Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Nuttall, I want to come back to your comment suggesting that Quebec is a welfare case for Alberta. I like that, because that kind of statement perhaps shows the right interpretation of the oil and gas sector.
Not so long ago, when I arrived here in 2019, my Conservative colleagues spent their time saying that Quebec didn't consume oil from Alberta. When they saw the charts showing that the majority of petroleum products consumed in Quebec came from Alberta, they had to change their tune. So I'm going to try to get you to change yours as well.
From 1970 to 2015, according to federal government figures, we collectively had to spend $70 billion to make oil sands technologies efficient. If we take 20% of that, that's $14 billion coming from Quebec. Do you know how much the federal government and Alberta invested in Quebec's hydro dam infrastructure? They didn't invest a penny. It's shocking, isn't it? They didn't invest a single cent, so much so that Jean Chrétien, in a moment of brilliance, told the Edmonton Journal that if he had offered Quebec what he had given Alberta in government assistance, he would have won every seat in Quebec. I offer that as an example.
In addition, there's something that's been extensively documented called Dutch disease. From 2002 to 2007, Quebec lost 55,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector because the energy sector was driving up the value of the U.S. dollar, making us uncompetitive.
Every year, Quebec buys $3 billion in petroleum products from Alberta, and you have the nerve to say that you are the ones paying for our public services, through equalization, and to portray Quebec as a welfare case.
Well, I would humbly submit to you, dear friend, that this is why we have serious doubts when you come here and ask the government to roll out the red carpet for oil and gas infrastructure. Your comments serve the interests of the oil and gas companies. The role of the elected officials here is to serve the public, even if you don't like it, and among those citizens are people from Quebec who have no interest in a portion of their tax dollars being used to defend the interests of the oil and gas companies—