Hon. Clément Gignac: Honourable senators, on behalf of Senator Mockler, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance entitled Supplementary Estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

(On motion of Senator Gignac, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]

The Hon. the Speaker pro tempore: Are senators ready for the question? It was moved by the Honourable Senator Housakos, seconded by the Honourable Senator Martin that the report be adopted.

All those in favour will please say, “yea.”

Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Minister, your government’s environmental plan is estimated to cost tens of thousands of good-paying jobs across the energy sector. Your mandate letter says that you must, “Work with the Minister of Labour in moving forward with legislation and comprehensive action to achieve a Just Transition. . . .” for these workers. One year later and your colleague, minister, has tabled no such legislation.

Minister, has your government abandoned the idea of coming up with a just transition plan for workers in the energy sector? How much longer are Canadian oil and gas workers, whose jobs are on the line, supposed to wait to see a meaningful plan from your government?

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Let me just start by thanking the honourable senators for having me here today. I acknowledge that this session is taking place on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people.

Thank you, senator, for the question. I would actually challenge one of the things you said at the very beginning, in that most forecasts say we will gain far more jobs than we may lose through the process of the energy transition.

I would also say that many of the jobs that we will see in the future, such as in the production of hydrogen or biofuels, from a skill set perspective, do not look much different from the types of skills that are required in the existing energy sector within this country.

But we are working on the discussion around the just transition. That includes an economic plan for a future economy that will be prosperous and strong in the context of a lower‑carbon future. It is also about adjustment in cases where there is displacement of workers, like coal-fired power plant workers. That is certainly something we’re working on, and we intend to introduce legislation in the new year.

Senator Plett: Minister, the fact of the matter is 300,000 Canadians working in the oil and gas sector have already lost their jobs since your government took office. Your colleague the Minister of Labour says that industry workers need to know how much we appreciate their talents and how valuable they are. With Christmas just around the corner, these workers need certainty that their jobs are safe, and that they will not be forced out of their rural communities to obtain employment.

Minister, can you assure energy sector workers today that their jobs will be protected during these already difficult economic times?

Yes, we are firmly committed to that. But with regard to your comment about the loss of jobs in this sector, at this stage the loss is primarily, given the volumes being produced, the result of automation.

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Thank you for the question. Yes, the Just Transition, sometimes referred to these days as a plan for sustainable jobs, is something that we have been working on very actively — certainly not just myself, but also Minister O’Regan, Minister Qualtrough and, of course, our counterparts in the New Democratic Party who are part of the Supply and Confidence Agreement.

That is something that we intend to deliver early in the new year with respect to introduction of legislation, but also the release of a draft action plan outlining a number of the elements — not only on what we’ve done, but where we’re going. That will include a whole range of things that came out of the consultations that we held over the past couple of years, very much including the labour movement.

It certainly is not just about skills training and adjustment. It’s also about building an economy that will create good jobs for Canadians as we move forward.

We certainly are reflecting on the coal-related work that was done previously. I know you were very actively involved in that, senator. Some of those have already been acted on, but certainly we are looking at the remainder of those recommendations as we go forward with the broader plan, which is meant to address not just coal workers but others as well. As you know, even the funding that was put into place for coal workers expires at the end of 2023.

There is obviously time between then and when some of these plants will shut down, so there’s a broader conversation that needs to happen.

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Honourable senators, it was a shock on Monday to learn of the passing of Jim Carr. A proud Manitoban, Canadian, member of Parliament and former cabinet minister, he had the best interests of all at heart.

In each of his careers, he built on his myriad of skills and interests, and was a true Renaissance man.

I met Jim 50 years ago. He was working in communications for Manitoba’s Assistant Deputy Minister for Cultural Affairs, Mary Elizabeth Bayer. I was organizing an exhibition for her to send to France. Jim was my public relations go-to person.

Jim was a superlative oboist and played with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He also served as CEO of the Manitoba Arts Council. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, founder of the Business Council of Manitoba, adviser to the University of Manitoba and, most recently, a member of Parliament and cabinet minister.

