Thank you for listening to Pictures Media Radio. Welcome to Policy and Rights,
the show about the government, Policy and human rights. Welcome back to Policy
and Write your in Depictions Media Radio. I'm your host Michael Cloggs. As
we remember in that Justin Trudeau created the sea Blan in order to help small
businesses get around some of the troubles that they were happening with the pandemic and
to help keep those businesses afloat the because of the seaver loan. Now some
of those or the repayment of the Sea balon, shall we say, that
the small businesses are coming under fry out fire again. They have to come
up with with the entire portion of the loan in order to avoid a high
interest rate, and that that deadline is approaching very fast. Different premiers and
levels of governments have have been after the federal government to find out what they
will do to help small businesses again, as this deadline approaches, and it's
not only gonna affect it's affecting UH a lot of pop shops, it's also
going to affect some charities and other UH types of businesses that needed just to
stay afloat during the pandemic. In order d They just needed the cash in
flux to keep afloat. So it is a big question what is going to
happen with the the Sea balloone re payment and what the federal government is going
to do to help small businesses and charities that accepted this money to get around
the high interest rates that is impending. Along with that some of the other
things that have happened politically that we may have heard that Donald Trump won the
state of Iowa, but here's the thing. Right after that, he may
have won the state of Iowa, but he is still facing charges and was
back in court again right away after winning the state of Iowa, and most
recently that he has been asked by the the judge in that same case to,
shall we say politely, he was told to shut up. There's a
lot of questions around Donald Trump's performance and some of the rhetoric that he is
talking about. There have been social media rumors that he's talking about some sort
of a dome over the United States. Well, rather he's talking about a
dome or not, isn't necessarily the thing at hand. It is the isolationism
that he's talking about. If the United States is to isolate itself. What
would happen to the American society if they were to close off borders? That
would also mean they were be closing off their borders who imported goods and a
lot of other things that happen. So what would happen to business? What
would happen to commerce? And we had to ask ourselves a question of what
would happen to the United States if Donald Trump's elected and he is allowed to
instill a policy of isolationism. So really here also about Manitoba and Canada and
a clean fuel program for aviation and a few other things. So why don't
we start with justin true John, I guess the first question is where's everybody
yesterday? Let's have a big guy in questions before I started, I certainly
want tomall business do what acknowledgement that we are on traditional and seated territory of
the realistic way, alongside of their neighbors, the Bigma and the Pessicato Macati.
Welcome everybody, it's a big day for me personally. Welcome Prime Minister,
Mayor Reardon, I see Mirrorfield, Deputy Mayor Mackenzie, counselors. It's
a huge day for us in this city, and you know I am reflective.
I started as an MP in twenty fifteen because of this guy, because
I believed in him. I believed in a government that can do good things
for people. I believe that government with programs to help our most vulnerable is
what we're there for. And I wanted to be an advocate for this riding.
We've delivered federally over one point three billion dollars to this writing since twenty
fifteen. We've transformed this writing and I'm just so proud to be your Member
of Parliament. So without further ado, I certainly want to welcome our Prime
Minister. Welcome back to this beautiful city, my beautiful riding, and over
to you. Thank you Wayne for your words, but thank you also for
your extraordinary work for the people. To thank John. It really is a
pleasure to be able to do so much with you here over the past many
years. Donna, I'm Mary Ridan. Thank you so much for your welcome
as well. Thank you for your leadership as we've come together with this announcement
today. I want to thank the assembled Counselors, Mary Mayfield, other officials
who are here. This is really about all of us coming together to respond
to the challenges that communities and individuals are facing right across the country. I
had the opportunity sit down with April, one of the residents of this building,
just earlier, and she talked about how challenging it was to find an
affordable place to live, but also how much over the past months she's been
able to develop her independence, her sense of building a strong future through having
a safe and quite frankly excellent place to live that is also affordable, because
that really matters. And this building we're in here today is a recipient of
federal partnership through the Affordable Housing Fund that delivered this excellent building, along with
the work that the mayor and the province did on this. Just last week,
Wayne, you were here with the mayor as well for a rapid Housing
announcement over at Barrick's Green. That is showing what we can do, especially
to help the most vulnerable. We know there's real challenges around homeless populations here
in the city and across the country. We need to continue to step up
on. Those are two different programs, and today we're here to announce a
third program, a really big one, de La Constriction sing avec no vendu
ville a travel bi poor acciri la constriction de loge de pre rapid acci really
pros don les ville au travailler ensemble selis see Nipple livery in nouvelle farson de
batsi delle raid. We're here today for the twenty second Housing Accelerator Fund announcement.
Across the country. We've worked very, very hard with the City of
Saint John to come to an ambitious proposal that's going to increase tensification, that's
going to accelerate the processes in terms of building more housing more quickly. They're
looking at freeing up public land for housing. They're looking at all the different
things that are going to not just make individual projects happen, but change the
way all housing is built in this community and by extension, right across the
country. We signed the Housing Accelerator Deals with cities who were willing to step
up and be bold and ambitious about meeting the growth that Canadians want and need,
both in population and in our economy. And that's exactly why I'm so
happy to be here. It's about building a better country for everyone in which
people can have that building block and that pathway towards greater and greater success by
having a secure and affordable place to live. We know that people are worried
that the promise of Canada doesn't hold the way it used to, that promise
that every generation should be able to succeed even better than the one before because
of the work that we've done over generations and generations. People look at the
challenges the world is facing right now and the challenges we're facing in our communities
right across the country, and they're worried that maybe that idea and that promise
of progress doesn't hold anymore. Well, that's why we're working so hard to
secure that promise, to make the kind of investments that are going to create
an even better country and even better opportunities for everyone. It's hard work,
but the way it gets done is by rolling up our sleeves and doing it
together. And that's why I'm so pleased to be here with the mayor and
the municipality on this one. There's other programs we've worked very closely with the
province on, including, for example, accelerating the construction of apartment apartment buildings.
