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ENVI Committee Meeting

Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.

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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 90
Thursday, December 7, 2023, 11:03 a.m. to 1:13 p.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Francis Scarpaleggia, Chair (Liberal)

Library of Parliament
• Alison Clegg, Analyst
• Sarah Yakobowski, Analyst
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee proceeded to a briefing with the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.

At 11:14 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 11:20 a.m., the sitting resumed.

At 11:55 a.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 12:03 p.m., the sitting resumed.

As an individual
• Deborah Curran, Executive Director, Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria
• David O'Connor, Project Manager, Invasive Species, Regional Environmental Council of Estrie
• Dominique Monchamp, Coordinator, Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters
• Andrew Stegemann, Former National Director, Our Living Waters
ALUS
• Bryan Gilvesy, Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, the committee resumed its study of freshwater.

Andrew Stegemann, David O’Connor, Bryan Gilvesy and Deborah Curran made statements and answered questions.

Motion

Michael Kram moved, — Given that:

  1. the Chiefs of Ontario have filed a judicial review in Federal Court on the Liberal government’s carbon tax;
  2. the Chiefs of Ontario have noted that Indigenous communities would face greater challenges in switching to lower emitting technologies;
  3. Grand Chief Abram Benedict of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne stated: “The government has boasted that Canadians will pay a carbon tax, but through the rebates, through the subsidies they will actually receive more than what they have paid. That doesn’t ring true in First Nations communities”;
  4. Canada’s Environment Commissioner and Parliamentary Budget Officer acknowledge that the carbon tax disproportionately punishes Canadians who live in rural, remote, and northern regions; and
  5. and the Liberal government failed to provide a temporary carbon tax exemption on home heating for 97% of Canadians.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a) the committee invite Grand Chief Abram Benedict and the Chiefs of Ontario to testify for no less than two hours by Tuesday, December 12, 2023, on their judicial review filing on the federal carbon tax.

Debate arose thereon.

Motion

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, Randall Garrison, Lloyd Longfield, Leah Taylor Roy, Adam van Koeverden — 6;

NAYS: Gérard Deltell, Michael Kram, Branden Leslie, Dan Mazier, Monique Pauzé — 5.

Adam van Koeverden gave notice of the following motion:

Given that:

  1. The federal government is making monumental investments in technologies that will reduce emissions in the oil and gas sector;
  2. Canadians deserve to have certainty that these investments will result in significant emission reductions;
  3. Capping and reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector is necessary to meet our 2030 emission reduction goals and avert the worst impacts of climate change; and
  4. Reducing emissions in the oil and gas sector has the potential to create high quality, sustainable jobs.

    The committee express its collective support for the government’s proposal to a) amend the Federal Methane Regulations for the Oil and Gas Sector to require a reduction of methane emissions in the upstream oil and gas sector by at least 75 per cent below 2012 levels by 2030; and b) introduce a regulatory framework document on the proposed approach and stringency of a cap on greenhouse gas pollution from the oil and gas sector.

At 1:13 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Natalie Jeanneault
Clerk of the committee