Good morning, everyone.
Thank you very much for the invitation, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I will confess I'm a bit of a late entrant to this committee. In my organization, the Energy Council of Canada, I often like to say we are an inch deep and a mile wide. We speak generally to Canadian energy, so I'm able to answer some fairly general questions about the state of energy in Canada, but on more specific ones, particularly ones pertaining to the war in Ukraine, I might disappoint you a little. I just want to let you know that off the top, but I will endeavour to do my best to answer any questions you have.
I would be glad to answer the committee members' questions in French.
Maybe I'll start by telling you a little bit about the Energy Council of Canada. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit, technology-neutral promoter of Canadian energy leadership at home and abroad. We were founded by Natural Resources Canada back in 1984. They're our founding member and remain a member with us to this day. The rest of our membership is made up of energy industry players from across the spectrum and from the different sectors, including petroleum and electricity as well.
What I wanted to talk to you about today is our relatively new program, which we call the North American and international outreach program, or NAIO. It is essentially pulling together all of the different energy players from across Canada, developing a high-level, general, neutral and positive story about Canada's energy resources and abilities, and then communicating it to the rest of the world in a concerted fashion. Really, what this has been about is enlisting Canada's energy industry to communicate Canada's energy industry externally like never before. The way I would put it is that when it comes to communicating Canadian energy outside of our own borders, in many ways we rely on our ministers, federal and provincial, to do it for us. We're all used to the natural resources minister championing Canadian energy and the various energy and mines ministers from across the country doing it, as well. This is terrific; it is good and it should continue. In fact, I would like to see more of it. I'm biased in that way.
Our national industry associations do some of this work, as well. You're familiar with them. They are members with us. They're partners with us, organizations like the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Electricity Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Association and the Canadian Gas Association. They are all aligned with us. They do some of this work, as well, but often within their own sectors and within their own spheres. You're probably used to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers going to CERAWeek once a year in Houston and making the Canadian energy argument there, or Electricity Canada having their board meeting once a year in Washington and doing that, as well.
These are all excellent efforts to try to promote Canadian energy outside our borders, but it's useful to remember that their primary mandate as industry organizations in Canada is the development of Canadian energy within Canada. Their primary mandate is not the communication of Canadian energy outside of our borders. This is what the Energy Council of Canada has attempted to take on through its North American and international outreach program.
To be honest with you, it's really only been in action for about a year. We built this program during the pandemic, which was actually a good opportunity to work on this and pull everyone together to create common messaging, but we only started delivering it this past year in person. There was no travel up until this year, really.
We've been successful and we work with Global Affairs Canada and the trade commissioners around the world. They find opportunities for us to deliver this new concerted message—I call it a positive neutral message—that communicates our energy story. This past year, we were in Jamaica, South Africa and Vietnam, and I recently participated in an event in Boston.
The whole idea behind this, if I can put it simply.... My perception is that, during my lifetime, our strategy about Canadian energy has been deceptively simple. It has basically been that we'll make as much energy as the Americans can take, and they'll take as much as we can make, and there's no need to advertise. That has been great for both of our countries. It has built stability and strength on both sides of our border, but in 2023, it's no longer the case. The United States is not a dependent customer. They are a competitor with us. It's now up to us to communicate our value proposition, both in the United States to secure, maintain and grow our markets there, and also in new places elsewhere.
That's a bit of an idea of where we fit into the picture. We would really enjoy getting involved in the conversation more.
Thank you.