SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson

  • Member of Parliament
  • Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
  • Liberal
  • North Vancouver
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 62%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $134,232.65

  • Government Page
  • May/27/24 12:23:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the provinces and territories, and especially in Nova Scotia, tidal power offers many opportunities. It is something very significant. A few Nova Scotia-based technology companies are active in this field, particularly in the Bay of Fundy. Of course, this could give us clean energy in the future. It is something that will gain momentum, just like our work with wind turbines offshore.
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  • May/27/24 12:06:38 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-49 
Madam Speaker, it is extremely important that the legislation move forward. As folks who understand how the Atlantic accords work would know, we worked on this in lockstep with the governments of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador: every word, every period and every comma. It requires mirror legislation to be introduced in both legislatures after it actually goes through the parliamentary process here in Ottawa. I will quote the two premiers, in terms of their anticipation of this act. Premier Furey said, “Newfoundland and Labrador is perfectly positioned in the green energy transition. Part of that transition requires offshore wind so our province can become a world leader in green hydrogen. We continue to support the Government of Canada on Bill C-49 and urge the other federal parties to do the same.” Premier Houston of Nova Scotia said, “Bill C-49 is a necessary...step in unlocking our energy potential. There will be many steps along the road but we are hopeful that Bill C-49 passes so we can get started.”
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  • Dec/4/23 4:37:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my goodness, how should I begin? At the end of the day, this is about creating an economy that would be strong and create jobs going forward. It is not about burying our head in the sand and trying to imagine a future that actually existed 30 years ago. In order to have a relevant plan for the economy, we have to have a relevant plan for the environment, and our plan is working. At Air Products, it is 230 jobs. At the Dow facility, it is 8,000 jobs during construction. At the Volkswagen plant, it is 3,000 jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs. The World Energy hydrogen facility in Newfoundland will have 4,200 indirect jobs and 2,200 jobs during construction. The Northvolt battery facility will have 3,000 people. The CCUS facilities that are going to be built in the oil sands will have thousands and thousands of jobs. RBC says that by the end of the decade, we will add 400,000 clean energy jobs on a path to net zero. That is because of the investments we are making and because of the plan. We are engaging Canadians in the conversation in a thoughtful way. Shame on the Conservatives for trying to exclude Canadians from that conversation.
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  • Dec/4/23 4:32:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is incredibly important and needed because we are moving toward a low-carbon future. That is happening around the world. Even if the Conservatives want to deny the reality of climate change, everybody else around the world recognizes that we can have a plan for the economy that does acknowledge moving toward a lower-carbon future. At the end of the day, it is important that voices from various governments and the proposed partnership council that is part of the bill will have labour representatives, industry representatives, indigenous leadership and youth to have a conversation and help inform government policy about how we grow an economy that will be strong and prosperous going forward. The president of the Business Council of Alberta said, “The Sustainable Jobs Act represents an important opportunity for Canada: to shape our future and create jobs by providing the resources that the world needs—including energy, food, and minerals.”
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  • Nov/21/23 3:16:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, enhancing building efficiency is extremely important in the fight against climate change and in the appropriate utilization of our natural resources. We put into place a number of programs, including the oil and heat pump program, but also the green buildings program, which actually provides a $5,000 grant to Canadians to improve the energy efficiency of their home. The number one implementation is heat pumps. We sourced money for that program. It has been enormously popular. We will continue to receive applications, and of course we are going to look, as with every program, at the results and what we will do to supplement those things on a go-forward basis.
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  • Oct/16/23 12:14:44 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-49 
Madam Speaker, I find my colleague's speech a bit odd. This bill provides for an offshore wind farm, a clean energy source that will, of course, be very important for the future of Nova Scotia's and Newfoundland and Labrador's economy.
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  • Sep/19/23 3:12:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say that it is important in the context of the fight against climate change that every sector of the Canadian economy play a role. That is what we are doing through the emissions reduction plan we have put into place. Concurrently, we need to look to take advantage of the economic opportunities that can be enabled through a shift to a lower-carbon future. Earlier this week, I was speaking at the World Petroleum Congress and spoke very clearly to the oil and gas sector about the need to decarbonize to remain relevant and competitive in a low-carbon future. Certainly we are going to continue that conversation with all of the CEOs in the energy sector and in other sectors.
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  • Sep/19/23 10:42:45 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-49 
Madam Speaker, Bill C-49 does indeed focus on renewable energy. It will allow us to launch a new offshore wind industry and foster a strong economy in Nova Scotia as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador. That is at the heart of this bill.
