Industry committee  We have a considerable surplus of natural gas relative to the amount we use in Canada. Until the mid-1980s, we regulated natural gas prices and very closely regulated the amount of natural gas that could be exported. We had a much higher price at that time than we enjoyed through

Industry committee  Going back a few years, we in fact had a big inventory of natural gas in North America, and particularly in Canada. Until deregulation, Canada required a thirty-year surplus of natural gas in order to allow exports. With deregulation, that was relieved. The reserve-to-production

Industry committee  Can we ensure that we don't create conditions that are less favourable than our competitors, so we don't get out of sync? But with oil and natural gas becoming a world market and electricity being increasingly tied into those other markets, they will tend to equilibrate. If we do

Industry committee  Again, I would have a hard time commenting on what happens in refined-product markets. I think this is instrumented in the natural gas industry. The key there is that natural gas is traded in highly competitive markets, where you have liquid trading hubs. One of the biggest Nor

Industry committee  I would certainly agree with you. We are in an extremely enviable position. I doubt there is any country in the world that is in a more enviable position in terms of the availability of energy and the reliability of the system for delivering it. Will we be in a better position g

Industry committee  Mr. Chairman, if I could, I'll just add a little bit to that. I fully subscribe to that. I think the important point is why we think there should be an energy framework. It is not, as Mr. Konow suggests, that the federal government should be acting in all sorts of new ways outsid

Industry committee  I have to say I'm sorry, Mr. McTeague, but I do think I would be well off my patch if I were to offer comments in that area. It's not the industry for which my association is responsible.

Industry committee  No, they don't.

Industry committee  Mr. Chairman, I'll speak particularly on behalf of my own industry. In the last couple of years we've seen improvements in the capital cost treatment of the long-distance pipelines, and actually the rectification of a problem on the treatment of compressor stations. Going forwar

Industry committee  Very quickly on the response to what we can do to help to underpin industrial competitiveness. I think it's really very straightforward. We can invest in delivering supply to our customers more reliably and more cheaply. There are some things that policy and regulation can do to

Industry committee  Briefly, on who's investing in alternative technologies, I think if you looked across the board you'd probably find that it's the members of Mr. Konow's association and my association and Mr. Bailey's association who are mainly doing that. My member companies are investing in wi

Industry committee  I'll kick it off. I'll make a couple of comments here, and I suppose these are very much matters of opinion. Competitiveness is a relative concept, and I think you alluded to that. If your cost structure is going up and so is your competitor's, then on balance it should not make

Industry committee  In fact we do work closely with our manufacturing colleagues. They have a loose association of energy-using industries. Actually, they're headquartered right across the hall on the same floor that the Canadian Gas Association is on. So we do work with them. The main thing we've

Industry committee  Mr. Chairman, I don't know whether Mr. Baily knows that off the top of his head, but it may be best if we get back to you with the precise answer. We can give you the breakdown on where that comes from.

Industry committee  If I could just comment, we can still see what we can follow up on there. The tax credit issue is one that is much talked about, and not terrifically well understood, in my experience. If you go to the Department of Finance data on that, you can find information that basically