Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Jaccard, I don't want to end on a sour note. I was a bit hard on you.
I want to address one of your earlier comments when you said that this wasn't about waging war on Alberta. I also want to reassure my colleague, Ms. Rempel Garner, that I don't want to wage war on Alberta. For me, it's a matter of fairness. I'll tell you why.
One of the first principles of economics is scarcity. We know that resources are limited. At least, I believe that the government's resources are limited. You gave the example earlier of the aluminum sector. It's a key sector in my area, so I know quite a bit about it. There's the inert anode technology, which will produce net‑zero aluminum. Since 2018, this technology has received about $60 million in federal funding. To me, that's peanuts, if I consider that the oil and gas sector brings in about $24 billion year in and year out. When I talk about fairness, that's what I mean.
The sectors that could play a leading role in the fight against climate change are unfortunately not supported by the government. A considerable, even excessive, portion of our resources goes to the oil and gas sector.
I don't know whether you have ever done this type of reflection process. I'm thinking in particular of the forestry sector, which can replace certain products. With lignin, you can replace products from the oil industry. However, the costs are enormous, so the government will never want to embark on this. A biorefinery is a $2 billion project. The federal government currently prefers to invest in carbon capture strategies. We mustn't forget that.
I want to hear your thoughts on this.