Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion asks the government to review our fuel purchasing practices, to look at the carbon intensity of the fuel that we buy and become a discerning customer who selects sources of fuel that have the lowest carbon emissions associated with their extraction, production and transportation. It asks that we change from simply buying fuel blindly, to intelligently seeking out the low carbon fuel. Conventional fuel made from oil extracted from traditional oil wells uses relatively little energy in its production. This causes relatively few carbon emissions. Unconventional fuel or synthetic fuel is manufactured from unconventional sources like tar sands and uses three times the energy, causing three times the emissions of conventional oil. It is also the fastest rising source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
As clearly stated in the Dene leadership meeting two weeks ago, extraction and production of tar sands oil is causing major environmental damage and the huge and toxic tailing ponds perched on the shore and in the area of the Athabasca River are threatening our water and the health of our ecosystem from Fort Smith to the Beaufort Sea.
This motion does not ask the government to change to different products, to buyout fuels or to fuels that do not meet Canadian standards for use under conditions of extreme cold. This motion does ask this government to take a leadership position, one that will help us in our work to negotiate meaningful transboundary water agreements and that contributes to our leadership on climate change through further reductions on emissions. Mahsi.