Natural Resources committee  The fundamental question is, do you believe energy information is a public good? If it is, then I would say governments would pay for it. I do know, and perhaps Jim and Statistics Canada can elaborate, that they do have some pay-for-usage models where there is a commercial value to it.

Natural Resources committee  When I talk to my provincial colleagues about the energy information system, we talk about data analysis, modelling capacity, and dissemination. Certainly, the data requires us to regularly evolve what we're collecting. The transition has required us to make sure we're collecting the right information to be able to track this transition.

Natural Resources committee  While we don't have a formal national data strategy, we have incredible co-operation across jurisdictions, led by Statistics Canada. The data we collect is often informed by provincial data collection. We certainly try not to duplicate what provinces are already collecting. I think my colleagues from Statistics Canada can speak more to that, but there is a tremendous effort to make sure that we work closely with them in spite of the fact there's no formal national strategy.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly, my colleagues at Statistics Canada will be able to explain how they are integrating those new technologies into how they're collecting data. We, from an NRCan perspective, are trying to understand how these are impacting the business that occurs, what the needs are of producers and suppliers of energy, and how we might be able to facilitate that from a regulatory and policy perspective.

Natural Resources committee  Merci. I think we don't currently have a national strategy. From an energy perspective, we have begun a discussion with provinces and territories to start to identify how we can co-operate better on energy data, but there are broader discussions. We are in a time of incredible change, and so discussions are also going on about how we can improve the data around natural resources more broadly, and, even larger than that, about what data the government requires.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I agree. If I were to ask where we could most improve—and I've had these discussions with my provincial and territorial counterparts as well—it is in the accessibility of the data. It's difficult to navigate the system without a level of expertise. There are 20-plus organizations you can go to for that type of information, and what we heard from Canadians through Generation Energy is that they want a one-stop shop where they can go for reliable and independent information to help inform themselves about the important discussions on energy that are happening in this country.

Natural Resources committee  I sure am. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the invitation to appear before the committee to speak to the current and future state of Canada's national energy data. My name is Laura Oleson and I am the Director General of Energy Policy at Natural Resources Canada. I am joined by my colleague, Drew Leyburne, Director General of Strategic Policy at Natural Resources Canada.