Environment committee  I believe in climate science, and that's what it tells us we have to do to be on path to meet 1.5°C and our net-zero target.

Environment committee  I think that Canada, as a rich, highly developed country and a country that bears a disproportionate responsibility for having contributed to climate change, owes the world an obligation of leadership, which is expressly set out in article 4.4 of the Paris Agreement, which we are

Environment committee  That's a misleading number, sir.

Environment committee  Absolutely there will be costs. There will be—

Environment committee  —distributional costs, but we can address those by shifting financing away from the fossil fuel industry, retraining workers and shifting our economy to a green economy. This isn't a new concern, and we have plenty of guidance and work that's being done on how to achieve a just

Environment committee  Oh, absolutely affordability is a key issue.

Environment committee  Again, we can address affordability by not propping up the fossil fuels industry.

Environment committee  Well, the best way to address it, sir, would be through what's called a subsidy swap. We can achieve a just transition to sustainability and achieve energy justice by switching out subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, and helping those who are most vulnerable who will be affect

Environment committee  We'll use renewable energy, sir.

Environment committee  With respect, sir, the transition to decarbonization and sustainability is a systemic issue, and it can't be answered on an individual-by-individual basis. However, what you could tell them is that smart policy choices would redistribute public finance away from fossil fuel indus

Environment committee  I don't follow your reasoning.

Environment committee  With all due respect, sir, that's not true. If you refer to my opening statement, I quote at length from the most recent report of the IPCC on climate mitigation, which addresses the distributional impacts of this transition and suggests ways of addressing those particular distr

Environment committee  I completely agree with that point. Fiddling with and playing semantic word games over “subsidy” versus “financial support” is deeply irresponsible and a waste of time. We have to eliminate all support to this industry. Furthermore, on all these supports that industry is asking

Environment committee  Yes. I would say to those and to EDC in particular, with all due respect, that when it says it is not providing subsidies but is providing supports, it's drawing a distinction without a difference when it comes to phasing out fossil fuel production. If it's going to continue to

Environment committee  Absolutely.