We've removed the GST on the federal side. We encourage New Brunswick to
match what the other Atlantic provinces have done and also remove the GST on the
provincial side to make sure that the mouth works to build more and more rental
homes, me housing across across the city, across the province and indeed across
the country. Wit LAO and Canada is the best country in the world.
We're going to keep working together to make it even better. Mer happy now
that happy now to pass it over to mard Donna exactly, Prime Minister.
It's an honor to be here with you today and with our MP waying long
for this announcement. We're a small city with a big heart and so we
have to be bold and the Prime Minister spoke about that today. I have
a few notes I would like to read because there are a lot of important
details that the Housing Accelerator will help us with. It's a pivotal moment for
Saint John as we collaborate with the federal government on the Housing Accelerator Fund.
This partnership is more than just a financial commitment. It's a promise to our
residents. As a city. We're dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable housing,
ensuring every member of our community has a place to call home, exactly
what the Prime Minister said. This initiative is more than just building houses.
It's about building a future together. We're laying the foundation for a stronger,
more inclusive community where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Today's announcement of nine
point one eight million in funding from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation through the Housing
Accelerator Fund means two hundred and eighty five additional housing units will be created within
our city over the next three years. It brings transformational and most importantly,
systemic change at the municipal level that will continue to move us forward in creating
a community that is conducive to housing and focuses on addressing the housing challenges face
both here in Saint John and throughout Canada. Saint John's Housing Accelerator Fund plan
includes incentives to help increase construction of apartments, townhouses, and secondary suites.
It also includes incentives for the creation of affordable units, public land, redeveloped
amendments to the zoning by law to permit additional density and key areas, introducing
an electronic permitting system, and longer term governance considerations. Today's announcement shows the
Government of Canada recognizes that housing is the cornerstone of healthy, vibrant and inclusive
communities and the need for assisting municipalities in addressing local housing challenges. On behalf
of Saint Johns City Council and the residence of Saint John. I thank you
for supporting us today. Housing is considered by your federal government as a right.
So this this demonstrates that I guess you point your money where your mouth
is if you say housing is a right. They come to the table with
nine point one eight million dollars for Saint John. It's great news. And
the other thing I'll say is, as a small city with a big heart,
we have to be bold and we want to grow. And I'm going
to use your father's line line and I'm going to say, just watch us.
Thank you very much for being here. Thanks, thank you. Will
now turn over for question Pally Kisson, all New Brunswickney's, Hi, good
morning. My question has to do with developers, with inflation and interest rates
posing to be big challenges for developers to get projects off the ground. Can
you comment on what the federal government is doing to help developers actually build apartment
buildings. Actually, we've done a couple of really big things. We announced
an increase to the loan programs from forty billion to sixty billion dollars to help
with financing of construction of the rental constructions. We've also in taking the GST
off of new apartment building constructions. It actually makes the math work that much
better. We understand that the cost of labor, the cost of resources and
materials is going up with inflation. We're working on bringing inflation down and it's
steadily been coming down over the past year. But we knew that we needed
to be there to help make the math work for developers to actually build build
it. I know the city has programs as well to support the construction of
particularly affordable and middle income arrangement rental housing. We're going to continue to be
there to make sure that everyone is working together to build the kind of future
we need for Canada. Next question media on secular construction and not problem La
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Fass miss it exactly. Moscovo cons Russian. Hi. I know the city's
application was originally for fourteen point five million. I heard, I think the
mayor say about nine point eight million is given. What went into determining how
much each municipality received. We put forward four billion dollars a couple of years
ago for the express purpose of making sure that cities were able to meet their
own ambitions for growth, for opportunity for their citizens. There is a lot
of hard work and a lot of partnership going into looking at what could actually
be be done, what is the right level of it. We came down
with an agreement around nine point one eight million dollars for the Housing Accelerator Fund,
which we feel is the right level to really enable Saint John to accelerate
to get more homes built faster, to get people into those homes in an
affordable way, and we're really pleased with that announcement. Next question, Good
morning, I'm mean Stter. I wanted to ask about the SIBA program.
Of course, the deadline is coming up tomorrow. What was the reasoning behind
not extending that program and is there any concerns about the impacts this could have
on business as we are still trying to recover from COVID. We have consistently
been there for small businesses across this country since we got elected. Since twenty
fifteen, where we lowered small business taxes, we've actually increased the capacity of
small businesses to grow and still benefit from small business taxes. And during COVID
we knew we had to step up right away to support small businesses so people
keep their doors open and keep their employees on the payroll. We stepped up
with significant supports, including direct direct help to Canadians, but also direct helped
the small businesses with the SEABA loans. We understand that things, even as
the economy has bounced back from COVID, continue to be checkedallenging, which is
why we extended twice the repayment deadline for the Sea balloons. But we are
now far enough from the pandemic that we do have to wrap up pandemic programs.
Businesses have a number of different options if they're facing challenges around the sea
balloons. One is obviously, as the majority of businesses have done, they
can repay the Sea beloan by the eighteenth and benefit from the forgiveness that comes
with that. If they can't quite make it by the eighteenth. There are
plenty of financial institutions who are there to give low cost loans to be able
to benefit those businesses as they continue to repay it over the coming years.