Our work, friends and lives overlapped for many years, more so when he was in the other place and I was here in the Senate. I was delighted that he agreed to sponsor Bill S-208, an act respecting the declaration on the essential role of artists and creative expression in Canada. He spoke of a Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra quartet visiting his Grade 3 class and its transformational effect on him. My experience, also in my Grade 3 class, was similar with a visit from the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

He well knew the importance of the arts, the challenges of arts cultural organizations and the very real needs of artists themselves. Those issues were the focus of many of our conversations in committee, in the airport and over lunch, along with conversations about our magnificent province.

Colleagues, I will miss this bridge builder, this author of a book on Senator Charles Dufferin “Duff” Roblin, this legislator who bridged our province to others and to the federal government, this community leader who bridged the arts and business, business and government and community and universities and this proud Jewish man who built interfaith bridges in Manitoba, on Parliament Hill and internationally.

Jim adored his family, and he smiled broadly when he talked about his grandchildren. In our last chat less than two weeks ago, he was looking forward to their Carr family holiday celebrations and an upcoming trip to Mexico with his wife, Colleen.

My heart goes out to his wife, Colleen, his children, grandchildren and many, many friends.

Thank you, Jim — dear friend, dear colleague — for your years of giving in so many ways to our community at home and nationwide.

Bless you.

Hon. Sabi Marwah: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak about Julia Levy, who was just announced as the newest Rhodes Scholar from British Columbia.

The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most prestigious postgraduate awards for study at the University of Oxford. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. Key criteria for the Rhodes Scholarship includes academic excellence, leadership ability and commitment to service with a focus on contributing to positive change in the world.

Julia meets all these requirements and then some. She is a scientist, artist and activist, and she is also the first trans woman to be awarded the Rhodes Scholarship in Canada.

Julia graduated with a major in chemistry and a minor in visual arts from the University of Victoria. During her second year, she combined the two fields of study and invented a virtual reality program to help chemistry students visualize molecules in a better way. She went on to develop an augmented reality format for visualizing complex molecules. Professor Jeremy Wulff said in a statement on Julia that she is “destined for greatness.”

Julia also worked with the university’s Vancouver Island Drug Checking Project and the Gender Generation Project for trans youth and their families.

I spoke with Julia yesterday and asked her if there was a message she wished to share with Canadians. She said:

I want to celebrate how far we have come. Being a transgender woman is the most beautiful and joyous experience of my life.

Transgender people have something vital to contribute to our national community, and I hope that in receiving this award I will have a positive impact on the lives of others.

I am incredibly grateful to share these words with you; as a transwoman, a British Columbian, and as a Canadian. I hope and intend to impact the world in a way that will make Canada proud.

Colleagues, as many of you know, the Rhodes Scholarship comes with a dated set of rules and a history of racial inequality, gender and class discrimination.

Elizabeth Kiss, warden of Rhodes House in Oxford, acknowledged that the Rhodes Trust is grappling with its history. But the negative aspects of the founder’s vision for the scholarship have been rejected, except for the core values that still make sense. For example, Kiss says that Rhodes wanted to develop people with “an energy to lead and a kindness for others.” Levy has that in spades, Kiss said.

As Canada’s first trans woman to be awarded this scholarship, Julia is proving that excellence and success are accessible to everyone regardless of their gender expression or sexual orientation. Thank you.

Hon. Yuen Pau Woo: Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.

’Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the Senate

Members were stirring for a way to adjourn it.

Speeches were made in the chamber with care,

In hopes that minds would be changed both here and over there.

A report on C-11 had been put to bed,

While visions of 3rd reading danced in the GRO’s head.

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

And so it was with the Broadcasting Act,

Yet “discoverability” was saved, as a matter of fact.

The Speaker in his robe and three-cornered hat,

Had settled down in the chair where he sat.

When out in the foyer there arose such a clatter,

Pages sprang up to deal with the matter.

With Black Rod in charge, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it wasn’t St. Nick.

The moon on the breast of the Ottawa snow

Gave lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But six new senators, bright eyed and clear.

More rapid than eagles the sponsors they came,

as they whistled, and shouted, and called out by name:

“Now, Shugart! now, Osler! now, Greenwood and Burey!

On, Cardozo! on Patterson! Shake hands with Furey!

We welcome you to the hallowed red chamber

And pray the PM will fill the remainder.

And then, in a twinkling, we received a note

From Clerk Gerald, and thusly he wrote:

“When Christmas is over, this Christmas will be

the last of our Christmas for Christmases to see.”

