Mr. Speaker, the member beside me has talked extensively about the need to diversify the economy. I would argue that the Alberta economy is one of the most diverse economies in the country, just due to the luxury of having immense amounts of capital that have flown into our province.
The good jobs that have come with the oil patch have often spun off into other things that have gone on. Most of the oil patch work tends to be shift work, 10 on and four off or two weeks on and two weeks off kind of thing. That has allowed for a lot of people to have two different jobs. They make their money in the oil patch and then they invest it in a different side company that they are trying to get off the ground, and they have the capital to do that. Often people learn skills in the oil patch that they are able to spin into projects around the country.
A lot of the innovations happen in the oil patch. For example, there are the wells and there are the flare pipes. I know we started out with just a pipe and then we would have a flame at the top of it. Now we have very sophisticated machinery that makes sure we burn all the natural gas completely.
I would challenge my colleague to investigate what actually happens in Alberta, to investigate the logging industry and the chips. Ninety-nine per cent of the tree that comes into town gets used for one product or another. I challenge him to investigate the farming industry, where some of the most advanced farming techniques are used in Alberta.
I would just challenge my colleague for that, and I would ask for his response. I know he is from the Okanagan. The people have some of the best things there as well. I challenge him to come to Alberta and check it out.