Mr. Myers, thank you. To Mr. Stewart-Patterson and to Garth and to everyone here, thank you for coming so quickly. Thank you to our researchers.
I can only suggest that if there is to be some oversight in the energy industry, we would want to look at the disparity between Canada and the United States in international prices for wholesale gasoline, which remain 5¢ to 6¢ a litre above international prices. There have been no significant investments in that industry, further to what Mr. Whyte has said; he's correct. We don't just need to monitor the situation; we need to look at it because of its wider impacts. We shouldn't be punishing ourselves. We're a self-sufficient nation.
I'm concerned about the issue of energy simply because it's a blessing for some regions of the country and a curse for others. It's almost like a tale of two cities.
In this we have two problems; one, higher valuation, has been rightly pointed out. Mr. Myers, you pointed out a little earlier that it's not where the dollar is, but the rate of its rise. At the same time, Canadians have not seen a corresponding decline in the cost of imports. I don't know if we're seeing this at the retail level, but I know it's a concern. It's a double whammy for consumers, whether you're in Edmonton, Alberta, or you're in Oshawa or Pickering or Scarborough or Ajax. Regardless of where you are, the fact is that energy prices are having a tremendous impact on the bottom lines of all your members.
Is there is a way that you see in the foreseeable future...? Mr. Stewart-Patterson, you talked a little bit about having what appears to me to be all our eggs in one basket with respect to trade with the United States, almost to the exclusion of all others. At the same time, energy is being consumed by other nations around the world. What are we doing, what can we do better, other than cutting our programs like EnerGuide, in terms of efficiency here at home, which the government is doing? What do you believe we can do better to increase our trade, to increase our manufacturing, without punishing Canadian consumers for the cost of energy, for which we pay dearly in taxes over the years?