Yes, thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for joining us today. Suffice to say that we can all be proud of the rapid innovation and the world-class development of oil sands, so thanks for putting that on the record here today for all of the committee members.
You've alluded to this, but I just want to note for the committee that the chief economist at the International Energy Agency, who is one of the world's foremost energy economists, recently confirmed that GHG emissions from Canada's oil sands are, in fact, quite low, especially in the global context. I'll just note that he said, “There is a lot of discussion on oil sands projects in Canada and the United States and other parts of the world, but to be frank, the additional CO2 emissions coming from the oil sands is extremely low.”
Given that emissions are quite low, and per-barrel emissions have actually been decreasing as innovation has advanced, could you expand on how innovation will further enhance the already strong carbon competitiveness of Canada's world-leading oil sands?