Thank you for that important question.
In the past, I feel that Canada has often ridden the wave of natural resource booms, and unfortunately we've not planned for the inevitable collapses that follow. Just look at the forestry industry in British Columbia, commercial saltwater fishing in the Atlantic, or asbestos in Quebec. These are but a few examples of sectors whose once thriving resources have eventually been depleted, and where we have left local communities struggling with the resulting economic dislocation.
Oil and gas workers are definitely threatened by the energy transition. The transition can't be avoided in the global context, and also a growing number of jobs are being automated in the sector.
Rather than reacting to this transformation, we have an opportunity today to discuss it, to make a plan, and to make workers the central focus of that plan. A just transition bill is being drafted. It's important that this be done in conjunction with the oil and gas industry reducing its emissions.