Concerning the term “exceptional”, I would make the point that we undertook an analysis, and the Prime Minister did reflect in his speech what “exceptional” meant and why the oil sands were identified as a sector requiring this additional policy statement. The analysis was on the number of market entrants, the ease with which companies come into and out of the oil sands sector, and the small number of companies actually in the sector right now.
We have about 15 companies effectively controlling more than 90% of the production in the oil sands. The fact is that it's principally, commercially, private sector oriented right now, which makes it very different from oil projects under development internationally, where more than 90% of oil at the international level is already owned by states or by state-owned enterprises. For Canada, the oil sands were exceptional. As well, he made the point that the proper development of the oil sands around private sector principles would bring dividends to all Canadians in terms of increasing the wealth and GDP of Canadians.
So there was an exceptional nature to it.