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'Why don't we just say, we're going to continue to invest in big oil?': NDP MP Charlie Angus

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Canadas environment minister worked hard Wednesday to ensure any leaks about a controversial Atlantic oil project werent coming from his office.

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Questioned about media reports of his ministrys impending approval of the Bay du Nord offshore drilling project while testifying Wednesday before the Commons Natural Resources committee, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault kept his responses nebulous.

National news are reporting this afternoon that your government is approving Bay du Nord, is that true? committee member and NDP MP Charlie Angus asked of the minister.

It is true that national news are reporting that, Guilbeault responded.

Asked by Angus if the media reports were indeed true, Guilbeault simply stated that no official announcement had been made.

Norwegian energy company Equinor is behind the $12 billion megaproject located about 500 km off the shore of St. Johns, N.L., northeast of the Hibernia and Terra Nova offshore drill sites on Newfoundlands Grand Banks and Jeanne dArc Basin.

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Estimates say the deepwater project could produce 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, and over its lifetime would yield at least 300 million barrels.

On Wednesday, CTV reported approval of the project would be announced later that day after the North American financial markets had closed.Later that day, the federal government officially announced it had approved the project.

During a somewhat contentious exchange, Angus expressed his surprise at the news telling Guilbeault he didnt recall reading anything in the governments climate plans about approving new oil projects.

Guilbeault responded by admonishing Angus for not paying closer attention to government policy.

If youd have read the climate plan attentively, you would have seen that the plan rests on a number of data sources, including the last study from the Canadian Energy Regulator that forecasts an increase in production in Canada, Guilbeault said.

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Angus kept on Guilbeault, pointing out both this weeks landmark report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC,) as well as remarks from UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres accusing world leaders of not following through on their promises to deal with the climate emergency.

He said government leaders are lying, and the response will be catastrophic,' Angus said.

Would you feel the UN (secretary) general would have been unfair in saying that government leaders who came to COP26 to make these promises are lying, and then go back and its business at usual?

Guilbeault disagreed with that assessment, insisting his government is following IPCC guidelines to the letter by capping emissions and taxing carbon emissions.

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Its saluted globally as one of the most effective tools to tackle climate change, he responded.

With the project not expected to start producing until the end of this decade, Angus questioned the governments ability to stick with the 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas by 40 to 45 per cent.

Why dont we just say, were going to continue to invest in big oil, were going to continue to promote Bay du Nord, were not going to meet those targets,' Angus said.

It would be better just to be honest with us on this than to claim youre going to miraculously hit these targets while, within the space of a week, you alone have signed off on half a million new barrels a day of new production.

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News that Bay du Nord approval was imminent was not well-received by Canadian environmental groups.

Climate advocacy group Environmental Defence described any potential approval of the project as a slap in the face.

Approving Bay du Nord is another leap towards an unlivable future, said spokeswoman Julia Levin in a statement.

The decision is tantamount to denying that climate change is real and threatens our very existence.

Bloc Quebecois committee member Kristina Michaud reminded Guilbeault of Mays report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) stating the only way to achieve net zero is through prohibiting any new oil, gas or coal projects asking in French if his government was announcing one thing but doing the exact opposite.

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Guilbeault answered in French that Canada was on track to meet its goal of cutting methane emissions by three-quarters by 2025.

Discussion of the Bay du Nord announcement came up during a meeting initially intended to discuss emission caps for the oil and gas sector.

While Guilbeault explained no formal emissions caps exist for other sectors, he said other Trudeau government policies could just as easily be considered along the same lines specifically mentioning the governments 2035 deadlines on zero-emission vehicles and net-zero energy via the Clean Electricity Standard.

This capping and reducing emissions approach is actually one that weve embraced for very many sectors of our economy, he said.

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