And if they don't want to engage with their financial institutions, they still have
three years to repay the entire body of the loan. So there are many
different options out there, and as a government, we're going to continue to
be there and look for ways to encourage small businesses that are the backbone of
our communities, the backbone of our economy. We will continue to be there
for them in many different ways. But pandemic supports we all know had to
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iersie. Next question. In Brunswi, recently, there's been a lot of
rhetoric about gender affirming care, and the premiere is making a lot of comments
about potentially scaling that back. I'm wondering if you're worried about that rhetoric and
whether you're worried the province will scale back gender affirming care. I think Canada
is the best country in the world in part because Canadians respect each other and
in Canada people are free to be who they are, to love whom they
love. It's something that our party and quite frankly, millions of Canadians will
always stand to defend. Unfortunately, we are seeing in certain parts of the
country and certain political parties try to instrumentalize divisions or intolerance into political advantage.
We're a party that will always stand with everyone, be there to defend people's
rights to be who they are, and I think that's something that all Canadians
expect of their governments. We're a government that will always stand up for people's
rights. Well, given the challenges that healthcare is facing across the country and
not no surprise in New Brunswick, would you then scale back health transfers as
you did with abortion should something come down the pipe. It is part of
the federal government's responsibility to ensure that healthcare is provided to all citizens in the
right way. We've recently put on the table hundreds of billions of dollars to
improve healthcare services for all Canadians. Indeed, part of what we're asking for
is a greater level of transparency and accountability, not necessarily to the federal government,
but two citizens about the results that are being delivered by the significant investments
from all of our tax dollars into the healthcare systems across the country. People
have a right to expect top quality healthcare, and the federal government will always
be active in make suring that people get in. Next question, Good morning.
My question is about a Robert Mailman and Walter Gillespie. These are two
gentlemen who just were wrongfully convicted of murder. Your Justice Minister had a part
of that starting. There's been some apologies offered, there has been some lukewarm
response of a review, but there hasn't been much said about compensation. What
can you say about compensation for these two gentlemen. Is it a priority?
Keeping in mind that these are older gentlemen and one has just been diagnosed with
terminal cancer, obviously we take this situation extremely seriously. We're going through the
appropriate steps right now. I'm not going to comment more than that, but
I can tell you that the Justice Minister is seized with this and we will
be We'll be looking at all all different options. Last question, Hi,
mister Prime Minister. I was wondering regarding South Africa's case against Israel Real Canada
by the findings of the ICG. I was very very clear on this last
week. I'm happy to repeat it. Canada has always supported the international rules
based order and the structures around international law, including and especially the International Court
of Justice. We have a direct engagement in five different cases before the ICJ
right now, because we believe in the work it does. The same time,
our support for the ICJ and its processes does not mean that we we
accept the premise of the case brought forward by South Africa and we are watching
carefully as all the steps unfold. So what what will Canada do in case
ICJ finds that Israel did comit genocide. I'm not going to comment on what
could be an eventual finding by a process that we support as it unfolds.
Rippocomonte su di par like there's just Santa Okay, So a lot of questions
around what's going to happen with small business. Let's talk about climate because right
now North America is in the middle of a cold snap and one of the
hardest hit areas has been Alberta and which they are issuing rolling blackouts, and
Daniel Smith has issued statements thanking Alburtons for their attention to lowering their their power,
their power consumption and is it helping, and what what is happening with
with the weather, what is happening with the resilience to infant to infrastructure in
our societies. That things aren't going as well as we thought, especially with
the winter cold snaps in our local area, that they've had trouble keeping the
roads open because of the amount of snow that has been dumped, and that
there have been issued warnings from the government of British Columbia to question do you
need to travel or can you can? Can whatever it is, wait until
the roads are are completely clear and that we can get things back to normal
because of the cold. So a lot of different things happening. Climate change
isn't just about warming. It's about the jet streams that actually help us help
keep our climate in a certain direction and having our infrastructure that is built based
on the same jet streams so that we have a part p predictable weather pattern.
So UH Florida governor and a town hall meeting, H he issued a
a bit of a warning around UH nominating UH Donald Trump again for for president,
and he's saying that UH that r simply put, the Republicans are gonna
lose and it isn't seeming that that Donald Trump is is getting the warm reception
that he thought he was gonna get by running for president again. So people
are are remembering what happened, UH right after he lost the last election,
and how the riots happened in Washington, DC and the Capitol building was stormed,
and what part did he actually play in that. So there's something too
to think about with with that, I especially in the United States with the
r with the Republicans, and on that front, the that there apparently is
a impending UH federal government shut down if some deadlines aren't met by this Friday,
which means that a lot of government employees will not get paid and the
military along with that and some other things. One of the bill being negotiated
is aimed at sending aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan and the southern
borders with Mexico, but efforts include changes to the border and immigration policy in
particular has stalled progress for months. So and why don't we hear what was
said at a meeting around in Manitoba around clean aviation fuel. Thank you so
much for joining us. Pleasure to be here. It's such a beautiful building.
And a wonderful new addition to the City of Winnipeg into the Airport region.
Here. My name is Ben Carr. I'm the Member of Parliament for
Winnipeg South Center. Before we begin the formality of today's event, I'd like
to acknowledge that we're gathered here on Treaty one Territory, which is the traditional
homelands of the Innitionabe Cree Og created Dakota peoples, as well as the traditional
homeland of the Red River may Tea. I want to also begin by thanking
the staff at the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada for having us here today.
I'm looking forward to spending some time here in the building later on.
We've got a number of special guests here that I would like to introduce.
My friend and colleague, Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, who is our Minister of Energy
and Natural Resources. Of course, to my right, Premier wab Canoe of
the Province of Manitoba. Also my colleagues from the Province of Manitoba, Ministers
Schmidt and Moses, who are here with us today. Also would like to
acknowledge the presence of the Mayor of the City of Porte la Prairie as SHERYLN.
