Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for being here, Mr. Boland. The things you're talking about are most interesting.
I don't have the exact historical...but I had a conversation with somebody yesterday about the British and their position in Quebec after 1763 and subsequent years, when they really wanted to trade the whole thing for Trinidad and Tobago, I think it was. You know, when we think about that today, we think they were crazy, but back then, rum was more important than all this land. There were lots of trees there, I suppose, for ships, but....
I guess I know the answer to this question, but if I look at the map, more of Canada lies north of 60 than it does the south. If we had thought about the north even 25 years ago, for sure 50 years ago, we kind of looked at it as a wasteland. What are we going to with that? But today I think it's becoming more and more apparent that there is huge potential, and for the 21st century this is where Canada should be putting its energy.
I would like your comment on this. You mentioned natural gas and liquefied natural gas. If we are going to do things in cooperation, I don't think government should determine...and I think you've reflected these views as well. I think industry will show us where we need to set up, and government needs to work alongside industry.
If we did that, wouldn't it make sense for industry and government to start laying down some gas pipelines to supply those? We're now talking about natural gas in trucks. It's becoming a reality in the States. Some of the communities in the Yukon, I know, and most of the northern communities are using diesel. We all know the challenges with diesel and the pollution issues.
Wouldn't it make good sense to start to cooperate with industry and government to start laying down some natural gas pipelines to different areas? That's aside from the fact that we need to start shipping this stuff to the...or the opportunity we have to ship it to Asia. What about just for our own infrastructure?