44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 11, 2023 10:00AM
- May/11/23 1:31:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, historically, Quebec and Canada were built through immigration and with the presence of the first nations, who are too often forgotten.
Historically, people have settled in what is known as the Quebec-Windsor corridor, which accounts for about 60% to 70% of the Canadian population. If Canada reaches 100 million people in 2100, this corridor would be home to between 60 million and 70 million people. One of the largest watersheds in Canada, the one that provides water to all of these people, is located in this corridor. Many cities are already having problems with water supply.
What would be the environmental consequences if the 60 million to 70 million Quebeckers and Canadians settled on this piece of land?
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- May/11/23 1:32:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there will indeed be major environmental consequences. Take, for example, water consumption. Water consumption is one of the environmental concerns, but there is also water pollution. Waste water has to be treated. There is also waste management. Waste has to be handled properly and safely stored. There is also atmospheric pollution, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. There are tons of different forms of pollution and repercussions associated with the presence of humans that will be felt if we increase the population more quickly than what nature can handle.
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- May/11/23 7:09:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Nation Anishinabe people, and I do so with humility and gratitude. Meegwetch.
I am rising tonight during Adjournment Proceedings to pursue a question that I originally asked in question period on March 10 of this year. It is in relation to the tailings ponds maintained by Imperial Oil, and the Kearl mine is the one in question.
Imperial is owned by Exxon in the United States, and this mining project has been in place for some decades. The question of the suitability of that terrain and the suitability of their plans for holding vast amounts, millions of litres, of toxic effluent in those ponds was a subject of some concern in the initial environmental assessment hearings, which I attended at the time as an intervener on behalf of Sierra Club Canada. There were many promises made in those hearings, and I remember them well. Everything was going to be world-class technology, and Imperial was going to be very careful to make sure that the toxic materials were maintained within containment.
Of course, what I raised on March 10 in question period was that, at that point, we knew for nine months that the Kearl mine had been leaking toxic effluent on the lands and waters of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. At the time, Imperial had been lobbying for more subsidies from Canada while failing to inform just about anyone that this was occurring. It was discovered in May 2022, and the first nation discovered that this had been going on for some time in January and February of this year, 2023. However, what is really incredible is what we have learned since then.
The Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development has heard from Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, from the Mikisew Cree, from Métis and also from the Alberta regulator. We also know now that we are not talking about something in the past tense. Initially, media coverage said that this had been going on for some time, and it is still going on as far as know. The containment in the tailings ponds is not working.
In fact, parenthetically, the CEO of Imperial, Brad Corson, is now the highest paid CEO in the energy sector. His salary actually doubled last year and is now more than $17 million. However, it was officials from the Alberta regulator who said that the correct word to use was more “seep” than “leak”, as it is seeping out through the sides. The approach that Imperial Oil is taking to this seeping of toxic effluent is to try to capture it through piping and return it to the place where it is leaking.
When I asked when the Government of Canada was going to get tough on these corporate criminals, the response from the hon. parliament secretary, the hon. member for Winnipeg South, was that the thoughts of the government are with the families and the well-being of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and other affected communities and the Minister of Environment was looking at reaching out to the Alberta government and these first nations. In effect, he said that they want to better understand the situation. Well, we better understand it all right now.
The late Dr. David Schindler testified on May 12, 2009, to the parliamentary committee that there was enough evidence to charge Imperial with violations of the Fisheries Act then. What are we waiting for?
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- May/11/23 7:13:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I take pollution incidents and threats to the environment very seriously, and I am deeply disappointed by this situation, as the Minister of Environment and Climate Change has also said. Our priority remains the health and the well-being of the people of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, as well as other communities.
Let us talk a bit about the action since the time of that question and answer in question period. Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers have a mandate to enforce federal environmental legislation aimed at pollution prevention and protecting Canada's wildlife and biodiversity. The enforcement has opened an investigation into a suspected contravention of the Fisheries Act at Imperial Oil's Kearl oil sands site. The Fisheries Act prohibits the deposit of deleterious substances into the water frequented by fish or in any place under conditions where the deleterious substance may enter any such water.
Environment and Climate Change Canada continues to make progress in creating a new notification and monitoring working group, which would include the federal and provincial governments, indigenous nations from Fort Chipewyan and the Government of Northwest Territories. From the federal perspective, an enhanced communication protocol must be developed to improve notifications at all steps in the notification process in cases of future environmental emergencies, and officials are working with indigenous communities to collectively establish the mandate and scope of this working group. Their inputs and insights will be critical to ensuring that this group convenes with a direction and purpose that will meet the community's needs.
In general, and I want to underline this point, tailings ponds are regulated at the provincial level, and in Alberta's case, through the Alberta Energy Regulator. We will be exploring further options with Alberta, including how the Government of Canada can support assessing the risks of tailings ponds and broader landscape and tailings management issues of concern.
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