Hon. David M. Wells: I move the adjournment of Motion No. 50 in my name.

Hon. David M. Wells: Could we could go back to Motion No. 50? I misunderstood the question, and I didn’t hear it very clearly. Perhaps it was because of your mask. I would like to adjourn that.

Senator Wells: Speaker, it’s because I didn’t hear you. I’m not asking to revert. It was mumbled and muffled in the speech because of the mask.

Hon. David M. Wells (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Minister, there are 8 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. One trillion cubic feet of gas replaces 170 million barrels of oil.

There is a company in Newfoundland and Labrador that is proposing to produce and sell 3 trillion cubic feet of this liquefied natural gas, which is over 500 million barrels of oil to be replaced.

This partnership includes the Miawpukek First Nation on the Conne River, the project requires no drilling and it will use 100% renewable energy to liquify the gas for transport to Europe and markets around the world. In fact, for any Canadian energy product, this location is the shortest route to the key markets of Europe. Phase one of the project is estimated to cost $5.5 billion and take up to seven years.

Minister Guilbeault, are these Canadian investors wasting their time and their money?

Hon. David M. Wells (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Welcome, minister. Minister, the Bay du Nord offshore petroleum development project is vital to the economy and future of Newfoundland and Labrador. This project will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day and has an initial lifespan of 30 years with the first production targeted in 2028. The construction phase will employ thousands of specialized workers and this will put billions of dollars into the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada.

Minister, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada was created and touted by your government as a way forward for future environmental impact assessments and to make decisions based on science. This was the essence of Bill C-69 passed in 2019 in a previous session of Parliament. The Bay du Nord project has been assessed for almost four years. The agency has recommended the project for approval and they stated that it “. . . is not likely to cause significant adverse . . . effects . . . .”

The project proponent has committed to being a world-leading, ESG-focused producer for this project and will have some of the lowest emissions of any energy project in the world. My question is simple: Will the government commit to following science and not politics and approve the Bay du Nord project as recommended by the Impact Assessment Agency, as the deadline, which is this Sunday, approaches?

Senator Wells: My question is simple. Will this be approved as per science, not as per politics? I was hoping to get an answer to that question, whether it was “yes” or “no.”

I have a supplementary question for this, minister: While Canada and much of the world is correctly closing its ports and markets to Russian oil and gas, do you agree that this is an ideal opportunity to promote responsibly produced Canadian oil and gas, including the Bay du Nord project to world markets?

There is clearly a crisis in Ukraine, which doesn’t mean that other crises are necessarily erased by it, such as the climate crisis. The world is moving toward a more decarbonized world and Canada is aligned with the world on that. We will continue to move toward decarbonization, but we will also help our European and Ukrainian friends.