I think I have already spoken to it, Mr. Chair.
The environmental impacts of all energy policies should be considered. That's important. Subsidies are increasingly becoming a topic we should study. Last week, we received Blue Green Canada's report that talked about the subsidies in the energy sector. We're talking about $1.3 billion.
According to the study, the oil industry has created 2,860 jobs. However, if the same amount of money was invested in sales and energy efficiency, about 20,000 jobs could be created. In other words, Mr. Chair, those subsidies could have helped create 10 times more jobs if they had been invested in another sector.
Of course, we agree with conducting a study on the sector's economic benefits, but we also need to strike a balance and approach this issue professionally. That's how Canadians want us to approach these issues. I think that studying environmental impacts and the cost of subsidies is of the utmost importance.
That's why we are proposing this amendment. We want to turn the page on the witch hunt the Conservatives seem intent on leading, and we want the committee to undertake a study that will benefit taxpayers who, after all, pay our salaries.