The Minister made a statement and, with the other witnesses, answered questions.

At 4:38 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:41 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

Dan Mazier moved, — Given that:

1. The committee unanimously passed a motion on November 30, 2023, to “request the production of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s complete analysis including all economic modelling,” on the government’s emission reduction projections;
2. Environment and Climate Change Canada did not provide the complete analysis of the government’s emission reduction projections, including all economic modelling;
3. Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development has stated that: “The federal government is not on track to meet the 2030 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” directly contradicting the statements made by the Minister of Environment and the Government of Canada;
4. The Minister of Environment confirmed in Q-1988 that: “the Government used Environment and Climate Change Canada’s provincial-territorial computable general equilibrium model – EC-Pro” to project emission reductions; and
5. The Minister of Environment stated in Q-1988 that: “EC-Pro simulates the response of the main economic sectors in each province and territory (PT), and their interactions with each other, including interprovincial trade. It captures characteristics of each PT’s production and consumption patterns through a detailed input-output table, and links PTs via bilateral trade. Each PT is explicitly represented as a region and the rest of the world is represented as import and export flows to PTs, which are assumed to be price takers in international markets. To support analysis of energy and climate policies, the model incorporates information on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) related to the combustion of fossil fuels. It also tracks non energy related GHG emissions.”

The committee order the production of “Environment and Climate Change Canada’s provincial-territorial computable general equilibrium model – EC-Pro” including (i) the “statistical technique to isolate the carbon pricing contribution”, (ii) a list of all “Ref” parameters including the ‘Ref22” and “Ref22A” parameters used in EC-Pro, (iii) the EC-Pro model that projected that “carbon pollution pricing will contribute as much as one third of Canada’s emission reductions” including all (i) parameters, (ii) economic modelling, and (iii) assumptions; and that these documents be provided to the committee within one week of the adoption of the motion.

Debate arose thereon.

Adam van Koeverden moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Shafqat Ali, Sophie Chatel, Lloyd Longfield, Monique Pauzé, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 6;

NAYS: Laurel Collins, Gérard Deltell, Michael Kram, Branden Leslie, Dan Mazier — 5.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

Michael Kram gave notice of the following motion:

Given that the provinces of:

• Newfoundland and Labrador,
• Nova Scotia,
• Prince Edward Island,
• New Brunswick,
• Ontario,
• Saskatchewan, and
• Alberta,

have formally asked Justin Trudeau to cancel the Liberal government’s plan to increase the carbon tax by 23% on April 1, 2024; pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the committee invite all seven premiers to testify on their request to the federal government, within one week of the motion being adopted.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.