Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Mr. Egan. Thank you for being the brave witness appearing in person.
I was reading an OECD report, and I have the English version here in front of me.
It's about policy responses on the impacts of the war on Ukraine. There are three key recommendations.
First for a bit of a context, it says that “gas prices have significantly increased as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine and are likely to remain elevated in the medium” and even long-term “as European countries increasingly switch to other gas suppliers.”
In this very important situation, the report has three recommendations.
The first one is, “Support regions that are specialised in energy intensive sector in order to help them adjust while requiring them to find suitable long-term solutions that fit their local contexts.” Specifically, they suggest supporting measures that “include promotion of energy efficiency, investment and alternative energy sources or training or re-employment for displaced workers.”
The second recommendation is, “Commit to excluding coal as an alternative energy source in order to remain in line with the vital need to transition to a Net Zero Emissions economy by 2050.”
The last recommendation is, “Support manufacturing upgrading, in particular in economically weak regions, in order to bring up the energy efficiency of less efficient companies to that of sectoral best practice.”
Could you comment on these three recommendations? Do they align with Canada's energy sector and its interaction with the situation in Ukraine?