QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Transport of Oil
March 3, 2022
Minister, in 2015, in response to a request from the Quebec government, Enbridge’s Line 9B was reversed to provide an increased supply of oil to Montreal’s refineries. The volume went from 12% to almost 50% of required supply. Much of the other 50% comes through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but now the endangered right whale is migrating to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where large tankers ply the waters.
Given this development and remembering the rail tragedy at Lac-Mégantic, wouldn’t complete delivery of all oil to Montreal refineries by pipeline be in the best interests of both safety and conservation? If you don’t agree, what alternatives do you propose to address these unnecessary vulnerabilities?
Thank you, senator. As I said earlier, Quebec imports less and less of its oil from foreign nations and relies more and more on Canadian oil, but as I explained to some of your colleagues, we are heading into a world where we will gradually reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. That has already started happening in Canada. It is not happening everywhere, but it is happening in many nations around the world.
This is a problem that will solve itself over time by us investing in alternatives and in clean technologies to ensure people have access to safe, reliable sources of energy as we decarbonize our transportation, electricity, and oil and gas sectors.
