Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to speak to the jobs, growth and long-term prosperity act.
This act would take important steps toward addressing current challenges and helping to take advantage of opportunities in the global economy. At the same time, this legislation would ensure that Canada's social programs would be sustainable and our public finances would remain sound for future generations.
Indeed, with the economic action plan 2012, our government is looking ahead, not only over the next few years but for years to come. The measures presented in the bill are substantial, responsible and necessary. They will ensure that across the government we are focused on enabling and sustaining Canada's long-term economic growth.
Included within these measures is our government's plan for responsible resource development. I would like to take this time to focus on the plan and why it is so important to my riding of Prince George—Peace River and our national economy.
Canada's abundant natural resources have always been an important part of our economy. Few countries are as blessed with natural resources as we are. Canada ranks first in the production of potash, second in uranium production and third in natural gas, hydroelectricity production and proven oil reserves. We are also among the top five producers in the world of more than 10 minerals and metals, including nickel, aluminum and diamonds.
In 2010 Canada's natural resource sectors employed more than 760,000 workers across the country. In fact, the mining and energy sectors alone represent 10% of the Canadian economy and 40% of our exports. In the next 10 years, more than 500 new projects, representing over $500 billion in new investments, will be proposed for Canada. The potential for job growth is absolutely huge.
In my riding, where natural resources continue to drive the local economy, I have heard from many constituents about the need to grab on to these opportunities.
Currently, companies undertaking major projects must navigate a complex maze of regulatory requirements and processes and approval processes are long and unpredictable.
If we are to compete with other resource-rich countries for those vital job-creating investment dollars, we need to put in place a world-class regulatory system to review major projects. We need a system that ensures timely, efficient and effective reviews, a system that promotes business confidence and investment, while strengthening our world-class environmental standards.
As Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of Mining Association of Canada, said following the tabling of budget 2012:
Canada is in a global competition for mining investment and an effective and efficient regulatory regime can provide a competitive advantage over other jurisdictions.
Since 2006, our government has been working to streamline the review process for major economic projects.
These efforts have made a difference without having a negative environmental impact. However, more work needs to be done.
That is why our government is taking action, in budget 2012, with our plan for responsible resource development. The plan would streamline the review process for major economic projects by providing predictable timelines for project approvals. It would prevent long delays that kill potential jobs and stall economic growth by putting value investment at risk. Most important, responsible resource development would create good, skilled and well-paying jobs in cities and communities across the country, while maintaining the highest possible standards for protecting the environment.
The plan's guiding principle is simple and straightforward. In protecting the environment, our sense of common good should be matched by our good common sense: common sense to clear up the clutter and confusion that comes with having more than 40 federal departments and agencies involved in environmental assessments; common sense in addressing the delays and unpredictability of the current system with its open-ended reviews that often require, not only several months, but several years to complete; common sense in eliminating unnecessary duplication within the federal government itself and between the federal government and the provincial governments; and common sense in making our efforts to protect the environment as effective as possible.
Common good and commons sense, the two pillars of good public policy, are front and centre in our plan to modernize the regulatory system.
As it stands now, Canada's review process has become bogged in procedures delays, jurisdictional overlaps and unpredictable timelines. Major projects are subject to long and potentially endless delays because of needlessly complex and duplicative review process. This tangled web of rules and procedures now jeopardizes the timely and responsible development of our natural resources.
In order to move toward a more efficient and effective regulatory system, we need to make changes.
The goal of responsible resource development is one project, one review, in a clearly defined period of time. That is simple. To accomplish this goal, measures introduced in Bill C-38 would focus federal assessment efforts on major projects that could have a significant effect on the environment. Under the current system, thousands of small projects that pose little or no risk to the environment still get reviewed. This bill would consolidate federal responsibilities for environmental assessments in three agencies: the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. It would reduce unnecessary duplication by better integrating federal and provincial requirements for major economic projects and establish fixed timelines for government activities associated with reviews. They are: 24 months for review panels under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and 18 months for projects under the National Energy Board Act.
These are just a few of the ways our government would make the system more efficient. At the same time, these proposed measures would continue to make the regulatory system more effective in protecting the environment by taking real, concrete and substantive action. We would introduce enforceable environmental assessment decision statements to ensure project proponents comply with mitigation measures, as well as new penalties for violations. We would enhance pipeline and marine safety through initiatives such as a strengthened tanker safety regime and a substantial increase in the number of inspections for oil and gas pipelines. We would strengthen compliance by authorizing the use of administrative monetary penalties for violations of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Nuclear Safety and Control Act and the National Energy Board Act.
In co-operation with provincial governments, we would allow the greater use of regional environmental assessments to identify and address potential regional and cumulative effects of projects, especially in areas experiencing large-scale developments.
Despite what some may suggest, with natural resource development we do not have to choose between the economy or the environment. The two can, and must, go together. It will, however, take a lot of hard work that would require a comprehensive approach to ensure that we are doing things right.
We Canadians have a wonderful new opportunity before us. The global economy's appetite for the kinds of resources we have is bigger than it ever has been, and it even continues to grow. There is no better time to act than right now. We have to give ourselves every chance possible to compete for the job-creating investment dollars in fast-growing markets in Asia and elsewhere.
I know that it is not only possible but absolutely necessary to develop our natural resources in a responsible way. That means maintaining, and in fact strengthening, our protection of the environment. In resource-rich regions, like that of my riding in northeastern B.C, the future of our local economies will ultimately be decided by the way in which we approach development of our natural resources. I believe in our government's approach to responsible resource development. That is why I am encouraging all members of the House to support the bill.
