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ENVI Committee Meeting

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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 131
Wednesday, November 6, 2024, 4:30 p.m. to Friday, November 15, 2024, 4:02 p.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Francis Scarpaleggia, Chair (Liberal)

Library of Parliament
• Alison Clegg, Analyst
• Sarah Yakobowski, Analyst
The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

The committee resumed consideration of the motion, as amended, of Adam van Koeverden moved on Monday, October 28, 2024, which read as follows:

That this committee undertake a pre-study on Bill C-73, An Act respecting transparency and accountability in relation to certain commitments Canada has made under the Convention on Biological Diversity. To this end, the Committee hold a minimum of 5 meetings.

  1. Invite the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and officials;
  2. That this study begin within 7 days the adoption of this motion and the timing of the remaining meetings of this pre-study be determined at the next subcommittee meeting.

and of the amendment of Leah Taylor Roy moved on Monday, November 4, 2024, which read as follows:

That the motion be amended by replacing the words “within 7 days of” with the words “the first meeting following”.

and the subamendment of Branden Leslie moved on Monday, November 4, 2024, which read as follows:

That the motion be amended by adding the following: “, but none shall commence until the committee has heard from Minister Boissonnault in relation to the study of the factors leading to the recent fires in Jasper National Park.”.

The debate continued on the subamendment of Branden Leslie.

At 4:56 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 4:56 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

Motion

Sophie Chatel 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, Branden Leslie, Dan Mazier, Gerald Soroka — 5.

Motion

Branden Leslie moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.

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

YEAS: Gérard Deltell, Branden Leslie, Dan Mazier, Gerald Soroka — 4;

NAYS: Shafqat Ali, Sophie Chatel, Laurel Collins, Lloyd Longfield, Monique Pauzé, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 7.

Motion

Adam van Koeverden moved, — That this committee undertake a pre-study on Bill C-73, An Act respecting transparency and accountability in relation to certain commitments Canada has made under the Convention on Biological Diversity. To this end, the Committee hold a minimum of 5 meetings.

  1. That this study begin on November 27;
  2. Invite the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and officials on November 27, 2024;
  3. That this committee complete its sustainable finance study on November 25 with a two-hour meeting.

Debate arose thereon.

At 5:55 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 5:57 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

Amendment

Laurel Collins moved, — That the motion be amended by adding the following: “4) That the remaining meetings of this pre-study will not commence until the completion of the contaminated Transport dock study.”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 6:16 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 6:22 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate on the amendment of Laurel Collins continued.

Motion

Monique Pauzé moved, — That the committee do now adjourn.

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

YEAS: Monique Pauzé — 1;

NAYS: Shafqat Ali, Sophie Chatel, Laurel Collins, Gérard Deltell, Branden Leslie, Lloyd Longfield, Dan Mazier, Gerald Soroka, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 10.

At 6:30 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:13 p.m., on Friday, November 15, 2024, the meeting resumed in public.

Dan Mazier took the Chair.

The committee resumed consideration of the motion of Adam van Koeverden moved on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, which read as follows:

That this committee undertake a pre-study on Bill C-73, An Act respecting transparency and accountability in relation to certain commitments Canada has made under the Convention on Biological Diversity. To this end, the Committee hold a minimum of 5 meetings.

  1. That this study begin on November 27;
  2. Invite the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and officials on November 27, 2024 ;
  3. That this committee complete its sustainable finance study on November 25 with a two-hour meeting.

and of the amendment of Laurel Collins moved on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, which read as follows:

That the motion be amended by adding the following: “4) That the remaining meetings of this pre-study will not commence until the completion of the contaminated Transport dock study.”

Motion

Gérard Deltell moved, — That the committee proceed to the meeting requested pursuant to Standing Order 106(4) to discuss Canada's reporting on its progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The question was put on the motion and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Laurel Collins, Gérard Deltell, Michael Kram, Branden Leslie, Louis-Philippe Sauvé — 5;

NAYS: Shafqat Ali, René Arseneault, Lloyd Longfield, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 5.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the affirmative.

