Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I found this whole conversation with the witnesses very interesting today. It's been very enlightening and helpful. I really appreciate the time they have given us.
I was particularly interested, though, because I heard Mr. Dreeshen talk again, as he has several times over the past, about the cost of decommissioning wind turbines and having to factor that in. Somehow the feeling is that there is no cost to decommissioning oil wells, which we, in fact, know isn't correct.
I have put this on notice, and I would like to move:
Given that:
There are 1,600 abandoned and orphaned oil wells in Alberta polluting farmland, waterways, and air;
The number of abandoned wells in Alberta are set to increase by an additional 1,800 to 2,000;
These additional abandoned wells will cost more than $200 million to clean up;
The Government of Alberta sent back $137 million because they failed to use the funds provided by the Government of Canada to clean up abandoned wells and create jobs in the pandemic;
The Government of Saskatchewan used their allocated funds in their entirety to clean abandoned wells and create jobs;
Companies who abandon wells and fail to pay for their cleanup negatively impact provincial taxpayers and municipalities;
Orphaned and abandoned wells present an economic opportunity to support energy solutions like geothermal energy.
The Standing Committee of Natural Resources begin a five-meeting study on the impact of this failure to clean these wells in Alberta, the impacts of the pollution from not cleaning up abandoned and orphaned wells, the costs of cleaning up abandoned and orphaned wells, the regulations to hold companies to account for well cleanup, and the potential opportunities associated with cleaning up abandoned wells, and report its findings to the House of Commons.