Thank you very much.
It's nice to have you here, Mr. Minister. Congratulations on your new portfolio. You used to sit across this way, and we appreciate your giving us an hour. We have lots to cover. We look forward to having you back many more times, and I hope you'll be open to our invitation.
The first question I'd like to ask right off the bat comes out of the remarks you've just made. Under your administration of this department, I'm curious about what is happening to the Canadian energy strategy. You have stated that you're pursuing what you call responsible energy development, and you've also stated it is going to proceed only when it's proven safe to workers, to communities, and to the environment.
I don't know if you're aware, but you might want to get your staff to pass on to you a report done by the Canada West Foundation, a well-known economic foundation in Alberta, and they've raised serious concerns about the direction the federal government is taking. They're saying there is too much time spent on advertising and branding and not enough on actually engaging the people who are potentially impacted. They come right out and state that Canada is not a superpower and that Canada should therefore be acting in a different kind of direction, making sure that in Canada people buy in, whether they be aboriginal Canadians, or whether they're small communities.
I wonder if you could tell us—we haven't heard anything on this since the fiasco with the Bruce Carson initiative with the Canadian energy strategy, which was then a closed door between industry and government—whether you are intending to pursue a Canadian energy strategy and, if so, in what direction. Or are you simply going to continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising?