Good morning. Thank you very much for allowing me to make this presentation to a group like this. In our minds, this is very important.
The industry of oil and gas exploration and development has been very important to our region. Our community is completely reliant on oil and gas as we have no other industry here since the closure of the forest industry. Oil and gas is an industry that creates a lot of large and small businesses.
I have been involved in oil and gas for over 45 years, from the northeastern part of British Columbia to the high Arctic. In the business of oil and gas a lot of the work is done by suppliers and service sector people. The service sector means the people who support and supply workforces, equipment, and services to the oil and gas industry. This is mostly created by small independent business people in various communities. This is one of the backbones of the oil and gas industry. The employment created by this type of industry is major employment and very reliable and a very strong part of northern communities.
I was in the service sector. I employed 84 people. I contributed $8.4 million a year in wages to a community of 5,000 people. All my employees were local. This is something that businesses that support the community also rely on: that these wages and incomes come into the communities. Training and development come right from when members of the workforce leave school or higher education and enters the field. This is the backbone of the income in communities. All communities involved in oil and gas exploration totally rely on this source of business. It creates the employment in the town; that's why people live here. It creates taxation for the town, and it is the most reliable source of services to the oil and gas industry, which are multinational corporations.
We are the people who know the community and support it. Without this type of service, the oil and gas industry would not have a major effect on employment and services in western Canada. Oil and gas is very alive, very well, and oil and gas have to be encouraged to be in communities, support communities, and support the workforce. We are the main taxpayer in this community and in many communities around me. The oil and gas industry is very alive and well respected here. If it wasn't for the activity of the oil and gas companies, many communities, especially in the north, would have very restricted income to support our citizens and our communities. We are very much in favour of the oil and gas industry, the things they do, the employment they create, and the jobs they supply to our communities.
Thank you.