Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I was in Kyoto in 1997. I've been to most of the COPs before and after that. I can tell you that there was never any analysis shared with the business community on what that target would actually mean and how it would be accomplished. I think the Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development has confirmed that in a report.
There were a number of analyses done over the years that we had questions about. As you saw and as you mentioned, in my presentation I note the range of targets that apply within the burden-sharing arrangement in the EU. Clearly, we were out-negotiated in Kyoto. We allowed that wide variation in European circumstances without clearly recognizing what our own circumstances were and what that would mean for the future. Many other countries that have an energy-intensive economy got a better target than we did.
I've had a number of European officials say to me over the years—privately, of course—that they were surprised and never quite understood how Canada arrived at that target. They understood that our economy is different, our population is growing, our circumstances are different from theirs. We have an energy-intensive economy. They were quite happy that we chose to take on such an ambitious target and potentially put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage, but that's the reality. I'm not aware of any comprehensive analysis that was undertaken before that target was agreed to in 1997.