Finance committee  I think we've started, and I think you'll hear that from some of your other members who were presenting here, such as the Canadian Gas Association and the Canadian Electricity Association. There is a new partnership, and that's what QUEST was set up to do, to help bring relationships together between those bodies and utilities.

Finance committee  Overall, the direction of QUEST is to help manage and more effectively use our energy resources. Drawing on local alternative resources, which is what's encouraged, is all part of that. QUEST would support that. We also recognize that no matter where you are drawing your energy from, what we are really trying to encourage across Canada is more effective use of it in the first place.

Finance committee  QUEST recognizes that communities across Canada have a challenge in how they might be investing in those bonds if they have already utilized their existing capital resources, or as in one case, potentially, their assets, in terms of what's available from reserves. That stated, one of the key things we would be encouraging is the acknowledgement that bonds are a good way, because they provide an alternative financing mechanism.

Finance committee  Thank you, Chair and members. It's a delight to be here this afternoon. My name is Brent Gilmour. I'm the executive director of Quality Urban Energy Systems of Tomorrow, QUEST. QUEST is a national, non-profit organization that was established in 2007. It is a non-member-based organization.