Environment committee  I certainly value the different petroleum products that exist, clothing—I see we're wearing it—contacts and glasses, helmets, hand lotions, ink dyes, antifreeze, perfumes, nail polish, soap, detergents, medications like aspirin, water pipes, pillows, the dishes we're eating off, phones, golf clubs, cameras and—

Environment committee  It's certainly relevant, Madam Chair.

Environment committee  All oil sands land, of course, must be reclaimed. The Government of Alberta requires that companies remediate and reclaim 100% of the land after the oil sands have been extracted. Reclamation means that the land is returned to a self-sustaining ecosystem with local vegetation and wildlife, which, of course, as an Albertan, I'm very proud of, as well.

Environment committee  I'm getting there, Madam Chair. Thank you so much. Certainly it is relevant. This is specifically relevant to both the environment and the oil sector, which I believe are the two cruxes of Bill C-69. It is all very relevant indeed. In practice, annual withdrawals are often less than 1%.

Environment committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. As a proud Albertan, I am very happy to say that we pride ourselves on the steps taken to protect the environment when acquiring our natural resources. The information I am about to share is from some key facts from the Government of Canada as recently as July 2017.

Environment committee  Thank you. Mr. Abel, will the implementation of a carbon tax reduce emissions, yes or no?

Environment committee  Thank you. I will now yield the floor to my colleague, Mr. Godin.

Environment committee  Mr. Bloomer, as the former deputy consul general for Dallas, Texas, from 2010 to 2013, I worked tirelessly to move Keystone XL forward, from the previous government. This, of course, was resurrected in March 2017 by the present U.S. administration. TransCanada, on January 18, continued to confirm commercial support for this.

Environment committee  Thank you for that. Finally, on a carbon tax, I couldn't believe it this last weekend when I paid $122 for gas, with an additional 12¢ being proposed. Will a carbon tax reduce emissions ultimately, in your opinion, Mr. Bloomer?

Environment committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Abel, I'll start with you. On January 2 of this year, I read an article in the Calgary Herald, which was incredibly troubling for me and for the constituents of Calgary Midnapore. This article stated that 2017, not surprisingly, was not a good year fiscally for the city of Calgary and the province of Alberta.