Natural Resources committee  That was purely a geographic concern, Mr. Tonks, as you well know.

Natural Resources committee  We do that at home, but not in public.

Natural Resources committee  Merci beaucoup. I'd refer to the committee a letter from the Minister of Finance on May 31, 2006, in response to the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, which deals specifically with the question of whether there's an imbalance between the renewable and non-renewable. I'm happy to make that available.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. It's a great pleasure to be here. Mr. Stringham and I will be splitting the time. It's partly because Mr. Stringham, as an engineer with an MBA, spent a significant part of this career working for Syncrude. He has personal experience that I think will be invaluable to the members prior to their trip to the north.

Finance committee  There are two parts to this. One is the way you operate your business, and we have seen dramatic changes, particularly at the provincial level, on things like flaring and venting the gases that are released. We're looking forward to the government's upcoming air quality and climate change package, because clearly that's going to push things a little further, and we will participate in it.

Finance committee  In 30 seconds or less?

Finance committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Paquette. I think that we can indeed serve as an example. If we compare ourselves to other sectors, we note that in our case, taxes have dropped from 28 to 21% over the past five years. However, our contributions to the federal government went from two to seven billion dollars annually.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I've never been with a panel that has stayed on time so ruthlessly, so I've cut mine back. I hope the results are coherent. Congratulations to my colleagues. I'd like to begin very quickly by giving you an overview of the size and scope of the industry I represent here today.