Good afternoon, members.
I'm pleased to be here with you today to discuss the 2018-19 supplementary estimates (A) for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
With me are Matt Jones, the assistant deputy minister of the pan-Canadian framework implementation office; Sue Milburn-Hopwood, the assistant deputy minister of the Canadian Wildlife Service; Mark Cauchi, our director general for protected areas; and Mary Taylor, our director general, environmental protection operations.
[Translation]
Supplementary estimates (A) include $23 million in new spending that requires parliamentary approval and a reduction of $3.2 million in transfers, for a net total of $19.8 million. This represents a 1.2% increase over the authorities to date, bringing the proposed authorities to $1.65 billion.
[English]
Our estimates include new spending for six items: new impact assessment and regulatory processes; the indigenous guardians program; the federal carbon pollution pricing system; Canada's nature, parks and wild spaces; government advertising programs; and funding to address issues in pay administration. I will now provide a summary of each item.
In January 2018, the Government of Canada announced that it would invest $1 billion over five years to support the new impact assessment system. The new process will broaden impact assessments to consider health and socio-economic impacts in addition to environmental impacts, create a new early planning and engagement phase and strengthen partnerships with indigenous peoples.
The supplementary estimates (A) are seeking a total of $74.6 million in 2018-19 for this horizontal initiative, which includes $8.1 million for Environment and Climate Change Canada to provide scientific advice and expertise, collect data, implement open science and a data platform, and provide contributions to support community-based monitoring.
Budget 2017 announced $25 million over five years to support the indigenous guardians program. This initiative will give indigenous peoples greater responsibility and resources to manage their traditional lands and waterways, and facilitate partnerships with indigenous communities in monitoring ecological health, maintaining cultural sites and protecting sensitive areas and species. Environment and Climate Change Canada is requesting $5.3 million in these estimates to establish and administer the indigenous guardians program.
[Translation]
Moreover, Environment and Climate Change Canada is seeking $3.9 million in supplementary estimates (A) to support the development of a federal carbon pollution pricing system that would apply in provinces and territories upon request, and in provinces and territories that do not have a pricing system in place that meets the federal benchmark by the end of 2018.
[English]
Budget 2018 also announced $1.3 billion in spending over five years to support Canada's biodiversity by protecting species and spaces. The supplementary estimates (A) are seeking $17.5 million for this horizontal initiative, including $1.7 million for Environment and Climate Change Canada to renew and enhance the species at risk program, strengthen the management of the department's conservation areas and provide contributions to promote the conservation of biodiversity through the Canada nature fund.
Environment and Climate Change Canada is also seeking $1.4 million in funding for advertising programs to implement the nature legacy campaign.
The last spending item in these estimates is to address issues in pay administration. A total of $24.9 million is being sought by various departments and agencies, including approximately $800,000 for Environment and Climate Change Canada, to strengthen internal capacity to address human resources and pay administration issues.
As for internal transfers, a reallocation of resources will allow Environment and Climate Change Canada to realign its funding with emerging priorities.
These reallocations include a transfer of $550,000 from contributions to grants under the innovation solutions Canada program. This program supports the growth of innovative Canadian businesses by encouraging the government to act as the first customer. Environment and Climate Change Canada is increasing the funding for that program from $50,000 to $600,000 in 2018-19 using existing funds, and issued its first challenge in fall 2018 in support of the plastic reduction strategy.
These priorities also include a transfer of $600,000, from the operating funds in vote 1 to the grants and contributions in vote 10, to support the Canadian centre for climate services in providing enhanced climate information to Canadians. This reallocation of funds from the program's existing operating funds will provide the funding that is required for a modified approach to delivering the program. Whereas a government-built and operated web portal was originally envisioned, Environment and Climate Change Canada will now leverage the considerable expertise of the climate services community in Canada to deliver this commitment in a more cost-effective and robust way.
A transfer of $2.5 million from contributions to grants in support of “Taking Action on Clean Growth and Climate Change” is also included. This new grant authority was recently approved by the Treasury Board. Environment and Climate Change Canada is now seeking to list an amount of $2.5 million for this new grant to be funded from existing reference levels. The climate action fund supports climate actions in communities across Canada. It seeks to increase awareness of and participation in climate action among Canadians, especially youth, students, indigenous peoples and organizations, and small and medium-sized businesses.
