Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Just to remind everyone of exactly what we're debating today, the motion is as follows:
Given that:
There are 1,600 abandoned and orphaned oil wells in Alberta polluting farmland, waterways, and air;
The number of 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 on 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.
Mr. Chair, I feel that this study is a really important one. It touches on a lot of really important issues that, frankly, we need to take a deeper look at. It includes parts about federal funds and programs that were put in place to deal with this issue and that were not used by the Province of Alberta but were used in Saskatchewan. It's about what future energy solutions and opportunities are presented by these orphaned and abandoned wells. It's about environmental remediation.
As we talk about our biodiversity commitments and our commitments to nature, I believe right across this country, regardless of political parties, we all actually care about nature a lot. We care about what the lands and waters for our future generations will be like. This is about requiring people—when I say “people”, I mean businesses—to take responsibility for the damage they've created. The federal government stepped up. When we stepped up, we didn't see all of the funds we put forward being used.
I think this is an important study for all of us. I'm hoping the committee will pass it.