Thank you for the question, Mr. Simard.
I wish the transition were easy. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be messy, it's going to be difficult and it's going to be challenging. However, it could be incredibly prosperous for the people of my province and the people of the country as a whole if we get it right. Abrupt stops and starts to whole industries, especially when....
I know that a lot of people in some parts of this country don't appreciate this. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan and Alberta, we appreciate this. We are the fourth-biggest producers of oil in the world and the fifth-biggest producers of gas. That is big. There is no getting to net zero or transitions without those three provinces. It isn't going to happen. Every part of the country benefits from that prosperity.
Having said that, I often say that in my part of the country, in Newfoundland and Labrador, we can't really afford ideology. We don't let that get in the way. Stare opportunities squarely in the face. This is about jobs and money. These are opportunities from investors coming and knocking on our door and German chancellors landing their planes and telling us we are the place they want to invest in for green hydrogen. It's great.
I'll tell you who I find incredibly brave. Don't look necessarily to the politicians. Look to the workers of my province. There is a community in Newfoundland called Argentia. They are building a gravity-based structure for the West White Rose project. If you stand there and look at it, this thing reaches right up to the sky. This was built by men and women using cement driven in wheelbarrows to go to the top of this thing and build it. It is a gravity-based structure for an offshore oil rig. Right next to it, they are building the biggest monopile marshalling port on the eastern seaboard, putting together wind turbines for the entire eastern seaboard.
That's a transition. That is staying out of the way of investment but allowing workers to do the work they do. The same workers and same unions building one are also building the other. This is how it happens. It happens before your eyes. It's not a big “stop one and start the other”. It is going to take time.
I agree with you, Monsieur Simard, that we need to get faster at it. There's no question. However, I'll tell you what: This unnecessary obstruction of legislation that would attract renewable investment isn't helping things much. We need to get busy.