Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for this very important question, because to put these comments into perspective, we have been talking tonight a lot about funding programs that support the environment.
The oil sands make a very important contribution to the Canadian economy. If developed sustainably, the oil sands are projected to contribute over $2.1 trillion over the next 25 years to our economy. To have the Leader of the Opposition engaging in tactics that would see workers in one region pitted against workers in another is not really productive. It is not productive to help grow the economy; furthermore, it is not productive towards ensuring that we continue to have industrial growth so that these important programs we are talking about tonight—programs we need to fund, such as the Great Lakes Basin protection programs—will continue to have sustainable funding available.
I certainly hope that my colleagues opposite, over the coming weeks, will repudiate their leader's comments and support workers across this country in a unified way.