Knox, as well as Deputy Rae of Roy Tufford from the municipality of
Portige la Prairie, and to my left Douglas Cole, president and CEO of
Aser Sustainability Fuels Corporation, and Carl Andry from Canada's Infrastructure Bank. So I
would like to turn the microphone over to Minister Wilkinson, who's going to kick
us off with some information about why we're gathered here today. Jonathan Monde givin
you sit ATESCD. I grew up in Saskatoon, so not so different from
a weather perspective to Winnipeg, and I must say it is always a great
feeling to be back on the prairies. I would like to acknowledge all of
the dignitaries local provincial business leaders and an infrastructure bank, and certainly the new
Premier of Manitoba, with whom I had the great pleasure of meeting this morning,
as a member of a progressive federal government, As someone who worked very
closely with former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romano, I certainly see a lot of common
values and common interests on which we can and we will build. Jami Resui
de cost and so did the productive avect de Nuvogubnema di Manitoba. We talk
a lot these days about the issue of climate change. Climate change is altering
our natural world in a myriad of harmful ways. Here in Manitoba. This
past summer saw some of the worst hailstorms in the province's history, causing millions
in property damage and decimating farmer's crops. Fact as you folks will know very
well, a single hairstorm in August was estimated to have caused one hundred and
forty million dollars in ensurable losses. We also saw across this country terrible season
of forest fires. I represent a riding in British Columbia, and I think
many of you will have seen the pictures from Colonna that showed the devastation that
these these events are causing to many many Canadians. While some politicians these days
choose to deny, or deflect or downplace such events, Canadians know the facts.
Our planet is effectively burning up and extreme weather is becoming more prevalent with
each passing year, and climate change is the cost. Rismond, New zavon
Icillo, Manetovas and partner Quirocone Set and port Alite sic. The recent manitoa
Throne speech underlined the fact that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of
our time, one that requires real solutions. At the same time, climate
change is also rapidly transforming the global economy and global finance in ways that are
creating economic opportunities for those who approach the shift to a lower carbon world in
a thoughtful, determined and strategic manner. The global energy transformation is both an
environmental imperative to protect the planet for future generations and an economic opportunity on the
scale of the Industrial revolution, Set Transformercientur a Sacclaire. Last week's release of
the global Top one hundred Clean tech Companies reinformed that Canada is punching well above
its weight and key aspects of the rapidly emerging clean economy, with thirteen Canadian
companies making this year's list, the most of any country aside from the United
States. Majerite Dead Effective, Mont Pretic may Il Sanquette Egelmont de l economic
A Ville etres Sieur comme urentd bnsois a the Bunz Opportunite Economic alavenear I am
here to tell you that for Canada to seize the extraordinary economic opportunities that can
be enabled through the transition to a net zero economy, we must accept the
scientific reality of climate change and ensure that it informs and shapes Canada's economic strategy
going forward. What Canada needs at this moment in our history is a thoughtful
and ambitious economic strategy that will create wealth and good jobs in every province and
territory in this country. Set in Suge serletl V GOUVERNM federl cir CONSSANT.
Since twenty fifteen, your federal government has invested over two hundred billion dollars in
the fight against climate change and in accelerating the development of a prosperous green economy,
including eighty six billion dollars in last year's budget alone, and the world
is taking notice. In just the last three years, we have seen more
than forty billion dollars invested in almost one hundred clean growth projects, and we're
seeing this economic progress from coast to to coast. In Newfoundland, Bray of
Fuels is converting its refinery to renewable diesel. In Ontario, we are seeing
massive investments in the entirety of the electric vehicle value chain. In Alberta,
DOO recently announced its decision to proceed with a twelve billion dollars net zero petro
chemical facility, the first net zero petro chemical facility in the world. And
here in Manitoba we are seeing the success of new flyers, electric buses and
increased activity relating to critical minerals des mvestisment tel c susulignier en surlei l prosperite,
quillcre ron naissent pas la frie du asre yes rendu passible global, qui
comprent, derig days, encitasent days, mvestisment edo, tressigno, politic y
camprix le price l pelucion carbon. It is up to us as a country
to make smart choices. We can choose to lead by recognizing where the world
is heading and aggressively pursuing major areas of economic opportunity, or we can choose
to bury our heads in the sand, pretend the world is not moving towards
a cleaner, greener future, eroding our long term competitiveness and our long term
prosperity. I call the first choice a green economic plan for the future,
one that is thoughtful one that is relevant, one that is strategic, and
I call the second simply hoping for the best, taking a reckless gamble with
the future of the planet and with Canada's current and future prosperity. This federal
government has chosen the first path. Unfortunately, there are other federal politicians in
this country who are seemingly choosing the second. In doing so, they are,
as I say, taking a reckless gamble with the future of the planet
and with Canada's prosperity. They would allow the planet to burn and the damage
caused by climate change to accelerate. They would ensure Canada fails to seize the
significant opportunities presented by the global energy transition, the billions of dollars in investments
and the hundreds of thousands of well paying jobs to countries that are more thoughtful
and more strategic. The new government in Manitoba, through its statements and its
early actations, has demonstrated it intends to lead in the fight against climate change
and in seizing economic opportunities. Manitoba has joined provinces including Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland, Labrador, Prince Edward Island at BC in committing
to a net zero grid by twenty thirty five, a goal the federal government
shares, and a goal that recognizes that the future is electric and that meeting
our climate targets and competing in a rapidly decarbonizing global economy means strengthening our clean
electricity advantage. In fact, we are already making progress together in this space,
with nearly five hundred million dollar federal investment announced just a few weeks ago
in hydro electric turbines and a new transmission network strengthening Manitoba is already robust and
almost entirely non emitting grid. Le gun feder Elenubo Guvnment de Manitoba partage egelmint
conviccient celemison placet in economy props enidois affair biais then on geshmos significat if a
patine active eve atucton. That is why we recently announced, in why the
Premier and I discussed this morning, the Indigenous Loan Guarantee program that the federal
government will soon be standing up. And perhaps most importantly, this Manitoba government
understands that a collaborative approach is more productive than a combative one. My discussions
with Minister Schmidt and Moses yesterday and with the Premier today were indeed productive and
collaborative, and in the spirit of this collaborative approach, I am very pleased
to announce that we are working together on another investment in Manitoba's clean economy.
