I'd be pleased to do that.
We often see the oil sands as an Alberta resource or a western Canadian resource, and we forget about the commercial opportunities. We also tend to forget that 60% of the taxes raised as a result of oil sands development are paid to other jurisdictions across the country, other than the Alberta government. So there are huge economic and social benefits from this too.
With particular reference to opportunities in Sudbury, every year we run a buyer-seller forum for oil sands companies, the engineering procurement companies, and their suppliers in Alberta, with the idea of partnering Canadian manufacturers and companies with them. In March 2008, 1,200 companies attended this forum in Edmonton. This year we didn't have as many--maybe about 600--but they were there for business and to understand changes in the oil sands supply chain.
The economic development group in Sudbury took a delegation from Sudbury to Edmonton. Companies in Sudbury that are used to supplying mining developments are in an extremely good position because they do the process and environmental technologies, and the types of products--pressure vessels, machining, and maintenance equipment--are particularly suited to oil sands.
I think there's tremendous opportunity across northern Ontario and the Sudbury region. As the mining activity slows down, energy development is a source. I know of a number of companies in the Sudbury region that have benefited from the oil sands development.