Natural Resources

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources met on March 10, 2026, to study Canadian energy exports. Witnesses were Mark A. Scholz, President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors; Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada's Building Trades Unions; Brett Henkel, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development at Svante Technologies; and Victoria Pruden, President of the Métis National Council.

Mark A. Scholz said his members, who operate drilling and service rigs across Canada, create over 85,000 jobs in 2026 and are integral to both traditional oil and gas and emerging sectors like lithium, helium, and geothermal. He urged the committee to support competitive policies, including removing the proposed oil and gas emissions cap, ensuring a globally competitive industrial carbon price, and extending clean technology investment tax credits to equipment serving both conventional and emerging resources. He argued that Canada's poor track record of getting infrastructure built has created a high risk profile that deters private investment, and he called for a systemic rework of the regulatory framework to provide certainty for all projects.

Sean Strickland said Canada's Building Trades Unions supports diversifying energy markets and urged expeditious approval and construction of major projects like pipelines and LNG facilities. He recommended that any federal investment or tax credit be conditional on prevailing wages, apprenticeship requirements (at least 10% of labour hours for Red Seal trades), and local and indigenous hiring, as modelled in Bill C-59. He also called for a labour supply advisory committee to coordinate project labour plans and reduce reliance on temporary foreign workers, and he emphasized the need for buy-Canadian procurement policies to maximize economic benefits from major projects.

Brett Henkel said Canada should pair energy export growth with decarbonization, positioning itself as a carbon management leader through technologies like carbon capture and storage. He recommended that the government provide a policy framework with an investment tax credit and a certain carbon price, allow carbon management to access the federal clean technology manufacturing investment tax credit, and attach Canadian content requirements to federal financial support. He disagreed with the implication that industry does not want a carbon price, arguing that global investors increasingly require a decarbonization plan for oil and gas investments.

Victoria Pruden said the Métis Nation is deeply involved in Canada's energy sector, with Métis workers, businesses, and governments participating in both renewable and non-renewable projects, and she highlighted the Métis Crossing solar project in Alberta as a positive example. She called for distinctions-based funding and disaggregated data to ensure Métis governments have equitable access to programs like the Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, and she stressed that the federal Crown must fulfill its constitutional duty to consult Métis governments before, during, and after development. She noted that Métis governments have not been specifically consulted on projects referred to the Major Projects Office and lack the technical capacity to fully participate in large-scale loan programs.

The committee heard questions from members, including exchanges about the need to fix fundamental laws and regulations to unlock project certainty, the importance of tying public investment to good wages and apprenticeship opportunities, and the role of industrial carbon pricing in enabling decarbonization. No procedural debate, motions, or votes occurred during this meeting.