Mr. Chair, it's a pleasure to be here.
I am honoured to be here at the invitation of members from various parties.
The context of my appearance requires a few comments on the fair and equitable transformation of Canada's energy sector.
It's fairly obvious and very timely that this committee should be looking at an issue that I think has to be contrasted against the reality that many Canadians are confronting today. It's pretty clear, I think, for those of us who have been in the business of looking at energy pricing that what's often lost in all of this discussion, as important as it may be in the context in which we find ourselves, is that we're probably not spending a lot of time looking at important issues that confront Canadians, mostly the issue of affordability. That deals directly with the issue of energy affordability.
It may not come as a surprise to many of my colleagues here and former colleagues as well—it's good to see that some of them are still on the committee, some of whom I have a very close relationship with—that we find ourselves in an odd situation in which we want to do what's right by the just transition, but we have to recognize that Canadians are having a very difficult time making that transition at a time of record-setting prices. Here, I'm not referring simply to gas prices, although that would be the easier part. Diesel prices, natural gas prices and the cost of electricity in many provinces across this country have reached enormously difficult levels for most consumers. It's in that context that I believe this committee must find all of its conclusions and all of its recommendations.
I think we've been given an opportunity to be perhaps told by these signals that it is time for Canadians and our representatives to take into consideration the impact that too quick a transition may have. Although we want to do right by the environment, we also have to do right by consumers. We have to do right by what is affordable for the country. Relying on energies that have been proven in Europe and other places to be neither scalable nor reliable or, at the end of the day, affordable also leads to unintended consequences. We see the consequences being played out in Europe today, where they've had 30 years of going down this road of finding an equitable solution.
We are an energy-intense country. We are a cold nation. We are a nation that relies more disproportionately on energy. When I was a member of Parliament, my riding was one that once led technology when it came to energy, such as with the first commercial nuclear reactors in North America. It not only brought about the implementation of new technologies that were real and achievable but also managed to bring about an unprecedented period of prosperity for my province of Ontario. Cheap electricity and cheap energy, notwithstanding the public's contribution, allowed Ontario as a jurisdiction to attract manufacturing and to continue its strength relative to many other North American jurisdictions.
Going too quickly with the idea that we can somehow convert and change over night because it is de rigueur or because it is fashionable may not have the outcome that we want. In fact, the undesirable outcome that we're seeing is governments increasingly having to, in my province, not only adopt green energy but also do so at a time in which they're having to accept as much as $6.5 billion in debt to shield consumers from the full effect of moving too quickly on certain technologies that are both unproven, unreliable and, as I mentioned earlier, unaffordable.
I am now ready to answer your questions.
I am very interested in hearing what you have to say. Perhaps through a dialectic exchange we can learn a little more about each other and about your interests. At the end of the day, someone has to speak out for Canadians who are on this very day questioning whether or not affordability can be managed in this country.
Anything that deviates from that, I suggest, might not meet with the public's test of support.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.