Accordingly, the motion was agreed to.

Pursuant to Standing Order 106(4), the committee commenced consideration of the request by members of the committee to discuss Canada's reporting on its progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Motion

Gérard Deltell moved, — Given that Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment released an audit that revealed:

  1. The government is not on track to meet Canada’s 2030 targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
  2. Canada has the worst record in the G7 for emissions reductions;
  3. The government is using “unreliable emissions reduction estimates” and is lacking “transparency on emissions reductions and projections”.

The committee hold a minimum of three meetings to investigate the Liberal government’s emission reduction policies; invite (a) Commissioner DeMarco for a two hour meeting, (b) the Minister of Environment & Climate Change along with departmental officials for a two hour meeting, (c) Canada's Climate Change Ambassador for one hour, and (d) witnesses submitted by recognized parties for the remaining hour; the meetings take place only after the completion of witness testimony on the committee’s study on climate impacts related to the Canadian financial system; and that these meetings be completed by December 13, 2024.

Debate arose thereon.

Amendment

Louis-Philippe Sauvé moved, — That the motion be amended by adding the following: “provided that the Committee has considered and adopted the draft report on the Committee's study of the climate impacts of the Canadian financial system before that date, failing which the meetings on this study shall be completed after the holiday season.”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 12:32 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 12:37 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

Subamendment

Leah Taylor Roy moved, — That the amendment be amended by adding after the words “before that date” the following: “and that such study focus on ways that we can reach our emissions target, in particular ways in which we can reduce emissions from the Oil and Gas Sector which is the sector which is preventing Canada from meeting its goals,”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 1:11 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 1:21 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

The question was put on the subamendment and the result of the vote was announced:

YEAS: Shafqat Ali, René Arseneault, Lloyd Longfield, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 5;

NAYS: Laurel Collins, Gérard Deltell, Michael Kram, Branden Leslie, Louis-Philippe Sauvé — 5.

Whereupon, the Chair voted in the negative.

Accordingly, the subamendment was negatived.

The debate on the amendment of Jean-Philippe Sauvé continued.

Subamendment

Gérard Deltell moved, — That the amendment be amended by adding the following: “provided that the study on gas emission reduction target be dealt with while the report on Sustainable Finance is drafted.”.

Debate arose thereon.

At 1:21 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 1:22 p.m., the meeting resumed.

The debate continued.

At 2:20 p.m., the meeting was suspended.

At 3:54 p.m., the meeting resumed.

By unanimous consent, the subamendment was withdrawn.

By unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.

By unanimous consent, the motion was withdrawn.

On motion of Gérard Deltell, it was agreed, — Given the recent reports by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the committee agree to the following schedule:

  1. The meeting on Monday, November 18, 2024, be dedicated to one hour to hear from department officials and one hour to hear from witnesses from recognized parties on the environment and climate impacts related to the Canadian financial system study;
  2. The meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, be dedicated to the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development’s Fall 2024 reports for two hours;
  3. The meeting on Monday, November 25, 2024, be dedicated to the briefing on the Net Zero Accelerator Fund for two hours;
  4. The meeting on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, be dedicated to hearing from the Minister of Environment and Climate Change for one hour on emission reductions policies and one hour on the pre-study of Bill C-73;
  5. The meeting on Monday, December 2, 2024, be dedicated to one hour to hear from Canada's Ambassador for Climate Change and one hour to hear from witnesses submitted by recognized parties on emission reductions policies;
  6. The meeting on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, be dedicated to hearing from Minister Randy Boissonnault on the Jasper wildfire study for two hours;
  7. The meeting on Monday, December 9, 2024, be dedicated to hearing from the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development on emission reduction policies for two hours;
  8. The meeting on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, be dedicated to hearing from witnesses from recognized parties on the pre-study of Bill C-73 for two hours; and
  9. The meeting on Monday, December 16, 2024, be dedicated to reviewing the draft report of the environment and climate impacts related to the Canadian financial system study.

At 4:02 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Natalie Jeanneault
Clerk of the committee