The OPI was one of 30 organizations that provided comments to the Government of Ontario at a 2018 Pre-Budget Consultation held on January 25, 2018. The meeting was hosted by Yvan Baker, MPP Etobicoke Centre and the Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Finance, Hon. Charles Sousa. In its brief the OPI talked about the Ontario’s oil and natural gas industry’s contribution to the provincial economy with jobs, royalties and investments. To help address the challenges the sector has faced in recent years with declining production the OPI urged the Government to consider tax measures geared to oil and natural gas exploration similar to measures currently in place for the province’s mining sector, and to open the Assessment Act to a review on how oil and natural gas assets are assessed to correct what the industry regards as inequities in the application of assessments on machinery, equipment, pipelines and land. The meeting was held at the Marconi Club on Clark Road in London, Ontario.