Today, the federal government is announcing that it will be investing six point two
million dollars for A Zero's Sustainable Fuels to conduct a front end engineering design study
for the planned sustainable aviation fuel facility near Portage Liprairie. This includes five million
dollars from Natural Resources Canada My Department and one point two million dollars from the
Canada Infrastructure Bank. These funds will complement the Government of Manitoba's nearly three million
dollar investment in the project Lincete Lacion de Caberan, a vision d'abres proposi parazeure
produirey entviirent emiliare delitre de saff Chaconis Prince Valmont, a pertier de Matier Premier
Canadien Telcuil the Canoe La de Soja. It will create fifteen hundred construction jobs
and approximately one hundred and fifty direct permanent highly specialized jobs once in production,
and its construction is projected to potentially bring two billion dollars to Manitoba's economy.
The establishment of a SAF facility would be yet another significant gain for Portera's Li
Prairie, which has seen strong investment in business development and housing since twenty seventeen.
Lincete lascient proposi parasiere devre permetre de reduier les mission de sieux de d'n
virent du vill cis milon de ton suki akvore de plu de sanque sant vehicles
as yours staff facility is what success looks like in a rapidly decarbonizing global economy.
Ladies and gentlemen, As I said earlier, we have a choice,
and I would suggest that thoughtful people must conclude that we simply must choose to
act thoughtfully, and indeed we must choose to have the courage and the foresight
to lead. Today is yet another step along the path of climate and economic
leadership, and I very much look forward to taking further steps with our partners
in the Manitoba government in the months and years to come. Thanks very much,
mister Wilkinson, and I just want to take an opportunity before I invite
the Premier up to speak, to say that the working relationship between the provincial
government in Manitoba is since their election in October and the federal government has been
outstanding. Every minister that has come into town, every one of my colleagues,
all of those that I've spoken to, including River Heights MLA Mike Morose
who I met with yesterday, as well as the Premier and ministers from across
the cabinet, have enjoyed a genuine relationship that is built on trust, It's
built on mutual values, a progressive vision for the Province of Manitoba and for
Canada as a whole. We have really enjoyed the last couple of months working
together and I think today is another example of a positive step forward. So
with that, and with big thanks and commending to the Premier for his leadership
and that of his team, i'd like to ask Premier Wab Canoe to come
up and deliver remarks on the announcement today. Thank you, wonderful thanks form
here well, that's very kind in p Car and of course Wilkinson, this
is a very welcome announcement and we're happy to be making an investment alongside your
government, the folks at Azure and the candidate Infrastructure Bank. I think it's
pretty amazing to see the sort of economic potential that's going to be unlocked here
and then to Mayor Knox and to the Deputy Reef here. You know,
Portage is an important hub in Manitoba's provincial framework and we really look forward to
continuing to grow the economic pie for your region and for the whole province.
To my colleagues, Minister's Schmidt and Moses, this is all part of the
plan, isn't it right. Grow the economy. Economic horse pulls a social
cart. We'll be doing lots of great healthcare and education announcements based on the
economic development potential that we help to realize. I'm very excited about the announcement
that we're making here today because at the end of the day, Manitoba is
going to be a winner economically speeding in a net zero future. Our province
has made the investment over the past five decades to have a low carbon electricity
grid. We have a skilled workforce. We have from critical minerals through advanced
manufacturers and ports to bring goods to market. The entire supply chain for a
net zero economy of the future. And the best part about it is if
there is a long tradition here of putting blue collar Manitobins to work building these
sorts of projects. And so whether you're the finance person, the person putting
the steel toson in minus fifty weather, or the person who's going to work
inside the plant in the future, there's a ton of economic potential that's going
to be unlocked by furthering those investments in a zero emissions future across Canada and
here in Manitoba. When our team was elected in the recent provincial election,
there was a clear message sent by Manitobans. Manitobans wanted a government that was
going to bring people together, and not only bring people together from different walks
of life and different regions of the province, but also just to have a
government that was going to work together with other governments. And so we've extended
that hand offered a warm and hearty handshake to municipal leaders, to indigenous leaders,
and of course to the federal government, because at the end of the
day, we're all working for you. And today's announcement done jointly with various
levels of leadership is emblematic of that and it's really important that we continue to
deliver for you, the people of Manitoba and for Canadians across this great country.
And this investment today is a direct result of that willingness to work together,
the idea that we're going to be able to connect the egg industry with
sustainable aviation fuel opportunity, and that there'll be a cyclical opportunity unity there as
well to feedback into future egg development, to do regional development, workforce development.
This is a really smart investment and we're very very optimistic and excited.
That's level joining with the announcement of funding Minister Wilkinson have brought forward here today.
We know that good jobs are on the way for Manitoban's This is an
investment in Manitoba, but I also hope Manitoba can act as a showcase for
the rest of the country. Sometimes we're asking people and other jurisdictions when we
talk about green jobs to engage in an active imagination. But here in Manitoba,
for the last fifty years, everyone has known somebody who works in a
green job. We know people who work for Manitoba Hydro and the subcontractors there.
