Economic Relationship between Canada and the United States committee  Thank you very much. My name is Tristan Goodman. I am the president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada. EPAC represents about 139 Canadian-based oil and natural gas companies, from start-ups and juniors to major oil and gas producers, that operate in various provinces and territories across the country.

Finance committee  I can certainly comment on that, but if it is okay, Mr. Chair, perhaps I'll ask Mr. Scholz if he would like to go first.

Finance committee  Absolutely, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Mr. Poilievre, thank you for the question, and it's nice to see you again. The International Energy Agency that you referenced is the gold standard. It predicts that we will see an increase in all energy use, including renewables, by the way, a sector that a number of previous oil and gas companies are starting to enter.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. The industry is responsible for doing that, and we take ownership over that. We appreciate the federal government's program to get Canadian workers back to work. I think there were some good decisions on the part of the federal government to move forward on that.

Finance committee  First, the numbers are actually quite difficult to work out. Whether it's $70 billion or less, it really doesn't matter. I'm not going to specify what the number is because it actually depends on how you look at it. I can say the industry has put extra effort to this. I think it has recognized that investors are actually expecting it to do that.

Finance committee  It's a bit of both. How it generally works is that there are two forms to any of these programs. Policies take different forms, but they are relatively simple. It's basically like your household income: What are your assets coming in and what are your liabilities associated with that?

Finance committee  Sure, I can quickly answer that as the chair moves us on here. There are certainly opportunities within the clean fuel standards. There's a large debate that is going to continue around the clean fuel standards. A lot of the innovation that Mr. Scholz was talking about has great application within that.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. My name is Tristan Goodman, president of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada, or EPAC. Thank you for the chance to speak to the committee members today, and I hope you are all safe during this difficult period. EPAC represents over 100 owned natural gas and oil producing companies focused on drilling, rather than mining, Canada's energy resources.

Finance committee  I apologize, Mr. Chair, it was expanding the orphan well program.

Finance committee  First, the investment capital will depend on continuing with the existing policies on indigenous reconciliation and GHG emissions. There's a commitment around that. I think it helps investors feel comfortable. We will need strong performance on ESG to showcase. Instead of waving our arms around about how good we are, we need to actually demonstrate that to independent sources.

Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, may I respond to that first?

Finance committee  First, I do appreciate your sympathies. They actually mean a lot, coming from various areas of the country. It is a very difficult time. It's difficult across the country, but it's been difficult prior to COVID-19, so thank you for that. I would actually turn to the gold standard, which is the International Energy Agency.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. The answer, generally, if you're referring to the LEEFF program, is yes. It does appear that access to the LEEFF program, at this point in time, will be cost-prohibitive as well as prohibitive on the terms and conditions.

Finance committee  Yes, Mr. Chair.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. First, I certainly agree with both the member of Parliament and the witness about the need for transparency. I think that transparency is a fundamental piece in government in all cases. With regard to the pipeline specifically, this is a national infrastructure project that has been done to standards that have not been seen yet across the globe.