Environment Committee on June 6th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

As you can understand, Ms. Pauzé, the answer will have to wait.

Ms. Collins, perhaps you would like to hear the answer to Ms. Pauzé's question. Whatever the case may be, the floor is yours.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My first question is for Mr. Kruger.

You have been making record-breaking profits. The oil sector, the oil and gas companies, raked in $63 billion in 2022 alone. The CEOs around the virtual table today make millions in salaries and bonuses.

You personally made $36.8 million in your first year as CEO. I was just doing a quick calculation with the median income of someone in my community. That would take them about 640 years to make. In that same year, in that same first year, you also laid off 1,500 workers.

We asked Canadians to send us questions that they wanted us to ask the oil and gas CEOs. The question that came up the most often was this: How do you sleep at night when there are climate fires ravaging our country, when people are displaced from their homes, when hundreds die in heat domes, when people are scared to let their kids go out and play because the smoke is too dangerous to breathe? How do you sleep at night?

[Rich Kruger]

I appreciate your desire to create headlines, point fingers and attempt to villainize the industry. However, what I would say when you do that is that you're actually attacking hundreds of thousands of Canadians nationwide who work hard each and every day to provide energy in support of this country.

I'll take that; I have thick skin. Some of your data is inaccurate, but I understand the emotion behind it. I want to get to why we were called here today. It was to talk about profits and emissions reductions.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

My question in particular was this: How do you sleep at night, given the climate crisis and your responsibility in fuelling it?

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

I have a point of order.

Do we have any decorum around here in terms of personal attacks on individual witnesses? It's bizarre.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I think, to be honest, that's more of a rhetorical question, but I stopped the clock.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

The question was asked and I think that, in the standard operating practice within the committee, the approximate amount of time for the question asked versus the ability for the answer to be given.... Ms. Collins asked a question. Certainly, Mr. Kruger was starting to answer.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Chair—

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

I think that it is only appropriate and in line with the traditions of this place to allow for answers to be given.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I fully intended, Mr. Kurek, to allow an answer to be given. What I'm saying is.... I'm just making a comment that it was a rhetorical question, but—

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Yes, Ms. Collins. There's nothing wrong with rhetorical questions. They are always permitted.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

It wasn't a rhetorical question. This was the question that we got most often from Canadians who wrote in, wanting answers from oil and gas CEOs. This was their question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Okay, you go ahead. I'm going to start the clock now.

You go ahead, Mr. Kruger. The floor is yours to answer the question.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Chair, I believe that Mr. Kruger answered the question. Then he wanted to change the topic to something else. If he's not wanting to answer that question in particular, I have more questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We didn't give him a chance to answer the question.

Mr. Kruger, do you want to answer that question?

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

[Inaudible—Editor] and actually get on the topic of this study.

[Rich Kruger]

Frankly, I don't know what the criteria is for how I sleep at night, but what I do know is that the tens of thousands of employees and contractors who work for us work hard each and every day to provide safe, secure and reliable energy for Canada. Other than my sleeping patterns, I don't have any other reply to that one.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thank you.

We had climate-impacted Canadians come to Ottawa today to share their stories. They told us about having their homes burnt to the ground. They told us about having floods completely ruin decades of memories. They told us about their community that will soon be swept away. Farmers have told us about the impact of the smoke on their workers and of the impacts of the climate crisis on our food systems.

It is wild to me that, when we are facing a climate emergency, we have people around this virtual table raking in billions of dollars and then coming to the government and asking for more handouts. Why is it that you expect everyday Canadians, taxpayers, to fund the—

[An hon. member]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

I understand that my Conservative colleagues want to protect—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Ms. Collins has the floor.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

—oil and gas CEOs and that they feel like they need to defend them at every corner, but—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Excuse me, colleagues. I'm going to stop the clock.

Ms. Collins has the floor. Everyone has their time, and it's their time. I would ask members to let the witness and the questioner speak unimpeded.

Ms. Collins, go ahead.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

I'm curious how it is that you feel comfortable coming to the federal government and asking them for more handouts when you are raking in record profits and can pay to clean up your own pollution.