Mr. Speaker, I too am pleased to join the important debate today. I will be sharing my time with the member for Brandon—Souris.
It has already been stated, but I want to talk first about the importance of our oil industry to Canada and to the world. Canada has 170 billion barrels of oil in reserve, and it is the third largest in the world. These economic benefits are shared across the country through services and supplies. I would like to give the House a quick example.
British Columbia's services and supplies in one year are $1.3 billion. There is a company, for example, Watson Gloves that sells work gloves especially built to withstand the rigorous operating conditions in the oil sands. This is but one example of a Canadian company that benefits from the industry.
In Ontario, it is $3.9 billion. Berg Chilling Systems is an equipment manufacturer that develops custom engineered chilling, pumping, and heat recovery equipment for use in natural gas production facilities. In Quebec, it is $1.2 billion in total. GHGSat is an innovative aerospace company working with oil sands producers to develop new satellite-based GHG emission acknowledging technologies.
These are just three examples of many companies across this country that are benefiting from the oil sands.
It is important to point out that these companies are all about technology. People have looked at natural resource companies and said they are just taking their supplies and sending them to market. However, for things like GHG emission monitoring with satellites, that is being done by innovative companies with technology that is supporting the oil sands.
The world needs more of Canada, not less. Canada is probably one of the most environmentally sound extractors of oil in the world. In my view, I would send our product to China, as there are many other countries that might supply the product with less environmentally sound practices. Whether we like it or not, we are going to need oil in the immediate and probably mid-term future. Someday we will probably make some advances in technology where our need for oil will be somewhat reduced, but in the meantime, we would be absolutely foolish not to take advantage of the opportunities.
What is the situation? We have heard we have a landlocked resource. We are unable to get our product to markets and that is to the severe detriment of the Canadian economy in terms of tax revenue going to the federal government and in fact all levels of government.
A lot of work has been done. We tried very hard to find ways to get pipelines to tidewater. The northern gateway, for example, was one, but the Liberal government just slashed that idea. We can look at energy east, where the government made the conditions so onerous that the company walked away. To be honest, that is an incredible shame.
We are losing investment. The president of Suncor just the other day said it is getting too tough to do business in Canada. We know that money goes where it is wanted. We know that investment goes where it is wanted. We are creating an environment where it is difficult to get anything done in this country.
We do have a project here. We have a project that has been approved and a company that, to be quite frank, has been very patient for many years. It's the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion.
The Kinder Morgan pipeline goes through the riding that I represent. Many hundreds of kilometres of pipeline goes through my riding. This pipeline was built before I was born. I moved to Kamloops in 1999 and we were probably not even aware that it existed. We knew there was a pipeline but no one paid any attention to it. People did not worry about it. They knew there were opportunities for local jobs. They knew that it was providing the gas stations with, ultimately, the product they needed to fill their vehicles.
I heard the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands talking earlier about rail versus pipelines. If oil is transported by rail, it is right along the salmon fish-bearing streams, and the chance of an incident with rail is much higher than the chance of an incident with pipelines.
The other thing no one talks about is that as rail transport of the product increases, the opportunity to move other supplies and goods is lost. We often have conversations with those in the wheat industry and many others who are having trouble moving their product to ports because of the capacity of our rail system. Therefore, not only is rail perhaps a little more concerning in terms of transfer but it also takes enormous capacity. I suggest that our rail system is pretty close to capacity. At least, where I wait at the tracks where the two lines meet, it certainly seems to be at capacity.
This pipeline has been in place for many years and people did not really pay much attention to it, so what has changed? All of a sudden, there seems to be a dedicated movement. There has been a lot of talk and research done, where foreign influences work with environmental groups to shut down our oil sands. I would ask everyone why they are working to shut down Canada's oil sands and not focused on other areas, such as perhaps ships coming in from Saudi Arabia or what is happening in the U.S. It seems there is a targeted, intense effort to shut down our oil sands and to stop any pipeline project. We clearly need to ask ourselves what is happening in Canada and come up with a few answers.
I had quite a debate the other day with one of my NDP colleagues on Nation to Nation on APTN. She said that first nations did not want this project. I said the NDP does not want this project and that she should not speak for all first nations when she says that. That it is absolutely irresponsible. There are 51 first nations who have signed on and want this project to proceed. These 51 first nations have signed community benefit agreements, which will be a source of revenue for their communities.
To be frank, the NDP is saying these people should not have this opportunity. Reconciliation has to include economic reconciliation. Time and time again, whether it is the northern gateway, the moratorium ban with Eagle Spirit, or the drilling ban up north, we are depriving many indigenous and first nations communities of opportunities to have these benefits. Again, 51 first nations have signed agreements, including many in the area that I represent, and they are looking forward to the jobs that will become available and to putting their equipment to work. The NDP is very irresponsible when it makes blanket statements that first nations do not want this.
I think sometimes those in Vancouver and Burnaby forget about how important that existing pipeline is to their lives. If that pipeline were to shut down, they forget how it would affect the price of gas and the jet fuel that goes to the Vancouver airport. It is an important and critical resource for Vancouver also. To suggest that it does not benefit Vancouver and Burnaby is a big concern. Most citizens in Burnaby take public transit or drive cars, so where do they think that resource comes from?
The request being made today is very reasonable. Two provinces are embarking on a trade war and small business owners are going to be hurt in this process. It could be the person who makes gloves in Vancouver, it could be winemakers, or it could be the hard-working people of Alberta who have struggled for the last couple of years with a significant economic downturn. Real people, real families, and real jobs are being hurt and the Prime Minister is letting it happen rather than intervening and being a cheerleader for what he has approved. Last week, the trade war escalated and he was down in the U.S., from what I understand, jogging and buying Levi jeans. That was not the place for him to be.
This is an appropriate and reasonable request and Conservatives look forward to a response from the government that provides a clear, articulate plan going forward.