So if we can show the rest of the country that you can have
good paying, middle class jobs, blue collar work by investing in a climate
friendly future, I think that's a positive contribution to our overall Canada wide framework
as well. So is with great gratitude and humility that we're standing here with
the Mini partners who are going to bring this forward. Again. We're talking
about the early stage work of what is going to be a very very exciting
opportunity that we hope comes online in the very near future. So with a
lot of humility and the willingness to continue the collaboration, our team is very
proud to stand here today and to say that this investment in Azure and this
investment in our province is a good move for Manitobins me much, Elsie,
thank you very much, Thanks very much, Premier, And just to build
on that, you know, every announcement build Just a couple of weeks ago,
we had Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence McCauley here who made an announcement of upwards
of ten million dollars toward investments in the Canola industry here in Manitoban, as
the Premier said, it's these investments in biofuels like Canola that build on top
of the type of research and innovation that's taking place that's going to compound and
continue to deliver results for Manitoban's both economically as well as the contribution that we
have to play to the fight against the climate crisis. So I'd like to
turn the microphone over now to a Douglas Cole, who is going to provide
remarks on behalf of his organization that's really at the heart of this wonderful investment
that's being made here today. Douglas, thank you, Good afternoon everyone.
Minister will Wilkinson, Premier Canoe, thank you very much for inviting az you're
here today to be part of this very exciting announcement. I'd like to start
by recognizing the Indigenous people that have walked on this land long before I was
ever here. Azure has been engaging with various indigenous groups across the country and
the areas we're working in since the inception of the company, and i'd like
to acknowledge the support that we've received from these indigenous groups regarding our intent to
help construct to be a leader in this energy transition and to construct the first
facility in Canada that would be focused on producing sustainable aviation fuel or saf or
staff as we call it. We had Azure or Honor to receive funding from
the Clean Fuels Fund from the Government of Manitoba and from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
I believe the support Canada validates our vision to create a mating Canada solution
to reduce carbon emissions globally by utilizing Canada's resources and skills. The funding received
from Natural Resources Canada's Clean Fuel Fund, along with funding received from Manitoba Sustainable
Agriculture Fund and from the Canada Infrastructure Bank, means AZURE is now fully funded
to complete the front end engineering design or feed stage of this project, and
that's a very important milestone in any project development. With this funding, we
anticipate completing the feed study for all three of our Canadian sites by the end
of this calendar year, with a view to making a final investment decision in
early twenty twenty five, which would enable production in twenty twenty seven. Undertaking
a project of this magnitude requires an exceptionally broad set of skills, and ASER
is partnered with industry leaders across the value chain from technology, engineering, logistics,
finance, just to name a few, to ensure that the resources needed
are brought together to ensure a successful project. And I'm very proud today to
be now partnering with the Government of Canada and with as we announced earlier,
the Government of Manitoba and the Canada Infrastructure Bank to advance this project. We
believe at AZURE, we believe that Canadian saf Facility is truly a win win
win scenario for our aviation industry, for agricultural industry and for all Canadians,
as the saf produced from this facility will be able to reduce carbon emissions by
roughly eighty percent and as Minister Wilkinson said that that's for our facility, that
would be the equivalent of taking about a half a million cars off the road
every year, which quite a way to look at it. This will create
a long term stable market for Canada's canola products, for Canola oil, and
it reduces our reliance on volatile international markets. And it will support our Canadian
airline industry to doing their part to reach Canada's goals and the world's climate goals.
And these benefits, along with the employment impact and the GDP impact that
you referred to, I think are truly a win for Canada. Minster Wilkinson,
Premium Canoe. Mister Laundry, your commitment and your support to these innovative
initiatives really serves as a testament to your shared vision for decarbonized Canada. These
investments will enable us to lay the groundwork for Canada to be a leader in
the energy transition and create a transformative change to our country. So on behalf
of all of the team at AZURE. I'd like to thank Natural Resources Canada,
the Province of Manitoba, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank for partnering with us
to support our vision. Thank you, Thanks very much, Douglas. So
they're going to conclude the formal part of the announcement here today. I do
see we have some members of the press that are present, so we will
begin the media Q and a portion if we just ask, we probably have
time for a question and a follow up question. So for those from the
media here today, if you could just step forward to the microphone, identify
which outlet you're representing, please, and who the question is directed to.
Go first. There are Global News, and I have one question for the
Premiere and one question for the Minister, and both are carbon tax related,
So I don't know who like to answer first. More provinces and territories keep
saying they want to see the carbon change and they frame it around the cost
of living. It meets people feel it's adding pressure to the cost of living.
Is this assign Ottawa needs to adjust plans before the next price increase in
April? So I would say that before I was Minister of Energy Natural Resources,
I was the Minister of the Environment, and I'm quite familiar with how
the carbon price works. The carbon price is one tool in the context of
a broad approach to addressing the climate emergency. It is not the silver bullet.
It is part of a broad range of things, including regulatory tools,
including investments, etc. The design of the price on pollution was developed in
such a way that we actually directly addressed the issue of affordability through carbon rebates
in provinces that use the federal system, and those rebates for eighty percent of
Canadian families are more than what they pay through direct and indirect costs. And
in fact, there was a study done recently by Trevor Toumbs at the University
of Calgary and another one that was referenced by a University of Regina economists that
actually showed that the vast majority of folks that live in those two provinces,
which have been the most vocal on this issue, get more money back.
