Hon. Michael L. MacDonald: Mr. Wilkinson, the people of Atlantic Canada are concerned, and need some reassurance and support from the federal government regarding the Atlantic Loop. Not long ago, you indicated that recent events were “a bump in the road.”

The Atlantic Loop is essential for Atlantic Canada. It will secure the power needed to phase out coal plants and pave the way for the provinces to meet their 2030 clean energy targets.

A few months ago, you indicated that the federal government was still actively pursuing this energy corridor, but, minister, I’m hearing that the project cannot be built on time if the construction doesn’t begin very soon. Time is of the essence. Minister, is the funding for the Atlantic Loop required to be in the spring budget for the project to go ahead? What are the repercussions if funding is not in the budget?

(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. Josée Verner: Thank you, minister. In April 2022, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jerry DeMarco, concluded in a report that the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada overestimated hydrogen’s potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions because “unrealistic assumptions” were used. That’s a direct quote. In testimony before the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources in October, Mr. DeMarco explained that this was due in part to the fact that your department had favoured, and I quote, “a transformative scenario that assumed the adoption of aggressive and sometimes non-existent policies.” How would you respond to Commissioner DeMarco’s disturbing findings?

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, presented the following report:

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

The Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs has the honour to present its

TENTH REPORT

Your committee, to which was referred Bill S-11, A fourth Act to harmonize federal law with the civil law of Quebec and to amend certain Acts in order to ensure that each language version takes into account the common law and the civil law, has, in obedience to the order of reference of December 8, 2022, examined the said bill and now reports the same without amendment.

Respectfully submitted,

MOBINA S. B. JAFFER

Chair

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I rise on a sombre note. The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to wage war on its own people, but with a laser focus on women. Women in Iran suffer under a system of discrimination and inequity. This is enshrined in their constitution and in their penal code. Their value under the law is precisely half the value of a man. They’re not allowed to wear what they want. They’re not allowed to practise certain occupations. They have limited property rights. Even worse, they are forced to give up their rights to their children on divorce. They are unable to travel without the permission of their male guardian.

Women who protest are routinely imprisoned, tortured, subjected to isolation in prison and raped. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, has been directed — directed — to shoot women who are protesting in their eyes, their faces and their genitals, making reconstructive surgery impossible to conduct.

Colleagues, women in Iran in the last month have said, “Enough is enough.” They are not just speaking out. They are leading their revolution with a roar, which is resonating across the globe.

I am delighted to tell you that the United Nations just passed a resolution removing Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. Its presence on this body would have been rubbing salt in the wound.

However, we need to take other action that is within our reach. I am, therefore, very pleased to inform you that I have, together with MP Ali Ehsassi of Willowdale, launched an Interparliamentary Friendship Group for a Free Iran.

I urge all of you to sign on as members. We are making it simple for you to do so. Check the box, and send back your reply. There is no money involved. By signing up, you will ensure that the voices of Iranians, Iranian-Canadians and democracy lovers are amplified on Parliament Hill, and, as appropriate, we as legislators and parliamentarians will add our voices to theirs. We will connect members of the Iranian diaspora to parliamentarians — to you — and convene discussions with thought leaders and civil society leaders. By so doing, we will animate the discussion on Parliament Hill in a way to support the movement to a free and democratic Iran.

Colleagues, this is your opportunity to join our call, and I call on all those who are fighting for women, for life and for freedom.

The Hon. the Speaker: Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Some Hon. Senators: Nay.

Hon. Dennis Glen Patterson: Welcome, minister. The rich Slave Geological Province alongside the Northwest Territories and Nunavut contains an abundance of minerals listed in the Critical Minerals Strategy — zinc, cobalt, rare earth elements and nickel, to name a few. The Kitikmeot Inuit Association advanced the all-weather Grays Bay Road and Port Project, which will, in addition to benefits such as community resupply and fuel storage, be key to unlocking the Slave Geological Province’s potential in Nunavut.

However, due to the severe impact of the COVID pandemic in the North, $21 million received by the KIA under the National Trade Corridors Fund to help further this project remains unused and is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. I am asking if you would use your good offices to advocate for a year-long extension for this important infrastructure funding contribution.

Hon. Patricia Bovey: Welcome, minister.

You are aware of my concern for oceans and their fragility from our work together on Bill C-55. With that in mind, my question relates to the many suggestions that have been made to ship oil and natural gas out of Churchill through Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. As Minister of Natural Resources and former Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, do you support these ideas? If so, what is your concern about the potential for environmental harm?

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, we welcome today the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources, to ask questions relating to his ministerial responsibilities.

Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on December 7, 2021, senators do not need to stand. Questions are limited to one minute and responses to one and a half minutes. The reading clerk will stand 10 seconds before the expiry of these times. Question Period will last one hour.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Grand Chief Peter Johnston of the Council of Yukon First Nations and his family. They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Loffreda.

On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!

The Hon. the Speaker: Is leave granted, honourable senators?

Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, P.C., M.P., Minister of Natural Resources: I wouldn’t agree with your assertion. It’s extremely important that these projects go ahead. That’s particularly true in the oil sands, where CCUS — carbon capture, utilization and storage — is one of the major opportunities for reducing emissions.

We must be sensitive to two things: the overall economics of the projects and what our friends in the United States are doing under the Inflation Reduction Act.

We brought forward what we thought was an appropriate incentive to bring forward the capital that’s required to build these kinds of projects. We expect the private sector also to be putting its capital at play; it is part of the solution here, too. There are other ways in which we can create value — for example, contracts for differences, which is something we are embedding in the new Canada growth fund which is of value and must be calculated into the overall economics.

We are waiting for the Government of Alberta to come forward with what it is going to do under its royalty regime as part of this. They have been working on that for some significant time, but that’s part of this on a go-forward basis. We have done lots of analysis with respect to how we compare vis-à-vis the United States, and Canada is actually quite reasonable in terms of where it sits.

We certainly want these to go ahead. I talk to the Pathways Alliance CEOs all the time; I talk to the Province of Alberta all the time. My view is that these are going to proceed. The Government of Canada is committed to doing what we need to do, but we obviously expect the sector to do their part as well.

The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, the time for Question Period has expired. I know you will wish to join me in thanking Minister Wilkinson for being with us today. Thank you, minister.

Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Honourable senators, with leave of the Senate and notwithstanding rule 5-5(j), I move:

That the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade have the power to meet on Thursday, December 15, 2022, even though the Senate may then be sitting, and that rule 12-18(1) be suspended in relation thereto.

Some Hon. Senators: Yea.