. I really don't think the price on carbon is. It may contribute a little bit, but there are so many bigger factors that contribute to inflation that I really don't think it is. The oil price going back to a high level contributed much more to inflation than the c

Finance committee  I don't think carbon pricing is the only tool. I think it's a very important tool. In terms of vehicles, we need to go beyond. Congestion with EVs isn't good for either the economy or the environment. Although EVs will not emit carbon when they're used, there are still problems

Finance committee  That's very important. In buildings, we should not actually think only in terms of electrification. Building efficiency is extremely important, and we don't have, in Canada, a stock of buildings that are efficient. We should look at deep retrofits for buildings. That cannot happ

Finance committee  In the case of Quebec, it's obvious that the subsidy the Quebec government provides to buyers of EVs explains a lot. In B.C., I don't know exactly what the subsidy is that the provincial government gives in addition to the federal subsidy. The lesson that seems to be appearing is

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the invitation. It's a pleasure to speak about the few things I'll be mentioning. Basically, I'll be arguing that we do spend a lot to pollute in Canada, and that's a problem. The good news is that we can reduce this pollution by making Canadians save mon

Finance committee  Okay. I was just saying that trucks like SUVs—small trucks like SUVs—cost more and use more gasoline than mid-sized cars, for example. Canadians are buying increasing numbers of vehicles. Twenty years ago in 2000, there were fewer cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Canada compared to

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Absolutely, and I'm definitely not saying that we should not hear from the public. Definitely, public hearings should be organized so that different voices can be heard, but we should also realize that a single project should not be blocked by one community that basically doesn't

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  The BAPE makes recommendations that the government is under no obligation to comply with. So the direct answer is no, I don’t have any suggestions in that regard right now. If you look at the decisions made by the states and by Canadian provinces, we see that the North American

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  I'm not an expert in the operation of pipelines or in assessing their condition. What I do understand about this file is that there have been some challenges and that they have been taken into consideration. Plans are in place to address the issues raised, and a new project can t

Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Absolutely.