Mr. Speaker, I am very happy because I did not think I would get the chance to speak. I am very pleased to be speaking today.
Any motion to create a special committee is very important, and I thank the Conservatives for moving this one. I think there are many topics to be studied in connection with the pandemic, the new U.S. administration and the Liberal government's repeated diplomatic failures.
As my Bloc Québécois colleagues have said, we support creating such a committee and going through this process. I must, however, be honest and remind members, as I mentioned earlier in some questions, that I am a little concerned about point (ii) in the motion, regarding natural resources. I was worried that the Conservatives were simply using it as a way to promote the pipeline. As we saw with Keystone XL, the U.S. government is prepared to focus on energy transition, combat climate change and give up on environmentally destructive oil projects.
Instead of worrying about this point, I instead view it as an opportunity to promote hydroelectricity and renewable energy and to highlight Quebec's example to our southern neighbour. I believe parliamentarians on this committee would do well to look to Quebec and learn from it.
Let me remind you that in 2017, Quebec's energy sector emitted 0.4% of Canada's greenhouse gases, which is very little given that it is the largest producer of electricity in the country. That is remarkable and I believe that we should really be inspired by it. Quebec's energy model is a green model that is financially viable and it must be on the table as we engage with the United States.
As I also mentioned a little earlier, it seems that the Liberals are never very keen on creating special committees. The Bloc Québécois proposed creating a committee to study COVID-19 spending given that there had been several scandals. Our proposal was rejected, but I truly hope that this time the opposition parties and the Liberals will get behind this special committee because it is very important.