Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for being here. I appreciate very much your affirming the world-class and socially and environmentally responsible history of oil and gas development in Canada. Of course this is timely, given the downturn in the industry.
You can imagine, I represent a riding that stretches from Bruderheim to Lloydminster. It includes places like Bonnyville, Elk Point, St. Paul, and Vermilion, and I have a little background in the Alberta government, working on oil sands and heavy-oil related issues. I am thankful for your being here and explaining all the reasons and all the ways in which we should be very proud of our history and ongoing development of our natural resources, which set us apart globally.
I might have a bit of a wonky question, but I am interested in your getting into specifics if you can on any measures or actions the federal government could take to assist in the recovery of the industry and then in its long-term viability and prosperity. To emphasize the context of the downturn, I just saw numbers that said two years ago the active rig count in Canada was 212, I think, and now it's 41. I'm mindful too of the way in which the federal accelerated capital cost allowances for oil sands projects in combination with the 1997 generic oil sands royalty regime in Alberta unlocked the development of in situ projects in oil sands, which will be the future of development there.
You're speaking a little about tax changes, and I wonder, Alex, if you could get into some more specifics on what could be done to help support this industry that does so much for all of Canada.