Included, as well, is a vote transfer of $5.5 million from our operating funds in vote 1, to the grants and contributions in vote 10, to support commitments related to the G7 ocean plastics charter and the Global Commission on Adaptation. The department has a number of mandated items and priorities that were conferred through budget 2018, for which there have been no incremental resources. As such, the department has proactively reallocated funds from within existing reference levels to ensure that these high-priority items can go forward. Environment and Climate Change Canada is seeking a transfer between votes in order to provide the department with the funds required in contributions, to allow the department to fulfill its commitments related to the G7 ocean plastics charter and the Global Commission on Adaptation.
[Translation]
As for transfers to other organizations included in our supplementary estimates (A), Environment and Climate Change Canada is transferring a total of $3.2 million to four organizations to support collaborative projects and research for various programs.
[English]
I hope the summary of our initiatives included in these estimates provides the committee with the insights it is seeking.
Thank you.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the standing committee. I'm Alan Kerr, vice-president, corporate services and chief financial officer, and I'm joined by my colleague Christine Loth-Bown, vice-president, external relations and strategic policy, to discuss the 2018-19 supplementary estimates (A) for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency provides evidence-based environmental assessments. The agency's team of highly qualified employees supports the in carrying out her responsibilities by conducting environmental assessments for major projects in a manner that protects the environment, fosters economic growth and jobs, supports sustainable development and reflects expertise received from the public, indigenous groups and other stakeholders.
In 2017-18, the agency supported the in leading a national review of federal environmental assessment processes, and in February 2018 these efforts reached a milestone with the tabling in Parliament of Bill that proposes changes to the current Canadian Environmental Assessment Act of 2012.
In this regard, we are providing ongoing advice and support to the parliamentary process. Regulatory and policy work, including public consultations, also began following the February announcement. In conjunction with this support to Parliament, within the agency, we are preparing to implement the proposed new approach to impact assessment. Budget 2018 announced new funding for the agency of $258 million over the next five fiscal years, including $21 million of funding in fiscal year 2018-19; $19.1 million for program expenditures, which include $99,000 in funding for pay administration; and $1.9 million for statutory expenditures for employee benefit programs. This funding has been requested to implement key legislative, regulatory, program and policy measures to support the successful implementation of the new impact assessment process upon coming into force and transition from environmental assessment to impact assessment.
In June of 2018, the agency accessed $11 million of the $21 million with a financial authorities instrument submission to Treasury Board. This funding enabled the agency to advance the necessary policy and regulatory instruments, hire staff and secure additional workspace, to take on a more proactive role and seamlessly transition to the new impact assessment act.
The funding provided through supplementary estimates (A) will be divided into three main program areas, namely, impact assessment, partnering with indigenous peoples, and cumulative effects and open science and evidence. To support these programs the agency was allocated 100 new full-time equivalent employees for 2018-19, 65 of whom have been hired thus far and staffing actions are in place to recruit the balance.
Now I'd like to introduce my colleague Christine Loth-Bown to expand on these main areas.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.
I'd like to give today some further detail on the initiatives and programs to which the funding that Alan has outlined will be allocated.
Under the proposed impact assessment act, Bill , the agency will become the lead organization responsible for federal impact assessment of designated projects. This will include projects which are currently assessed by the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The agency will be conducting assessments within strict legislated timelines.
Some of the significant responsibilities and enhanced programs proposed under the legislation include the following: the conduct of a new early planning phase for projects, improved co-operation with other jurisdictions, increased opportunities for public participation and transparency, and support for indigenous peoples and the public in an expanded role in monitoring impacts during the implementation and operation of approved projects.
I'd like to note that the agency is now pursuing discussions on co-operation agreements with interested provinces, and is considering piloting early planning for projects in the early stages of environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act—the current legislation, CEAA, 2012.