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  • May/2/23 2:48:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the way we can get good projects built, including the critical mineral projects that are essential for the energy transition and offer an enormous economic opportunity to this country, is to do things the right way by respecting the rights of indigenous communities, ensuring that we are consulting thoroughly, working with indigenous communities as partners in these projects and ensuring that we are doing thorough environmental assessments. That is how we move projects forward. That is very different from the gutting of the environmental assessment process that happened under Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. We are committed that going forward—
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  • Dec/6/22 2:58:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important to protect nature and biodiversity, and Canada is a leader in this area. It is also important that my colleague understand that we are undergoing an energy transition and that we must have a prosperous economy for the future. We have a plan to protect nature and to fight climate change but also to ensure a strong and prosperous economy for the future.
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  • Nov/21/22 3:11:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, the government is entirely committed to the fight against climate change. It is something we have been working on for the past seven years. We have done so with our allies around the world in Europe, Japan and South Korea and with countries across the globe. It is a critically important issue. It is something we have invested enormous amounts of time, energy and resources in doing. Canada has one of the most detailed climate plans in the world. We have an aggressive target. We are absolutely, fundamentally committed to doing this but doing it in a manner that recognizes this is a transition and recognizes that we have to ensure prosperity and jobs for future generations. We are doing just that.
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  • Nov/21/22 2:59:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is very important. We have a comprehensive and robust plan to combat climate change. Of course, we must reduce greenhouse gases. We need to work with our allies, as we did at COP27, and we need to ensure a prosperous future for Canadians. We need to accelerate the energy transition, and our plan does just that.
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  • Oct/18/22 2:48:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, I agree with the hon. member that we do need to have a proactive economic strategy that ensures Canada seizes the opportunities that will be created through a low-carbon transition. That is why we brought forward a critical minerals strategy, a hydrogen strategy. That is why we are working on regional energy and resource tables with most of the provinces and territories, and eventually all of them. Certainly, those are the conversations the hon. member and I have been having, as we have actually talked about a number of these issues. I certainly look forward to continuing that work going forward.
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  • Jun/23/22 2:52:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said, Canada is focused very much on two elements of this. The first is addressing the affordability challenges facing Canadians. That is something that is critically important for all government members on this side of the House. My colleague, the Minister of Finance, went through a number of initiatives that are under way to try to address the affordability issue for Canadians. We are also working internationally to address the energy security crisis by increasing production of oil and gas alongside our American counterparts, our Brazilian counterparts and others to ensure that we are actually stabilizing global energy markets and bringing prices down.
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  • Jun/22/22 2:31:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is certainly correct that affordability is a critically important concern for Canadians. That is why the Deputy Prime Minister, in a speech last week, talked through the $9 billion in support that we are providing on that basis. We are also working to help stabilize global energy prices through increasing production of oil and gas alongside our partners in the United States, Brazil and other countries, to ensure that we are concurrently addressing the energy crisis that exists in a manner that will ensure affordability for Canadians.
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  • Jun/8/22 2:55:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, certainly it is important that we are thinking about how we actually create good, economic prospects for people across this country and that we are creating jobs and economic opportunities. I was very pleased last week to launch the regional energy and natural resource tables, which are about building, on a province-by-province, territory-by-territory basis, a future that is going to create those jobs and economic opportunities in a manner that would actually drive growth and prosperity and in a manner that is consistent with meeting our moral obligation to our children to fight climate change. I certainly look forward to working with the energy sector as move forward in that direction.
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  • Jun/8/22 2:53:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand the important role that energy workers play in this country. I have spent much of my time, since being appointed to this post, in Calgary working with the energy sector. I would actually suggest to my colleagues across the way that they perhaps meet with some of the energy sector workers to understand that they are focused, very much, on ensuring that we are doing what we need to do to address energy security issues, to address affordability issues and, yes, to fight climate change.
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  • Jun/8/22 2:52:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from day one, this government has put affordability at the forefront. The opposition voted against middle-class tax cuts. They voted against the day care program to ensure affordability for Canadians. They have voted against affordability measures since 2015 and they continue to do so. Here we are working on practical solutions to address the energy crisis that is facing the world. We are working to ensure that we are increasing our production, working with our partners around the world to address this issue, to stabilize energy prices and to ensure affordability for Canadians going forward.
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  • Jun/8/22 2:51:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the same question as yesterday. We certainly recognize the current impact that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is having on global energy prices around the world. That is something that is of concern to all countries, all democratic countries. It is something that we are working actively on with our partners in the United States and in Europe to address. We have announced that we will be increasing oil and gas production by 300,000 barrels a day by the end of the year, alongside our American friends who are doing likewise. We are working to stabilize energy prices. Here at home, we are working to ensure affordability for Canadians on an ongoing basis.
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  • Jun/7/22 2:39:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russia has driven up energy prices around the world. The government is working actively with partners in the United States and with other countries around the world to ensure that Canada is increasing supplies to stabilize energy pricing globally. We are also working actively within this country to ensure that we are addressing affordability challenges. The opposition voted against tax cuts for the middle class. It voted against the Canada child benefit and it voted against day care programs, all of which are aimed at ensuring affordability for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
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