Thank you. I appreciate that.
Thanks to all of the witnesses for coming back again today. I think we all appreciate the time you're taking out of your lives and out of your businesses to provide this important testimony for policy-makers and legislators to consider.
I just want to say that both of you have touched on this issue of a definition around clean tech. We've heard that from witnesses previously throughout the course of this study, in terms of wanting some specifics around the definition of clean tech, both for the purposes of this report and also for the future, for the fiscal and policy decisions government might make with regard to so-called de-risking the adoption of clean tech.
You guys had mentioned that, I think, at least for the Conservatives around the table, we do often also ask how government de-risks the adoption of clean tech and we hear that taxpayers absorb risk, rather than innovators and risk-takers and experts in the industry who know best the innovation and technology advancements that will drive the future of Canada's already world-leading environmentally and socially responsible oil and gas and other natural resources development.
On that note, in the last committee meeting, I asked the current Minister of Natural Resources directly whether or not he believed that Canadian oil and gas was the most environmentally and socially responsible oil and gas in the world. While he, about 30 seconds prior, had just rightfully been pointing out on a number of measures the way that Canadian mining is first in class in the world in terms of environmental stewardship, engagement and participation of first nations people, benefits to communities, and positive impacts on the standard of living for communities right across Canada, suddenly when I asked him the question about oil and gas, he wanted to know specifics around metrics and said he couldn't answer the question, wasn't sure, and then proceeded to talk all around it, rather than saying that Canadian oil and gas is the most environmentally and socially responsible in the world.
Michael, since you mentioned that issue in your opening remarks, and you touched on this notion of doing international benchmarking studies in order to be able to make this case on Canada's behalf, I just invite you to expand on that and any specifics you'd like to add in terms of Canada's role in the global context as a world-leading oil and gas producer.