I think the most recent study shows that ninety six percent of Canadians who actually
earn less than I believe it's seventy thousand dollars a year as a family income,
get more money back. So getting rid of the price on pollution actually
would work in reverse order to affordability. It would actually make poorer people poorer
because they receive more money than they actually pay. It would also remove the
incentive people have to address efficiency and to actually reduce their carbon emissions. So
the Government of Canada will continue to communicate a number of those issues. We
will continue to move forward with a plan that actually does address affordability, but
does so in a manner that also helps us with the climate issue. I
would also say to some provinces and territories, if they actually have an interest
in designing their own plan that would reach the criteria that are established by the
federal government, they are welcome to do that and provinces like British Columbia have
their own price on pollution that is different than the federal governments. So does
Quebec. So to a number of other provinces. That's a cue. Sure.
So you've mentioned before wanting Ottawa to take another look at the carbon tax
in Manitoba. Are you hoping to see the federal backstop price change or some
other provinces or do what some other provinces have done and bring in an eventual
pricing plan that incorporates the federal price minimums. You know, today's announcement is
about working together and we're talking about cleaner aviation fuel. I hope that this
investment moves forward in the way that we're all envisioning it here, because when
I think about leaving a safe, clean and healthy environment for future generations of
Manitobans, I want them to be able to jump on the plane and go
somewhere warm as part of that future. And so this investment today, I
think is really pave in the way for Manitoba to once again be a leader
in a zero emissions net zero future. Whatever you want to call it,
I call it a safe, clean, healthy environment for future generations. Our
government as part of that idea of working together, we're doing the things within
our purview that we can to help you. That's why on January first of
this year, our team was very proud to remove the fuel tax on gasoline
and diesel. That helps you right now. We know that people are struggling,
and I was very proud on January first to drive west with my family
and we saw the price of gas dropping in West Winnipeg, in Portage Lo
Prairie, in Brandon, in Verden, and you know, really across the
province. So there are things we can do right now to help during this
affordability challenge while also be inconsistent with a long term fight against climate change.
And I've been very clear, I think that Manitoba has a very strong case
to make that the carbon price could be revisited here in our province. And
we're going to be having those conversations with the same sort of constructive, collaborative
tone that we're bringing for this exciting investment today, which is to say that
good things happen for you, the people of Manitoba and across Canada, when
your leaders work together. So you see, for Minister Wilkinson, will the
greener Homes grant program still accept applications past March. So the Greener Homes Program
has been an enormously popular program. It was initially set up to run for
seven years, probably the first four or so years of that for intake and
then the rest of it to complete all of the retrofits. It has been
so popular that it has used up a lot of the available funds earlier than
we had anticipated. As is the case with any budgetary allocation, as you
use up your budgetary allocation, you go back and have conversations within the government
and with the Department of Finance about how we actually address that going forward.
Building efficiency is very important. The Government of Canada recognizes that and certainly we
are having those conversations as we speak with the Department of Finance and we will
have answers for you associated with the next budget for the premiere. Different topic.
Yeah, what is your concern that former Cabinet Minister Cliff Cullen approached your
transition team asking for a meeting between Faise Osomgy and Minister Moses, Minister Schmidt.
So without confirming the specifics of what you're saying there, because I'm not
sure all of that is the same information that I have, So let's follow
up offline information comes directly from your office. But okay, yeah, so
we can go back and forth on the disputing of assertions if you like.
But what I would say the overall concern that we have is when you cast
a vote in an election, the most sacred of values is at play that
we hold dear in our society, that the people get to choose who they
are going to have as a government. And in a case like this one
where it appears at the caretaker Convention was violated probably on a few occasions,
it casts that value into doubt because you have folks who are no longer carrying
the mandate from the people of Manitoba attempting to make decisions about the future of
government policy. So that's a very serious democratic ideal and public policy concern that
needs to be addressed. And so that's why members of our team have set
those wheels in motion when it comes to the former Minister of Finance and the
former Deputy Premier and his conduct. I think that the concern that our team
has is that it appears as though there is a pattern of behavior on the
part of the outgoing government and if nothing else, if there were so many
people as part of that former government pushing in a certain direction on a project
that was supposed to be the subject of an independent environmental approval process and decision
making process, it does bring into question the validity of that approval process and
so operationally in terms of when the rubber meets the road, what does that
mean for our administration. It means that we're now taking the time to review
the steps towards the potential approval of that process. Our team is very committed
to ensuring that critical minerals are developed as an industry here in Manitoba. But
the best way for us to capitalize on that opportunity is to develop those critical
minerals in the right way, which means Manitoba wins as an economy when we
can bring minerals to market and say we're bringing these out of the ground with
the highest environmental standards, highest labor standards, best respect for human rights of
any jurisdiction in the world, but where certain actions appear to cast that value
proposition into doubt, our team owes it to the people of Manitoba to take
the time to get it right, and so that's what We're doing quad only
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you the CIBY Loans Forgivable portion deadline is coming up, it's not not being
pushed back, and wondering what do you think about the sorry, So what
do you think about that? And is the government going to do anything for
businesses that can't or have not paid back their sea balloons just yet. It's
a big challenge for a lot of businesses out there. You know, we've
heard the stories in our constituencies about business owners in a very tough situation.
That's why my colleagues, the other premiers and I have gone on record and
asking the federal government for some consideration here. And so I understand that my
colleague Minister of Finance, Adrian Salah, is also speaking to your organization today,
and so in addition to the work that we do at the premierial level,
I know the finance ministers are engaging on this as well, because small
businesses have had it tough these past few years. And while we want to
make the big bets on a clean economy in the future, we also know
that it's those small businesses, medium sized businesses that are the job creators for
so many working Manitalent, I'm together to find an opportunity to ensure that they're
able to make it through, and I think that's something that we'd all want
to work together on. Thank you also have a question for mister Okay.
