Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals would not release a statutory cost-benefit report detailing direct costs of Monday’s proposed cap on oil and gas emissions. “You owe it to Canadians,” Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs told the Commons Natural Resources Committee, per Blacklock's Reporter. “If Canada did not have contributions from oil and gas right now, Canada would be in a recession,” said Stubbs. No rival energy producing country including the United States, Mexico or Norway has imposed a similar cap on domestic industry, she said.“It will cut oil and gas production, jobs, businesses and money from Canada, no matter what you say,” said Stubbs. “That is actually the truth about what is occurring here. You do owe it to Canadians.”The Department of Environment on November 4 issued a summary of its draft on “oil and gas sector greenhouse gas emissions cap regulations.” However, it did not release the legal text of regulations that must include a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement detailing direct costs.“At the end of each year, each facility will need to remit to the government one allowance for each tonne of carbon pollution it has emitted,” said a department news release.“Over time, the government will give out fewer allowances.”Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said regulations should be finalized within a year. “Regulations will help to cut pollution by 35% below 2019 levels while providing compliance flexibility,” Guilbeault told reporters.“We will be ready in 2025 to present the final regulations,” he said. His department did not reply when asked for the complete cost-benefit Regulatory Analysis.“Look around the world,” said Guilbeault. “No other major oil and gas producer is doing what we’re doing. The United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, the Gulf States — we are the only large oil and gas producer in the world to do this.”“This means no matter what happens to production, the pollution level will go down. Let me be clear, this was carefully designed.”Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, in testimony on November 4 at committee, acknowledged the energy sector was a major contributor to Canada’s wealth.“The strength of the Canadian economy today and in the past is very much built on our oil and gas sector,” said Freeland. “I absolutely recognize the value that it brings in terms of jobs, in terms of revenue, in terms of our trade balance.”Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan questioned the impact of the emissions cap. “How many Canadian jobs will be lost with your job-killing oil and gas cap?” asked Hallan. Freeland did not reply.“I just need the number,” said Hallan. “If you don’t have the number, just say so.”“Can you confirm you have done an impact assessment on what this oil and gas cap will do to your deficit?”“It is absolutely appropriate for me to make clear the falsehoods embedded in your question,” replied Freeland.Trudeau first announced the cabinet’s intention to cap oil and gas emissions while attending a 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. “That is no small task for a major oil and gas producing country,” said Trudeau. “It is a big step that’s absolutely necessary.”
