Thank you Mr. Chair.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being with us today. You are brave because you're kicking off a round of hearings with regional development agencies and you're first into the breach. I applaud you for that.
Speaking as a Quebec member of parliament, I would like to state for the record—and I'm sure this is true of each of my colleagues—that we all have an interest in putting people back to work, getting investment flowing, and seeing Alberta re-emerge from this period of low commodity prices and the natural disasters that have befallen that province.
I thank you in advance for your role in helping get that done.
As the chairman pointed out, part of the challenge that we have through these pre-budget consultations, and with regional development agencies, is finding ways in which we can help the Canadian economy grow, find innovation, and perhaps return to the original intent of regional development agencies. This means applying a bit of a local touch to the national conundrum of productivity enhancements, innovation, and diversifying the economy.
My first question would be a bit of a retrospective one. We went through a pretty sustained period of investment and relatively high commodity prices, notwithstanding the famous Alberta discount.
What are the kinds of things that should have been occurring in Alberta through that cycle of high commodity prices that would have altered the trajectory that we are seeing today?