QUESTION PERIOD — Environment
Recovery Planning
July 27, 2020
My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Gold, when introducing federal support for cleaning up orphan oil and gas wells in Western Canada on April 17, the Prime Minister stated: “Just because we’re in a health crisis doesn’t mean we can neglect the environmental crisis.”
At the same time, documents prepared for Natural Resources Canada ahead of Minister O’Regan’s participation in the International Energy Agency’s April 24 ministerial round table discussion on making clean energy a key part of the global economic recovery, and the IEA’s Global Energy Review , signal that the federal government was already well aware that the global energy demand had collapsed, that the clean energy sector was “signalling a potential extinction-level event” due to the COVID-19 crisis, and that “This will challenge Canada’s climate and energy transformation agendas.”
Further, the document ignores that IEA had been publicly and strongly recommending the government to implement green recovery packages since at least mid-March. Indeed, on March 17, Fatih Birol, head of the IEA, was already saying:
This is a historic opportunity for the world to, on one hand, create packages to recover the economy, but on the other hand, to reduce dirty investments and accelerate the energy transition.
Senator Gold, there seems to be conflicting messages between what the government is saying publicly and internal communications. When will Canadians know whether the recovery will be clean, or polluting as usual?
Thank you for the question. It’s an important issue, how we in Canada, under the best of circumstances, manage the exploitation of our resources and the stability of our economy, as well as moving toward a cleaner and more sustainable future. It is not to hide behind the crisis to say that the last few months have forced the government to focus with intensity on ensuring the economy does not collapse and that people’s personal economies and lives don’t collapse. The government remains committed to finding the right balance between economic stability and recovery, and a transition to a cleaner and greener environment.
There is no contradiction in the government’s position. There is a challenge, which we all recognize, that all governments must and should face, as this one is.
The government’s budgetary update published on July 8 included support for a clean recovery:
This is an opportunity for Canada to build back better through investments in a strong, inclusive and green recovery, which supports new opportunities for workers in every region of this country.
Five recent Canadian polls have now been conducted showing a majority of Canadians support a cleaner, fair and smart recovery, and almost all international organizations, from the World Bank to the IEA, and from the IMF to the World Health Organization, have also called for it, and countries are increasingly committing to a just, clean and resilient recovery.
When will the government provide details on its recovery planning and how it plans to address the health and economic crisis as well as the climate crisis, taking into account their electoral promises?
Thank you for your question. Again, I repeat, the government remains committed to moving forward to help Canada transition to a greener, more sustainable economy. I’m not in a position to answer with regard to when the government will make its next announcements on that matter, but I will make inquiries and report back to the chamber.
