44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 24, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, liquefied natural gas is a great opportunity for Canada. There are currently 18 LNG products on the desk of the Prime Minister awaiting approval. If we look at the current situation in Ukraine, reducing reliance on Russian natural gas is something obvious we could do to help. Canada has this great opportunity.
Maybe my colleague could expand a bit on that in the context of the free trade agreement.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the major challenges facing Ukraine is energy security. Ukraine formerly depended on Russia for its natural gas supplies, and of course that opportunity has quickly evaporated.
Canada stands in a perfect position to sell natural gas to Ukraine. Unfortunately, our current government has been very reluctant to promote the sale of liquefied natural gas to the rest of the world, claiming that there is no business case to be made for it. However, now we have an opportunity within the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement to perhaps find a way of getting our natural gas to Ukraine and providing them with energy security. What component of this agreement, if any, would expedite and assist Canadian companies to export liquefied natural gas to Ukraine?
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Madam Speaker, I enjoyed the member's speech. However, it did concern me that he was somewhat disparaging toward our oil and gas industry. The member accused some in this House of scoring cheap political points, but when one does that, one had better not be guilty of doing the very same thing; unfortunately, he is the guilty one here.
Natural gas is one of the solutions to the world's greenhouse gas emissions challenges. We can displace dirty coal elsewhere around the world by exporting much cleaner natural gas to those countries. There is some urgency in doing this for Ukraine. Does the member not believe that Canada should put in place every single strategy available to us in order to get our liquefied natural gas to a country like Ukraine, which is in such deep straits and turmoil because of Russia's invasion? Does he not agree that this is an urgent situation where we should be providing—
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to turn to a response on this very issue by Mario Lévesque, who is the chief executive of the Quebec-based Utica Resources. He said that the rationale for exporting natural gas from Quebec is “crystal clear” and would generate “tens of billions in royalties and taxes” for Ottawa. He went on to say, “Quebec has enormous quantities of natural gas (about 20% of Canada's total recoverable gas), enough to replace all Russian imports into Germany for 20 to 40 years.”
I did not have time in my speech to get into all the opportunities that Canada has lost, which would have benefited Canada and our allies.
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Mr. Speaker, I think this is going to require some meaningful discussion, because we need to come up with one of the best agreements, one that benefits both Canada and Ukraine.
I noticed something. I know that our liquefied natural gas would fill a need for Europeans and Ukrainians. However, the government is preventing it from being exported. Seeing the unfortunate situation the Ukrainians are in, I think Canada is well placed to help them on that front.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that the missed opportunity was not to have supported liquefied natural gas projects, which would now be better for the environment. We are in a transition and I think that, on the other side of the Atlantic, in Europe, countries like Ukraine are still wondering why Canada will not allow natural gas exports.
We can do it. We are a nation of natural resources, and we are the best at harnessing and developing them. The technology is improving day by day.
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