QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing
November 22, 2023
Good afternoon, minister.
The government is committed to a review of the greenhouse gas pollution pricing mechanism in 2026. It will assess, among other things, whether “. . . pricing stringency is aligned across all carbon pricing systems in Canada.”
Can you tell us what that means and why it is important?
Thank you, senator.
It comes down to the fact that when we instituted carbon pricing in Canada, there were already a number of jurisdictions who had their own systems. British Columbia was one of them; Quebec was another. Certainly, they were two leaders in North America when it came to putting a price on pollution. We didn’t want to impose a federal system on those provinces. Other provinces had some initiatives. Even Alberta had a pricing system for large emitters.
What we decided to do was to give the option to jurisdictions in Canada that wanted to have their own system but have the federal government act as a benchmark so that between jurisdictions there is some equivalency in terms of efforts when it comes to fighting climate change.
We did a review last year and we will do another one in 2026 to see whether or not that equivalency or that benchmark, if you will, is still in effect.
Will this 2026 review also look at the use of natural gas and propane on farms, including in barns and grain dryers, and assess if exemptions may be needed at that time or, conversely, if such exemptions are already granted under Bill C-234, whether those exemptions should be reconsidered at that time, in three years?
I think what we’re seeing is a global and rapid adoption of clean technologies in all sectors.
You spoke specifically about agriculture. I’ll give you another example, just to illustrate the pace at which technologies are being adopted.
Just three years ago, in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, 1 in 25 cars sold in the world was an electric vehicle. In 2023, it was 1 in 5 globally. We’re not talking about Norway or Sweden.
The pace of technology adoption in all sectors, including agriculture, is accelerating. I anticipate that there will be very little fossil fuels left in the agricultural sector in the coming years.
