44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 19, 2022 10:00AM
- May/19/22 10:21:45 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce two petitions signed by constituents in Kitchener—Conestoga.
The first petition requests that the Government of Canada address the climate emergency by enacting just transition legislation, which would reduce emissions by 60% below 2005 levels by 2030, end fossil fuel subsidies and create good green jobs.
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- May/19/22 2:38:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Paris climate change targets are not met, Canada and its carbon bombs will be partly to blame. These are projects that will result in billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. We are not talking megatonnes, but gigatonnes. These projects will create so much pollution that it will be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Researchers have a solution. These projects must be cancelled. Will the Minister of the environment do it?
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- May/19/22 2:39:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.
As she is well aware, just over a month ago we presented our plan to fight climate change. It clearly shows how Canada will meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030. Our plan will work regardless of whether oil production goes up, down or remains constant. Our emissions in 2019, before the pandemic, show that greenhouse gas emissions dropped, despite the increase in Canada's oil production.
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- May/19/22 2:40:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, something that we are hearing about is climate bombs. If all the climate bomb projects were to go ahead, the planet would be in big trouble. We have learned that global warming could reach 3°C, which is double the Paris target of 1.5°C. That is dangerous.
Canada has 12 climate bombs. Researchers say that defusing these bombs should be a priority in a climate change mitigation policy. Of those 12 bombs, several have not yet been developed. Will the Minister of Environment make a clear commitment to prevent the development of any new climate bombs in Canada?
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- May/19/22 2:40:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind my hon. colleague that the issue of climate bombs is not new. When I was at Greenpeace in the 1990s, we actually published a report on this. This is not a new issue, for one thing.
The other thing is that we made a commitment to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, and we are working on that. This is one of the things that will allow Canada to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets by 2030. They include cutting emissions by 40% to 45%, whereas the IPCC is calling on countries to cut them by at least 43%. We are doing exactly what the science is telling us to do.
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- May/19/22 2:41:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is one of the 10 worst countries in the world for climate bombs. It is on the same list as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, the list of rogue countries that together threaten our climate future. Canada is also one of the countries that has the most to gain from the green transition, and yet the development of fossil fuels still comes first.
These gigatonne carbon bomb projects must be scrapped altogether. We also need to ask ourselves why, in 2022, the fossil fuel sector is still receiving public funds.
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- May/19/22 6:39:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the points raised by the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I always like discussing this issue with her.
Fighting climate change is very important to me. It is an issue that really guides the work that I do in this place every day.
I would point out that we are at the point of seeing a flattening of emissions from this country, and that is a very big deal. In 2019, we began to see a decoupling, where the economy grew and emissions were flattening. They were not growing in the same way the economy was.
In 2020, our emissions in fact dropped, but that was a different year. We all know that because we were not travelling the way we had before. However, I will point out that some of that drop is a permanent piece that comes from the work that we have done to remove coal-fired electricity from the electrical grid, as we are doing, so there are positives steps. I think it is really important to highlight some of that as well because I feel the anxiety, as I think so many people do, and it is important to point out that progress is being made.
The member has also raised the Bay du Nord project. I have pointed out that we are making progress. There is work being done. It is hard work. We put a price on carbon pollution. That was a big deal. We had to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada to make it stick. That was a lot of hard work, and it is a having an impact. It is a very strong market mechanism.
If we look toward next things, we are mandating zero-emission vehicles so that 100% of all new light-duty vehicles sold by 2035 will be zero emission. We are retrofitting buildings as set out in the emissions reduction plan. As quickly as we seek to make that transition, there are many logistical challenges that we are overcoming to make that happen quickly.
Currently, we are still in a place where we rely on oil and gas for our homes and transportation. Even as we transition from the combustion of fossil fuels, and this was something that was a big learning for me, there is going to remain a need for non-combustion related uses. For example, I was at my bike shop talking to someone about my bike. Right now, there is no other quality way to lubricate the chain on my bicycle than to use oil. It is also used for plastics in a medical context. Those are needs that are still there. Therefore, the world will still need some fossil fuels, but not necessarily for combustion, which brings me to the question of Bay du Nord.
The federal government accepted the environmental assessment of the Impact Assessment Agency regarding the Baie du Nord project after four years of consideration and scrutiny by scientific experts. The projected emissions from Baie du Nord are 10 times less than the oil sands on average and five times less than the average oil and gas project. Ultimately, I am going to highlight this, because it is something that is important to me as I look at all of this: The atmosphere sees emissions, but it does not see production barrel numbers.
What we are doing is driving down the combustion of fossil fuels in our own country through the work I have outlined above, and there is so much work being done. We are also putting a cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector. Those are all steps we are taking that are important steps forward. I would say we are making tremendous progress. It is a hard mountain to move, but we are doing it.
I thank the hon. member for all of her feedback and work on this issue.
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- May/19/22 10:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, when can we see buy clean policies that build climate considerations into public infrastructure and spending that rewards Canadian climate leaders and supports the transition of Canada's industries? I am not talking about TMX here.
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