Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Coming from Statistics Canada, any morning when we get to discuss data is a good morning, indeed. My name is Greg Peterson and I'm the director general responsible for agriculture, energy, environment, and transportation statistics. I'm joined by René Beau

Natural Resources committee  That's a very good question. I'm going to tread carefully so I don't veer into policy. Maybe I can pile onto the model that I described for transportation. In that instance, we found issues that are very similar to what we're discussing here today on the state of energy statist

Natural Resources committee  If we focus a bit on the governance, the first step would be bringing all of the actors together to really enumerate exactly who is doing what and to identify where there are gaps and duplication. If there are areas of duplication where we can find efficiencies, then let's harves

Natural Resources committee  Statistics Canada already has the mandate to collect, compile, and analyze information. We already have the legislative authority to acquire administrative data from any level of government, and we do this in practice. We've developed a statistical infrastructure that allows us

Natural Resources committee  I think collaboration and co-operation are key. StatsCan can play a role in this as a kind of a curator, consolidator, or integrator of information. I can give you another example from transportation.

Natural Resources committee  We learned from Transport Canada that they were acquiring GPS information from trucks. We were able to acquire this GPS information from Transport Canada using AI techniques to identify when trucks were stopping. We could link this geospatial information to our business register

Natural Resources committee  I believe that we have many of the data sources already there. Where we don't have the data sources, we should be working on identifying where the gaps exist. I think we have other models in place where we haven't had a change in the machinery of government in order to coordinate

Natural Resources committee  We have identified gaps in the data on renewables. We have a number of partners that are keen on our improving the timeliness of our data. We're continually being asked to produce more granularity. There is a concern among energy users that we are suppressing data cells if our da

Natural Resources committee  I think I could answer. First, could we create a data hub? Yes, we've done that in other areas. Regarding the EIA itself, different countries organize their statistics in different ways. In Canada we have chosen to create one single national statistical office that assembles

Natural Resources committee  Again, I'm not an expert in the legislative backing behind the federal statistical system in the United States, but we already have within the Statistics Act the authority to survey businesses and individuals. We already have the authority to acquire administrative data from any

Natural Resources committee  We already acquire data from various jurisdictions. We already acquire data from most provincial regulators. You are right. It would be a lot easier if we could get everybody to report to us the data in a similar format, using some similar definitions and metadata. In a way that'

Natural Resources committee  We can certainly play a role in the collection of information, bringing it together and publishing it. However, there is not one body that can do it all. It has to be done in collaboration with others.

Natural Resources committee  If you're talking about a single information hub, that is a model we've had in other places, and it's a model we could duplicate in energy.

Natural Resources committee  For certain, the initial focus would be for the departments and agencies that have been here this morning—the NEB, Environment and Climate Change, and Natural Resources Canada. They are the key users and key producers of information. Given the joint nature, the shared jurisdicti

Natural Resources committee  The data we're referring to is from our annual report on energy supply and demand. In that report, we're looking at the production and use of fuel by fuel type and by user: electric versus oil versus—