With respect to financing for the development of technologies, in the past the OECD and the Commissioner of the Environment have said that those kinds of incentive financing options can play a part in dealing with climate change, but that Canada has relied much too heavily on them and needs to move toward regulations and financial disincentives as well.
The financing of technology development is important, but I would say it takes a back seat to the kinds of measures we actually need to reduce emissions.
With respect to a carbon tax, a cap and trade system is the other side of the coin of a carbon tax. Instead of setting the price and not really knowing what emission reductions you're going to get, a cap and trade system sets the limits and you don't exactly know what the price of carbon will be.
We prefer to see a cap and trade system for Canada's industry because we know what the outcome is going to be. The cap is there. The number is there. We know what emissions reductions we're going to get.
It also allows for different industries to adjust differently. There are some that have a lot of low-hanging fruit, and I've mentioned one in terms of the petroleum industry. They have a lot of options to reduce emissions, and they are cost-effective and even cost-positive. Other industries will find it more difficult to reduce emissions as much as some industries that do have that low-hanging fruit. Therefore, the trading mechanism is very important.
All the economic analysis shows that a cap and trade system actually allows us to meet our objectives at the lowest economic cost.