The relevant points here would be from our comments about diversification of Canada's energy resources. While the country is very rich in resources, with substantial reserves in Alberta, reserves and production are declining here on the east coast in conventional oil and gas in general. We have not had a significant discovery in over 20 years here in Newfoundland and Labrador. Much of the exploration activity that did take place in the late 1970s and early 1980s was pursuant to federal programs, petroleum incentive programs in particular. So while we're not advocating that sort of direct subsidy, we believe that some sort of fiscal incentive would be appropriate to encourage investment here in offshore regions where the costs of exploration and production are much higher.
We've done research on other jurisdictions, and they create balance in tax programs that allow investment attraction to be competitive on a global stage. We're suggesting that there be consultation between both levels of government and industry in order to keep this jurisdiction competitive on a global scale.