Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the delegation.

I can see the case Mr. Tilson is making. Clearly, it is a natural resource that Canada has in a regional area. I myself live in a region where there is a small population and high unemployment. It is important to make the most of the resources that they have and I can see that is where Mr. Tilson is coming from. It is a matter of trying to balance that against the bigger picture, which is the question of whether the oil being produced is more polluting than other fuels and how one manages that in terms of trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and halt global warming, which, as they will know, is becoming difficult. From all of the delegation's meetings, can its members tell us whether it is the case that these countries are putting Canada into a category of producing something that is potentially more polluting and, in the long term, more damaging to the planet?