I think we have already fallen very far behind. Some countries have already been investing in this field for several decades.
I would like to come back to what Mr. Whiting was saying earlier. All forms of energy are subsidized: oil, nuclear, etc. So we must not think that we are creating a category of exceptions with renewable energy. Look at the money that has been invested in the oil sands in Canada over the last 35 or 40 years. We are talking here about a massive investment, continued year after year, whether through direct subsidies, tax shelters, accelerated tax write-offs, or other methods.
We are not asking for an exception for renewable energy; we are asking that there at least be some balance among the various forms of energy, in terms of financial and economic benefits and incentives. That is obviously not the case. But these technologies are going to play an increasingly important role in the world portfolio. In fact that is already the case. They have quadrupled since the early 1970s. Because we are not investing in these technologies, we are going to have to import them, to buy them from other countries. That is where jobs will be created and investments will be made. It won't be in Canada because we have not created a regulatory, financial or economic climate that favours this kind of investment. The investments are going to be made elsewhere, and we are going to become importers of these technologies. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are going to be created elsewhere rather than here.