We awed at this portent and wondered who?

It was Dan, our senator and friend from Membertou.

He was humble and wise, and a right jolly old elf,

with a name like Christmas, he could hardly help himself.

The gifts he left us are abundant and rare,

Above all, kindness and patience and, well, savoir faire.

When we return, he will have retired,

But his example for us will long be admired.

As we spring to our sleighs, and give the whistle,

before we fly away like the down of a thistle.

We will exclaim, ere Dan leaves our sight,

CHRISTMAS is ever with us because he did right!

Happy holidays to one and all.

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Honourable senators, I would like to thank the Canadian Senators Group for allowing me space to speak today. I rise today in collaboration with the Indigenous Women’s Collective to address a pervasive and critical issue facing our nation: that of Indigenous identity fraud, or pretendianism.

This issue is not a victimless crime. It harms all Indigenous people, but it particularly harms Indigenous women. It allows interlopers to steal our voice, our power and our hard-earned places in society. These pretendians are cunning. They find cracks left by centuries of colonialism and squeeze through them. They then rely on the ambivalence of these colonial institutions and the silence of many Indigenous male leaders to claim support and legitimacy.

This deceit has allowed pretendians to infiltrate academia, politics, the judiciary, corrections and various other branches of power. This stealing of identity and parading of trauma for such personal gain is blatantly opportunistic racism. If such activity is not being outwardly renounced and combatted, it is being enabled — for it is the silence that surrounds colonial violence against Indigenous women that is killing us. The continued marginalization of Indigenous women that this fraud yields makes us further vulnerable to all forms of violence. It keeps us silent and isolated, with devastating effects.

Yet these pretendians do more than just harm Indigenous peoples. They harm those with whom they have worked and walked with. They hurt the causes these fraudsters pretend to support, and the individuals who rely on that work. They hurt reconciliation in Canada.

However, we Indigenous women are tired of being silent while our abusers enjoy impunity. We have value. We matter. We will continue to speak up and speak out in the face of the various forms of violence that oppress us — whether that violence is systemic, lateral, patriarchal, gender or otherwise.

If the Senate is committed to reconciliation, we must end the deafening silence surrounding pretendianism. We must denounce and renounce such shameful conduct and acknowledge the harm it causes to Indigenous people, particularly Indigenous women and children. It takes all of us, colleagues, to shed our complacency and ensure this violence is no longer empowered to further marginalize Indigenous women, thereby stealing their voice and power. Let us have the courage to be good allies and walk shoulder to shoulder in solidarity against this insidious activity.

Kinanâskomitin. Thank you.

(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, to receive a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources, appeared before honourable senators during Question Period.)

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Thank you for the very important question. The Atlantic Loop is, as you say, a critical project with respect to electricity for Atlantic Canada — enabling the phase-out of coal, and the utilization of non-emitting energy, but also setting up Atlantic Canada for what will be necessary in terms of the augmentation of electricity, which we will need if we are looking to electrify transportation, home heating and a whole range of applications — let alone the need to have an abundance of clean energy to attract industry to come and produce products.

The Atlantic Loop is extremely important. I have been actively working with all of the provinces by speaking with Premier Houston, Premier Higgs and Premier Furey and, of course, with the Government of Quebec. It is a priority for all of us, but it is also something we have to be thoughtful about in terms of how we put it together. Certainly, the federal government recognizes it needs to come to the table to be part of the solution. That is something that we are actively working on. I would say, though, that we do intend to target arriving at some kind of agreement in principle within the first several months of next year. As you say, time is of the essence.

Hon. Hassan Yussuff: Thank you, minister, for being here today. I want to thank you again for all the good work that’s happening across the country, especially on the file you’re responsible for.

As you may know, I spend a great deal of my time advocating on behalf of working people across this country. In that context, I was a co-chair of the task force to phase out coal-fired generation in our country. Workers embraced the 10 recommendations that were made as part of our task force report. I know that the government has certainly been consulting workers in regard to implementing Just Transition legislation.

Can you assure our colleagues here in the Senate that sometime in the near future — which means spring of next year — we could see your government acting on the Just Transition program? Would that also include all of the elements recommended by our Just Transition Task Force for Canadian Coal Power Workers and Communities?

