Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to all of you for being here.
I'm new to the committee, so I'm going to touch on a question that I've thought about a lot. I know in some of the questions we have here we ask to what extent can market diversification within Canada make up energy market diversification, because we always assume that diversification has to be with other countries. I know, for example, that east of Ottawa we import 90% of our oil for eastern Canada. That's a huge amount. I also know that as one of three countries that have signed on to NAFTA, we don't have any kind of coherent energy policy, whereas Mexico does and the Americans do, and we see what's happening.
Can we become self-sufficient? Can we create more jobs? Can we build more refineries, become a self-sufficient energy power, and not depend on regions that have the potential to be volatile, and to cover our own needs, meet the demands of the increased production as we move into greener sources of energy, and provide jobs and look within?
This is a question. I'm just wondering if you have any comments on this. We don't have much time, so maybe if we can get a brief comment, starting with Mr. Heaps and going all the way down the line, I would appreciate it. Thank you.