Under the new act, the agency will fulfill the role of Crown consultation coordinator for all designated projects, and the agency will ensure effective collaboration and meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples. These goals will be achieved through the provision of increased participant funding, as well as the launch of a new capacity support program that will improve the preparedness of indigenous groups and their technical expertise related to impact assessment.
In turn, this increased capacity is expected to result in improved participation in federal assessments, ensuring that indigenous knowledge, laws and culture are considered in impact assessment and influence assessment processes. These efforts will support the government's reconciliation commitments and build deeper collaboration with indigenous peoples.
The final area for which the agency is receiving funding will allow the agency to make important contributions to the government's deliberative approach to cumulative effects. The agency will lead the conduct of three regional assessments over five years, which will support the management of cumulative effects and provide important information for future project assessments.
The agency is using the funding that was approved earlier this year to support the work on the first of the three regional assessments, which will explore the potential impacts of offshore oil and gas exploration. This initiative has been launched jointly with the Government of Newfoundland.
Thank you to the members of the committee for the opportunity to speak today. I look forward to taking any questions you may have.
:
Thank you for your comments.
By way of information for our officials here today, you'll also note that the Parks Canada Agency received funding. They were unable to send anybody from the organization to see us today.
For committee members, be advised that we will be giving Parks Canada one hour of our undivided attention next Tuesday. They will have lots of love and attention on their own next Tuesday, after we do an hour of testimony on the study we're undertaking.
I don't want you to feel that anybody is getting off easy here. We appreciate all of you for being here and joining us today.
With that, we're going to go to the tag team of Mr. Fisher and Ms. Dzerowicz for the first round of questions, for six minutes.
Thank you for appearing once again before us. You are becoming an old hand at this. We will probably get to know each other better from year to year since we work together, and we all have the same objective: putting mechanisms in place to protect our planet.
We have to think of the future of our children and grandchildren. The two elements we can influence as parliamentarians are the budget deficit and the impact on our environment, on our planet. As a parliamentarian, I find those two points very important.
Today, a request for close to $20 million in additional spending was submitted to us. Obviously we don't break down that amount number by number. That said, however, I would like to understand one thing, and I'm going to compare the situation to private enterprise. When there are additional expenses, it is because people want to do something quickly. I think that for measures to protect our planet and reduce greenhouse gases, it would have been pertinent to add an additional $20 million.
Here are the elements in the list that justify the $20 million: a new impact assessment process; the indigenous guardians program; the federal carbon pollution pricing system; protecting nature, parks and wild spaces in Canada; government advertising programs; and funding to solve issues related to compensation administration.
Are those really our priorities to finish the year?
This is a big problem for me. You are asking for additional funds, but what will be the immediate impact on the environment? I cannot identify it. Two weeks ago, there was a march in Montreal, Quebec, and I took part in it. People were raising the emergency nature of the situation. And yet, people come to us, the government, for money simply to improve the six points on the list, and I will not read them again.
In what way does this request for $20 million align with the need to act quickly? What will be done in concrete terms to reduce greenhouse gases?
:
I appreciate your answers, but I still find two points problematic.
First, I do not understand why you would ask for additional funds to run a government advertising campaign. Unless you are in an election year, there is no need to conduct a campaign to say that the government is taking concrete steps to benefit the environment. This was not in the initial budget, it is new and it comes out of nowhere. I find this disappointing, and it is not what I expected from Environment Canada.
That said, I understand that you may be between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand the government gives you guidelines, and on the other you must deal with daily reality.
The other point concerns issues with pay administration. None of that goes to the environment. I think it a waste, and grandstanding. I remind you that Bill C-69 has not yet been passed. You are asking for funds in connection with a bill that has not yet been approved in the Senate.
What is the priority? Are you really working in the interest of the environment? I'm asking myself some serious questions about that. Why run a publicity campaign at this point?
:
Again, thank you for being here.
I want to start with the $24.9 million that is being sought by various departments and agencies “to strengthen internal capacity to address human resources and pay administration issues”. Is a lot of that specifically aimed at trying to cure some of the problems with the Phoenix pay system?
