Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, first, I'd like to thank you for coming here today. I'm a new member, so of course I'm nervous. I've written some things down and I'll kind of hop back and forth.
Before I get started, I'd like to say that I live in a riding in New Brunswick, Tobique—Mactaquac, which, as some people in this room are well aware, is a very rural riding that relies heavily on natural resources, manufacturing, and agriculture. During the campaign, I met with a lot of people and we talked about a lot of things. A lot of that was centred around agricultural development and innovations in technology, not just pertaining to agriculture but also to manufacturing and natural resource development, and the path forward, not just within natural resource development but in all sectors.
Before I ask my question, I want to highlight a couple of points that caught my eye as you were speaking. One is “A future built on innovation, and adapting to changing times by finding greener ways to extract and develop our natural resources and get them to market”, which I really liked. I highlighted it. For me, that's representative of what I feel we're trying to represent as a party.
The other one which really caught my eye is, “We can no longer have conversations about resource development or economic growth without talking about environmental sustainability.” I recognize that natural resource development is an important part of the Canadian economy, but at the same time, as I'm out going door to door and meeting with stakeholders, I recognize not only an opportunity but a commitment from the people in my area, who would like to see these industries developed using environmentally sustainable approaches.
My question is in regard to your meeting with the other ministers a few weeks ago. You met with American and Mexican colleagues in Winnipeg to sign the memorandum of understanding on the North American clean energy collaboration. Can you please elaborate for the committee on the areas of the collaboration that were agreed to by our government with our North American partners as related to Canada's investment in clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean technology?