Good morning. On behalf of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, I'd like to thank the standing committee for this opportunity to present.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers represents 130 companies that explore for, develop, and produce more than 90% of Canada's oil and gas. CAPP also has 150 associate members that provide a wide range of services that support the upstream oil and gas sector. Together, members and associate members are an important part of a $120-billion-a-year national industry.
CAPP supports protection and recovery of species at risk and believes that SARA offers an appropriate framework to achieve this end. Five years of experience with SARA and several iterations of past bills have taught us that course corrections are needed to improve the effectiveness of this act. CAPP believes that amendments to SARA are needed to allow energy industry activities to be conducted in compliance with the act and in a sustainable manner. CAPP also believes there needs to be a concerted effort to finalize policy documents to implement SARA.
I'd like to turn the floor over to Peter Miller from Imperial Oil and then to Journey Paulus. Peter will talk to permitting and recovery planning, and Journey will talk to critical habitat and consultation matters.