I'm the critic for national parks and I've heard from individuals who weren't getting paid at all, including students trying to go back to university. I've heard from people who were paid in the following year, which increased their tax bracket because they didn't get paid in the proper year. I've heard from people who were overpaid by, let's say, $1,000, and of course you only see about $700 on your paycheque because of the deductions, but government wants $1,000 back from those people. I don't know how you recover your deductions from all the various departments to get your $300 back from those departments.
Is that specifically what this is for? Is it to try to deal with the Phoenix cases, which are extreme in national parks, certainly, because of the variety of the job positions they have there, and perhaps in the other departments as well?
:
The strategy right now is still under development. The department is working, as Carol noted, on a plan to build a website where Canadians can go to access information on the nature legacy program, including the Canada nature fund.
The goals are essentially to encourage Canadians to experience nature and to visit protected areas including national wildlife areas, national parks and other protected areas across the country. We as Canadians all understand the benefits of nature, and the notion of nature as being integral to our well-being will be promoted.
As I mentioned before, we'll also be providing information on the Canada nature fund. There will be community organizations and indigenous groups, such as first nations, who will be interested in accessing that Canada nature fund and providing matching funds, in many cases, towards conservation projects. They do need to know and to have information about the Canada nature fund.
We're also specifically targeting indigenous communities. You may recall that under the budget 2018 announcement, the government did indicate that indigenous protected and conserved areas would be a major theme under the nature legacy. This is an innovative part of the approach, and we are aiming to establish a minimum of 20 and up to 35 IPCAs moving forward.
There's lots of interest out there on the part of first nations. We know that, and we need to be engaging them, reaching out to them in a positive way and sharing information with them. There will be an element here dealing with indigenous-specific communications to various communities across the country.
:
It's the same thing on the $3.9 million that is going to ensure there's a transition. In order to bring about the federal backstop, there's going to need to be money used to set up this process of putting a price on pollution, and also the rebate that will come back to those four provinces.
It's unfortunate that many of the four provinces, in many instances, backed out of a pricing mechanism that they already had in place, and chose in the end not to move in that direction, but at the end of the day they did.
The department has had to react fairly quickly in order to ensure that, come April, we have a system in place that individuals can count on and understand.
The type of system that we've decided to put forward, where it's targeted as far as the pricing on pollution, the areas it will...and the rebate is one amount that will go to all households equally. In the end, is that not also reducing the actual overall cost of the program?
:
I'm going to switch gears. I could go for a long time on that. I would like to switch gears, if I can.
In the context of the government's overall approach on the environment, taking a look at the top 10 exporting countries for oil around the world: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Canada, UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Nigeria, Angola and Kazakhstan, one of those countries seems to stand out among the other ones there.
My question is this. Is there some international agency tasked with the measurement of emissions produced per barrel of oil exported by those 10 countries?
Thank you to the officials for your comments and for being available to us.
There was a question asked, and I just want to confirm something. The opposition had requested that the come here. We went to the minister's office to see what her availability was. We were told she was not available this week.
There's this whole formula about when we have to report back on supplementary estimates (A). With next Tuesday, that may be the end of the window. She's not available next Tuesday either, so I made the decision to proceed with the departmental officials. They're excellent resources to have for this. That's why we heard from the officials today.
The intention now is to move to the vote on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Department of the Environment pieces.
Having been in committees for 14 and a half years, and I was also the chair of the Standing Committee on the Environment. I do have a bit of experience on this. The tradition is that the minister would come for the budget. Tradition is that the minister would come for supplementary estimates. What Mr. Lake is bringing forward is a request that at any time we would make ourselves available on this side.
The other point I would like to make on this is that, Chair, you said it was based on the information you received from the clerk, that this has to be dealt with before the last opposition day. It's the government that decides when the opposition day is given, so it's the government's call when that day would be. This floating date is the government's call, but it cannot go later than December 10. Today, being the 20th, we have time for the minister to come.
That's the tradition of this institution, that we would have the minister come. If she's come many times before, that's nice, but we have new members on the committee—me being one of them. I have not seen the minister at the committee. I think tradition should be respected as well as transparency on budgets and supplementary estimates. I would also make myself available for when the minister can come, and when it's convenient for her.