Thank you, Chair.
Welcome, Minister, to the natural resources committee and the first day back in this session of Parliament.
Minister, first off, if I could start down a more humble avenue, we are all elected MPs, and one of the things I always say to my constituents is, “I am your voice here in Ottawa. I bring your issues and concerns to Ottawa and fight for you every day.”
I am pretty certain that the folks back on the east coast, including the premiers, are asking us to fight for them here in having Bill C-49 make its way through committee, be studied vigorously and passed so we can use it as a catalyst to create wealth, to create jobs and obviously to transition to a net-zero world, which here in Ontario we are seeing through the transition in the automotive sector that our government is seized with today.
Minister, in this race—I'm not going to say “against time”—that we are in to attract investment, we need to slow down the consequences of climate change, seize the economic opportunities and shift to a net-zero environment, including in our source of electricity and in energy as well.
Frankly, we cannot afford to lose and we can't afford to waste time. We know the economic potential this could bring us is significant. It is bringing a lot of economic potential. We're already blessed in Canada with 85% of our electricity being generated from non-carbon sources.
I would like to hear from you, Minister, how this legislation, Bill C-49, will ensure Canada can continue to lead this race.