Natural Resources committee  Yes. Principally, it's a question of geography and economics. You're talking about some pretty harsh environments that you have to cover and the cost of building significant transmission is enormous. It's more a matter of having an economic case to be able to build such long tran

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee for having invited me here today to discuss the opportunities and challenges of resource development in northern Canada. My remarks today will focus on the integral role of electricity as a critical enabler of this development.

Human Resources committee  I would say that it's really within the last 10 years that in many regions we've hit the wall in terms of our built infrastructure. One of the other pieces we could get into, if we have the time, is all these predictions about what the future's going to look like and what infrast

Human Resources committee  It's also in terms of the success rate.

Human Resources committee  I'm afraid to say, sir.

Human Resources committee  I'm afraid to say that I'm born and bred in Montreal.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I'll comment in terms of the context, and then Michelle can go into some of the specifics. As I mentioned earlier, while we're facing a very significant infrastructure build over the next 20 years, in the order of $300 billion, we as an industry built up our infrastructure

Human Resources committee  I'm not familiar with the specific program itself; it clearly is something more directly related to the construction trades. But we have seen similar programming, specifically in the electricity area, and some work that Michelle's organization has done, particularly with respect

Human Resources committee  Yes. I assume that you want me to elaborate. Yes, currently there is—

Human Resources committee  Clearly, we're looking at challenges in the immediate future, that is, in the short- and medium-terms—and of course there are some long-term challenges as well. And there are some very specific job classifications where the problems are particularly acute. Perhaps Michelle, who

Human Resources committee  As you can see, many issues relate principally to new demographics, the emergence of a new generation and the transformation of Canada’s grid. We understand that you cannot resolve all these issues with a wave of a magic wand. But there is one issue I'd like to bring to your at

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. I'm Francis Bradley, a vice-president at the Canadian Electricity Association. The Canadian Electricity Association is the national voice in matters of electricity in Canada. Across the country, our members provide day-to-day electricity production, transpo

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. For the question as to whether or not it should be financial instruments or commanded patrol, my answer would be that it eventually will be both. What we're talking about here is anticipating that at some point in time there will be indeed regulations, there wi

Finance committee  Yes, and thank you very much for the question. The smart grid is on the minds of a lot of people and is certainly attracting a great deal of attention in the media. It has attracted the attention of the Obama administration in the United States. Smart grid is all about how we'r

Finance committee  Absolutely.