PACP Committee Report

Conservatives call for end to smoke and mirrors in the federal government Greening Government Strategy

Conservative members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) demand accountability by government for government.

Conservative members of the Committee recommend:

• Recommendation #1: That the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) must ensure all departments follow the rule that Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADMs) must sign off on the integrity of GHG emissions data.
• Recommendation #2: That the TBS provide clear, transparent projection cost to Canadian taxpayers to achieve net zero by 2050.
• Recommendation #3: That all federal department plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 must be based on existing technology and policies to accurately monitor, evaluate, and communicate the performance of each department in reducing GHG emissions.

Background:

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada released their findings on the state of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions policy. The report is titled,” Report 2 - Greening Government Strategy.” Within the report, especially section 2.31, The Auditor General concluded that, despite a requirement from the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), only 7 out of the 27 reporting departments had their assistant deputy minister (ADM) signing-off on reports pertaining to the department’s greenhouse gas emission data.[1] The TBS introduced the sign-off requirement in 2019.[2] Thus, over 75% of reporting departments did not adhere to the requirements of TBS by having an ADM sign off on the integrity of their reports. This brings into question the integrity and validity of government emission reduction claims.

Departments have had roughly four years to begin the process of having all department-heads sign-off on data documents. This is long-standing policy that is widely known within the department. We recommend that all greenhouse gas emission data reports coming out of all departments be reviewed and signed off by the respective department head of ADM rank or higher to ensure the integrity of the department’s reporting.

In this audit, specifically under section 2.18, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada concluded;” the secretariat needs to develop a better approach to identify and mitigate risks in its plans, report more clearly on all sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and track and report on the estimated costs and saving involved in achieving net-zero 2050 target.[3] This means TBS and appropriate departments must provide a transparent cost to Canadian taxpayers that will show conclusive evidence of their money being used appropriately and the government is reaching their net-zero by 2050.

The audit states, “National Defence and Transport Canada did not have an approach to manage their emission reduction risks”.[4] This is considered an ever-growing pattern of departments not having the approach and technology to reach their GHG emission targets. For example, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to the Parliament of Canada, Report 3: Hydrogen’s Potential to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, states Natural Resources Canada “chose to use more aspirational numbers in the Hydrogen Strategy for Canada modelling.”[5] As the Auditor noted, Natural Resources Canada used aspirational numbers because “the department did not find” its own “estimation compelling” when it came to the GHG reductions that could be provided by hydrogen “needed to meet the 2030 target.” Consequently, the auditor recommended at paragraph 3.64, page 23, that “In order to increase transparency of its emission projections, Environment and Climate Change Canada should develop and publish results for scenario.” In addition, the section suggests, “to show a clear distinction between (1) scenarios based on existing policies and measures and (2) exploratory scenarios that include proposed or aspirational policies and measures.”

Parliamentarians and, more importantly, taxpayers must have complete confidence in and oversight over the federal governments long-term strategy to achieve Net-Zero or the current plan should be scrapped in its entirety. Through their own admission, neither department studied in this report could accurately state Net-Zero was possible, relied heavily on technology that does not exist to reach it, and are advancing a desire to purchase carbon removal offsets with a blank cheque courtesy of taxpayers. This would handcuff taxpayers into agreements that could not be further evaluated based on value for money.