The co-founder of Ottawa's independent net-zero advisory body says she has been "disappointed" by Prime Minister Mark Carney's commitment to climate action to date.
Catherine Abreu was speaking at a parliamentary committee on the environment Tuesday, along with fellow co-founder Simon Donner.
They both resigned from the federal government's net-zero advisory body in December after accusing the Carney government of not seeking the group’s advice on key policy decisions, including the Alberta energy deal and the major projects bill.
Abreu told the committee many in the climate field had "much higher expectations" for Carney and saw him as the right person to leverage Canada's clean growth opportunities.
"Seeing his commitment to climate in other arenas, and having read his book, I think many of us are experiencing that disappointment," Abreu told the committee.
"Even if I set my concerns around climate change aside, I'm concerned that we are not having the conversation about where we want to prioritize future opportunities in this country."
Carney has for months been accused of backsliding on Canada’s climate initiatives after repealing the consumer carbon price, making the industrial carbon price more lenient and expanding fossil fuel subsidies.
The changes have been hailed by industry as necessary changes to make Canada more competitive for global investment, and say more deregulation needs to happen.
But the moves cost Carney a cabinet minister and caucus member after Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet last year over the Alberta energy deal, and announced last month his intention to resign as an MP over the government's direction on climate.
At Tuesday's committee meeting, Abreu said Canada is not taking advantage of its unique opportunities to develop clean energy and is falling behind a world that is moving on from fossil fuels.
"We have an incredible abundance of clean energy in this country that we are not taking advantage of," Abreu said.
"Instead, we obsess over this one industry — that yes, is important and we need to plan for a managed, phase out of that industry over many years with respect to workers and communities — but let's invest in the resources that we have in this country. And those are clean energy resources."
Abreu and Donner were invited to committee to talk about why they resigned from the net-zero advisory body.
It was created in 2021 as part of Canada’s Net-Zero Accountability Act and requires Canada’s environment minister to take into account the advisory body’s advice when setting emissions targets, or changing Canada’s emissions reduction plan.
Donner reiterated to the committee much of what The Canadian Press has previously reported on why they resigned, including how he felt the advisory body's role began to feel "performative" under the Carney government.
Donner told MPs that despite new policy implementations which affects Canada's climate goals, those changes are not being led by Environment and Climate Change Canada.
He told the committee how last summer, the NZAB completed research on industrial pricing and equivalency agreements, and volunteered to brief people across government.
But he said the advisory body received no response from the Prime Minister's Office, and only an acknowledgment from the office of Energy Minister Tim Hodgson.
"I was comfortable chairing an advisory body whose advice was considered but ultimately rejected by the government because, after all, we're not elected representatives like the rest of you," Donner told MPs.
"I was not, however, comfortable with the process becoming performative, in which we had little or no opportunity for our work to actually inform policy."
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and NDP MP Gord Johns were among MPs who could ask questions to Donner and Abreu. Typically, since the Greens and NDP don't have party status, they need to rely on the generosity of other parties to give them time at committees.
At Tuesday's meeting, it was the Conservatives who offered all their time to May and Johns.
The initial push to invite Donner and Abreu to the committee back in March was contentious, with the Liberals being accused of filibustering the attempts to have them come speak.
Those accusations continued Tuesday when Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy put a motion to the floor to launch a new study on home energy retrofits while he was questioning Abreu.
The move led to sharp criticism from Conservative MP Branden Leslie, who accused Fanjoy of eating up the clock to muzzle testimony unflattering to the government.
"I can't believe how gutless this is," Leslie said, adding that home energy retrofits is a program under Natural Resources Canada, which isn't under the committee's purview.
"I consider this is completely shameful that you would take time from two expert witnesses on climate change, who come to talk to us about the issue and how Canada is problematic and can improve," Bloc Québécois MP Patrick Bonin added in French.
"This is really low. I'm really disappointed in your attitude. You've really reached the bottom of the barrel."
Fanjoy defended his move, saying it's a relevant study on a program to help Canada reach its climate goals.
In the end, Fanjoy spent two minutes 29 seconds presenting his motion and defending it, while the Conservatives and Bloc spent 13 seconds longer than Fanjoy criticizing him for it.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
