Senator Joan Fraser:

I am not a geophysicist either but my clear understanding is that once it is refined, the oil sands oil ends up being exactly the same as all the other fuels we use. My understanding is that Canada has concerns with the fuel quality directive because of the decision to put oil sands oil into a category of its own and that this is based on a double standard. As a country we take into account the whole process from the first time something gets stuck in the ground to the end of the road, including by-products. This is not done for all other sources of hydrocarbons for the EU.

One example strikes me as being illustrative of our difficulties. In Canada by law the natural gas associated with the production of crude oil bitumen must be captured and disposed of safely. In fact, much of it is captured and sold commercially as natural gas. In Russia or Nigeria they tend to flare it off, producing large quantities of greenhouse gases which are not counted by the European Union. However, we count them in our production and as a result the EU counts them. The EU takes our numbers which include the effects of the natural gas but they do not do the same for other suppliers. My party believes that it would be appropriate to continue to develop the oil sands but to do so cautiously such that we can be absolutely certain that we are being environmentally sound. Everyone in the country believes that we should be treated according to the same scientific basis as everyone else.