Mr. David Tilson, MP:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to attend the meeting. Members have had a long day and undoubtedly have other places they would prefer to be. We will try to be brief as possible and, in the main, restrict our comments to the fuel quality directive which, as the Chairman observed, is a source of concern for our country.

The Canadian oil sands are the centre of a major development in our economy, one which is creating a lot of jobs. Members of the European Parliament have come to Canada to visit the oil sands and acknowledged that they are environmentally sound. Our immediate concern relates to the vote taken in February this year on the proposed fuel quality directive implementing measures. The oil sands consist of crude oil suspended in an ore that is a mixture of sand, clay and water. The majority of Canada's oil sands reserve is a type of extra heavy crude oil known as bitumen and located primarily in the province of Alberta, with smaller deposits to be found in Saskatchewan.

The oil sands resource underlies a landmass of 55,000 square miles and is divided into three deposits, the Athabasca deposit, the Peace River deposit and the Cold Lake deposit. The Government of Canada's policy towards the development of the oil sands and other natural resources has its basis in an open market, where companies make business decisions within a regulatory framework designed to protect current and future Canadian environmental, economic and social interests. In Canada, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have jurisdiction over the development of the oil sands within their provincial boundaries. The Canadian Government shares responsibility with the provinces for environmental protection and it is committed to ensuring that the economic and energy security benefits of the oil sands are balanced by sound environmental stewardship.

What is Canada's position? I suppose we could jump to the vote that took place. I will try to be as brief as possible. On 23 February this year, the European Union member states voted on whether to pass the proposed fuel quality directive, FQD, implementing measures. There were 89 votes in favour of the proposal, 128 votes against and there were 128 abstentions. For the purposes of the vote the effect of these abstentions was to block the Commission's proposal. Ireland voted in favour of the European Commission's proposed implementing measures. We hope that the vote will be modified somewhat as a result of Ireland taking the Presidency of the EU Council in the coming year.

In short, our position is that during the study of the implementing measures - it is going on as we speak - the issue of science should be followed. We should be treated the same as any other country that provides oil to Europe, whether Nigeria, the Russians or whoever. That is all we are asking. We call for the same science that is applied to other countries which are providing oil to be applied to Canadian oil or the products that come from Canadian oil. Most of our oil goes to the United States to be refined but these products could eventually find their way to Europe. That is it in a nutshell. The committee has had a long day and our message is brief: we wish to be treated fairly and in a non-discriminatory fashion; the same as any other country that is providing oil to Europe.