I'm shocked that no one else would want to speak to this amendment. It's brilliant in its summary of what this committee should actually be studying, as opposed to what apparently the Conservatives want to study.
Rather than trying to score partisan points and go on the witch hunt or do the 24/7/365, shoot-anybody-who-says-anything mentality that pervades in this government, we are proposing that the committee do substantive work that might actually have an impact on energy in this country.
That would be a novelty, Mr. Chair: that a committee of Parliament actually has impact on the public policy direction of the nation.
It says that it includes, as part of the study, the economic impact of the energy sector and related businesses.
You know, Mr. Chair, there's been quite a conversation lately about the so-called “Dutch disease” and the economic impact. When I was at Department of Finance, I found this to be an interesting kind of conversation, because, being from Ontario, it appeared to me to have raised the value of the Canadian dollar, and that has economic impact everywhere. It's a far more complicated conversation than simply saying that the value of the energy raises the value of the dollar and therefore makes other industrial sectors uncompetitive. It's a far more complicated discussion than that; there are enormous flows back to, if you will, the manufacturing heartland of the nation, and there is a reorientation of industrial products and benefits, which then flow to the energy sector.
It's a catchy phrase, to talk in terms of the Dutch disease; it's not particularly useful, though, when trying to study the economic impact of energy on the entire nation's economy. That's one part of the motion.
The other part of the motion includes the supply chain providers. It's trite to say, Chair, but the resource itself drives a whole bunch of supply chain providers. I've been to Fort McMurray; I've seen the massive hole in the ground; I've actually seen some of the rehabilitation efforts on the part of the industry to restore some sense of naturalness to the environment, but you can't go into Fort McMurray—in particular, you can't even go into Tim Hortons—without first a big lineup, and second seeing a sign in the window that says “Help Wanted” or “We Need Employees”.