So we're still having impending issues with the Hamas and Israel as we know all
the massive devastation and there is You're going to hear a four minute statement from
the United Nations about why the Gaza stript is the most dangerous place on the
planet to be a child. So this is a report from the CNN about
Israel and moss have agreed to deal that agreed on a deal that we'll see
medisine delivered to hostages in exchange for delivery of humaniture and aid to Palestinian citizens.
Guitars said on Tuesday, the relatives of more than one hundred remaining hostages
believed to be alive and Gaza are calling for medicine to medications to be passed
on to their loved ones. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy
group for victims' families, said each new day in captivity in dangers the lives
of their loved ones, and at least one third Israeli hostages have chronic illnesses
require medications, the Forum said in a report released last week, adding other
others suffer from illness related to harsh captivity captivity conditions. The medication aid leave
Dona today and GTAR, but it is unclear how it will reach Gaza.
So it is an area that of course we've we've heard the the trials again
and charges a bent against Israel on genocide and what. Most of that is
based on the fact that getting humanitarian aid in to Gaza is difficult, if
not nearly impossible, because of the conditions that Israel has created, and that
they there has to be a system. If they're creating safe zones, they
have to ensure that that a few things are possible such as sanitation, medication,
food and water, which don't seem to be possible in those safe zones
in Gaza, so that people can stay out of harm's way. And also
the targeting and shelling of hospitals and medical centers, which according to the rules
of of war is not legal. So genocide maybe maybe not. War crimes
look more than likely if you're targeting Savilian states like hospitals and medication centers,
and you have seized the zones that are not adequate to sustain human life.
So let's listen to that fore minute statement from the United Nations representative from UNICAF
about why is so dangerous to be a child in Gaza remains the most dangerous
place in the world to be a child, and day after day that brutal
reality is reinforced. Over the past forty eight hours, the largest remaining fully
functional hospital in Gaza has been shelled twice. Now, that Hospital Al Nassa
in carn Unis was a hospital I was at on a daily basis. It
not only shelters large numbers of children who have brutal wounds of war, but
it also shelters hundreds and hundreds of women and children from across the Gaza strip
who are simply seeking safety. Over the weekend, UNICEF had shared the story
of a thirteen year old girl called Dina. Now. When Dina's house in
carn Unice was completely destroyed, her mother and her father and her two brothers
were killed. Dina survived, but she was badly injured and had her leg
amputated. Somehow, Dina had not lost hope. She told us about her
dreams about being a lawyer. Her quote was, I feel injustice. When
I grew up, I'll become a lawyer so I can enjoy my rights and
the rights of all children. Dina was one of those killed in the shelling
of Nasa Hospital on Sunday, the day after she shared her story of hope.
So where do children and families go. They're not safe in hospitals,
they're not safe in shelters, and they're certainly not safe in so called safe
zones. So let me just spend a minute explaining why these safe zones are
anything but Parties to the conflict have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to
protect the civilian population. In this case, one of those precautions they've chosen
to take is evacuation or moving to so called safe zones. Now, as
the United Nations said a month ago, these zones cannot be humanitarian when they're
unilaterally declared. In addition, under international law, when you evacuate people to
a place, you must have sufficient resources for survival, medical facilities, food,
and water. Sounds very obvious. We have not even heard lip service
paid to medical facilities, food and water. So that is that the so
called safe zones are only safe when they're not only free from bombardment, but
when those conditions food, water, medicine and shelter are met. However,
under the current besiege conditions, adequate supplies for such zones are impossible. This
for myself. They are tiny patches of barren land or their street corners in
neighborhoods, or their half built buildings with no water, no facilities, no
shelter from the cold and now the rain, and certainly no sanitation. Currently
in Gaza there is a toilet for around every seven hundred people. You can
imagine the three or four hours that means for an adolescent girl one toilet for
seven hundred people. Relocate people from these shelters to the so called safe zones,
and we're talking about tens of thousands of people resorting to buckets or open
defecation, and so without water, without sanitation nor shelter, these so called
safe zones have become zones of disease. Diarrhea cases in children are now above
one hundred thousand, acute respiratory illness in civilians above one hundred and fifty thousand.
Both these numbers will be gross undercounts of the woeful reality. Malnutrition is
also soaring in Garza's children. Therefore, things like diarrheal diseases are now deadly.
Consider this, More than one hundred and thirty thousand of Garza's most vulnerable
children, that is, newborns up to two years of age, are not
receiving the critical life saving breastfeeding or age appropriate complementary feeding that they absolutely require.
So that's our scenario. Without sufficient safe water, food, and sanitation
that only a humanitarian ceasefire would bring. Child deaths due to disease could well
surpass those already killed in bombardments. Now parents are painfully aware that hospitals are
not an option for their sick child, both because hospitals are, as we've
mentioned, being hit, and because hospitals are utterly overwhelmed with children and citizens
with ghastly wounds of war. As a parent who I became friends with who
sent me a message just a couple of days ago of a critically sick little
child, told me quote, our situation is pure misery. Overwhelmed. My
son is very sick. I told my wife, we have to lower expectations.
All we have is hope. I don't know if we will make it
through this. Please tell the world now as we speak, the delivery of
aid is a matter of life and death for children in Gaza, and the
conditions to provide that aid are simply not being met. An immediate and long
lasting humanitarians cease fire is the only way to end the killing and injuring of
children and ensure the urgent delivery of desperately leaded life saving aids so we do
not see thousands of children die from disease. Thank you, Thank you for
listening today the polsy and rates and we like to ask you this time to
subscribe to us in finance subscribe button wherever it may be sitting on your screen.
Also, let's think about what it means to be human human as a
those to one of the things that was brought up in the genocide trial,
a human animal. What does that really mean and what does that mean if
we want equality for everyone around the world, so that we are uplifting people
into the same status as those who have privilege. Thank you for listening and
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