Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today. I certainly appreciate it.
As a member of Parliament from Alberta, I just want to publicly say thank you very much for some of the comments you've made in the House of Commons with respect to defending Alberta's natural resource sector. I would also like to thank you for bringing to Canadians' attention some of the issues pertaining to resource extraction and resource development.
I know, as an Albertan, how beneficial our natural resource sector is to not only our economy in Alberta but also the broader economy across our great country. My questioning will be along that line.
Minister, you made a comment in your opening speech here about the fact that our government wants to focus on creating jobs and economic opportunities, at the same time doing so in a responsible manner while streamlining the regulatory process.
Could you remind this committee of how many jobs we are looking at when it comes to Alberta's oil sands in particular? There are a number of sources for this information, but whether it's the Canadian Energy Research Institute or various other forecasting bodies, they all predict economic investment and the spinoff jobs that would be created by that.
Could you just remind us of what the current levels of jobs are in the Alberta oil sands? As well, what is the projected number of jobs and opportunities that would come from the projected investment that's coming down the road?