Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank all the witnesses for taking the time to be with us today. You have provided some great information from across the country. It's great to have such a diverse group with us today.
I want to talk initially with Mr. McDougall and Mr. Smith by picking up on some of the questions my colleague had, specifically about some of the numbers. You weren't able to do the math, but I did some quick math for 100,000 litres of fuel. The numbers we've seen show that diesel will go up about 14ยข a litre by the time the carbon tax is fully implemented, and I don't know whether this will include B.C.'s own carbon tax or whatever the Yukon will do, if anything.
For your family operation, that's an additional $14,000 a year, and up to $280,000 a year for some of the larger mining companies. That would be money that could very well have been invested into innovation or other projects and research but now will not be available to be invested. We've heard from other stakeholders over the last couple of weeks that the carbon tax is going to make the difference in determining whether or not they actually proceed with projects, proceed with expansion, or even put a shovel in the ground, and that some projects simply will not happen because the economics aren't there.
What was the level of consultation with your group from the federal government before implementing the carbon tax, if any? Was there some consultation with the mining associations in the Yukon before moving ahead with the carbon tax at the federal level?