Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, everyone.
I'm going to start by emphasizing that we're making two recommendations today and that they are related to each other.
First, we are recommending advancing a sustainable energy future for Canada by implementing a capital cost allowance for the oil sands industry that is consistent with conventional oil and natural gas, that is 25 percent, rather than 100 percent. We talked a lot about this this morning.
Second, since that gives us some fiscal flexibility, we recommend that this retained benefit be reinvested to accelerate growth in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors rather than simply being absorbed.
The Green Budget Coalition proposes specific measures for doing this.
We also heard this morning a vision for Canada that saw our economy being almost exclusively dependent on fossil fuels for the next 100 years. I would posit that it's not the role of the Parliament of Canada to sit back and be told what Canada will look like in 100 years.
In fact, that's not what other governments have done. That's not what other signatories to the Kyoto Protocol have done. I'll refer committee members to the Sierra Club report on Kyoto that was issued a couple of weeks ago, in which we outlined the steps taken by the U.K., Denmark, Sweden, and several other countries that are kicking their petroleum habit and are meeting and exceeding their Kyoto targets.
This remains the goal of Canadians and one that I think can be achieved if our fiscal policy, as we've heard over and over today, matches the goals of Canadian society.
I'll leave my comments at that. Thank you.