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Minister, thank you very much for being with us today. It’s no secret that our European friends and allies are in for a tough winter and probably an even tougher winter after that because of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the shift away from Russian oil and gas.

When German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was here in Canada a few months ago, a Canada-Germany Hydrogen Alliance was signed, looking at the development of hydrogen exports, particularly from Newfoundland. I am wondering whether you can comment on the feasibility, and how the work is going with respect to the fact that it is a very competitive field out there with large international competitors.

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Thank you. Yes, as you say, forests are an important carbon sink, alongside wetlands and peatlands. Certainly, we are focused on trying to enhance the carbon sinks through programs like the 2 Billion Trees program. But as you also rightly point out, forestry, and particularly anything related to things like the waste that we leave in the forests, create methane and, at times, CO₂, which contribute to climate change.

Canada does account for all of that. We use guidelines that are recognized by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. There are some environmental organizations who think that some of those guidelines should be different and changed. We have engaged with them — Nature Canada is one of them; Natural Resources Defense Council is another. We are engaged in conversations with them, but, of course, Canada doesn’t want to invent its own guidelines. We want to work in lockstep with our international partners, and we are doing that on an ongoing basis.

Certainly, we are focused very much going forward on trying to find ways, for example, to better utilize the value that exists — for example, in waste which presently is often left in the forest, creating methane but also costing our economy dollars.

[Translation]

Hon. Clément Gignac: Hello, minister.

As the former Quebec Minister of Natural Resources, I want to recognize the great work you’ve been doing and point out that Canadians should know how important natural resource development is as a means of creating wealth while respecting the environment.

I want to continue the conversation that my colleague started about the Atlantic Loop. I’d like to hear more of your thoughts on it. The 2030 timeline is very short when it comes to getting infrastructure built. I’d like to know what kind of financial support could be granted for this project.

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Thank you for the question. I will answer in English to be clearer.

[English]

I certainly welcome Mr. DeMarco’s report, and there were many elements of it that I agreed with. What I would say is what Natural Resources Canada did was different from what Environment and Climate Change Canada did. Environment and Climate Change Canada developed a climate plan that was actually based on what hydrogen could do in terms of emissions reductions within the relevant time frame, and they looked really only at one application. Natural Resources Canada looked at what’s called a “full potential,” which is all of the applications for which hydrogen could be utilized — if you actually seized all of those opportunities, what is the full potential you could look at?

Often, businesses, as you will know, do a full potential to try to understand what may be possible. It doesn’t mean that’s what you choose to do in terms of the specific avenues you will go down. But I would say the full potential is useful in terms of trying to actually ensure that we understand where the biggest opportunities are from both an emissions reduction and an economic perspective.

I am very comfortable that the work we did and will do going forward is helping us to move that forward with respect to the hydrogen strategy. I used to run a hydrogen business. It’s an area I know reasonably well, and I do think hydrogen represents an enormous economic opportunity for Canada. It is also one of those things that we are going to need for applications that are very hard to use electricity in, for example, like heavy-duty trucking or even, in some cases, home heating.

So I welcome Mr. DeMarco’s report, but I do think it is important to understand they are slightly different in terms of the focus.

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: It’s a very good question, senator. As you know, the money for the Critical Minerals Strategy was in the 2022 budget. It was $3.8 billion. It is actually very unusual for a government to effectively pre-fund a strategy that has not been fully finalized, but that’s what we did in the budget, and then we launched the final version of the strategy just last week.

It is critically important for Canada. I think it represents, as you would have seen me say in the press conference, a generational economic opportunity for this country, not just around extraction but around processing and the manufacturing of batteries and electric vehicles. It is also important, as we move forward, that we are transparent with Canadians about the progress that is being made along the chain. Of that $3.8 billion, some is for projects, some is for infrastructure and some is for geological science.

My expectation going forward is that at least annually we would be reporting out on the progress of the strategy.

[Translation]

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: Thank you for the question. I would say that the responsibility for the list of banned individuals falls to Minister Joly. I am very open to the idea of having a conversation, if you can give me the information you were talking about. It is important because Canada is a leader when it comes to banning bad actors, including Russia, which invaded Ukraine. I am very open to the idea of having a conversation with you and then with Minister Joly.

[English]