QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Affordable Electricity
November 22, 2023
Thank you for being here today, minister.
In yesterday’s Fall Economic Statement, there was a quote from Electricity Canada that supports your government’s low-carbon commitments, maintaining that they will make electricity more affordable.
Considering the extent of the tasks before us and the billions of dollars that are needed, how can the federal government ensure that Canadians will continue to enjoy affordable rates as we expand and clean the grid?
Canada has one of the cleanest electricity grids in the world. We have reliable electricity and competitive rates. However, we know that our grid will need to expand considerably to meet future clean electricity demand and transmission needs, especially if we want to achieve Canada’s target of generating 90% of electricity from non-emitting sources by 2030.
Thank you, senator, for the question.
You’re absolutely right. We have one of the cleanest grids in the world, which is why we have been able to attract companies like Stellantis and Volkswagen, and others, to Canada; they have said so publicly. One of the reasons they decided to come to Canada is because of our clean grid, which is clearly a competitive advantage that we have and one we want to maintain.
The world is decarbonizing. The electricity sector in the world is decarbonizing. The draft regulations that I have presented to have a clean electricity grid — a carbon-neutral grid — by 2035 are very similar to the ones the Environmental Protection Agency has presented in the U.S.
What we’re trying to do is a big undertaking, but we have done that in the last 40 years. We have doubled the size of our grid and cut emissions by about 40% in the last three decades.
We need to continue on this track, accelerate it a little so we can get there a bit sooner than what we expected. We have had fruitful conversations with most provinces and territories on this, a number of companies, system operators, utilities — both public and private — to ensure that we can get there.
As announced in Budget 2023, and reiterated in yesterday’s Fall Economic Statement, the government will outline a concrete plan to further improve the efficiency of the permitting and impact assessment processes for major projects by the end of the year. How confident are you that this plan will be released next month? How will the work of the Ministerial Working Group on Regulatory Efficiency for Clean Growth Projects influence this plan? We know the government is committed to ensuring major clean projects move forward quickly and effectively.
Thank you, senator. It’s an important question.
What we’re trying to do there — as in many things, is to find the right balance. We want to be able to approve projects as rapidly as we can while, at the same time, engaging local communities and Indigenous nations meaningfully.
If we try and go too fast in our project approval, we may find ourselves in a situation where local populations or Indigenous nations feel that we are trying to steamroll them; that’s certainly not something we or the private sector want.
That being said, we do believe that we can find efficiencies in our permitting and approval process, and do things in a way where we still meaningfully are able to consult local Indigenous nations and populations.
