Jim Carr

[Natural Resources, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad for the question, because as the member knows, we will be modernizing the National Energy Board. We will be looking for advice from all members of the House in taking the regulatory system in Canada and improving it.

I look forward to having conversations with the members opposite about their ideas to get a more robust process, to lead, not only to a better result, but any result at all.

[Natural Resources, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that low commodity prices have a consequence for families and for individuals in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. When the government was in New Brunswick, it was able to feel the impact of a mine closure first-hand. We understand that.

We are looking at the long term to have a more robust regulatory system. We understand the importance of moving our natural resources to market sustainably. That is our objective. The process that we have introduced will give us a better chance of getting there.

[Natural Resources, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we announced several weeks ago a new process that will lead to a better regulatory process for Canada. We know from experience over the last five and six years that that process has not carried the support of Canadians. Therefore, no projects have actually come to fruition since 2011.

We are not going to repeat a failed process. We are going to introduce a new one that has a better chance of holding the confidence of the Canadian people and therefore leads to a result in which more Canadians can have confidence than they were able to under the previous government.

[Natural Resources, February 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it was legislative changes made by the other government that led to cabinet being asked to make important decisions on great national projects. A political decision is a decision for which politicians are held accountable. We will be held accountable after a process that will have the confidence of the Canadian people and that will have a chance to play out in a reasonable way and a robust way.

When all of that is done, the government will take responsibility for the decision it takes.

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the delay under the former Conservative government was a permanent delay because there were no pipelines built between 2011 and October 19, 2015. The reason is because the process was not credible. These projects will not go forward unless it is credible.

We are doing what we think is responsible by talking to Canadians about the ways in which they will have more public confidence in a system that did not work under the former government.

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, 20% of the national economy is dependent on natural resources. This is the way it has been in Canada for a very long time, and it will continue to be.

It is the aim of this government, and I am sure every member of the House, to move our resources to market sustainably. We need a process to do it. We have announced that process. We have a better chance of achieving that common goal today than we did last week.

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are determined to modernize the National Energy Board. We will be asking Canadians from coast to coast to offer constructive opinions about how that could best be done. Those Canadians include members opposite, who one would think would have more of an interest than anybody else in a credible regulatory process.

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there is no one in the House who speaks more clearly, more loudly, more passionately for the people of Saint John than the member does. We hear it all the time. There is no political party in the House that has a monopoly on compassion.

I can assure the House and the member that there are members of this caucus who understand that the best way that we will deliver to market is—

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there will be hope when Canadians are faced with a regulatory regime that has their confidence, and that will only be done if we meaningfully consult with indigenous communities, with industry, with environmental groups, and across regions of the country. With good process and good regulatory controls, we have a much better chance of being where all members of the House want to be: moving our resources to tidewater sustainably.

[Natural Resources, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the hon. member brought up the matter of trust. It was a lack of trust in the regulatory process under the Conservatives' regime that resulted in no pipelines built to tidewater from 2011. We have consulted widely across the country, across sectors, and across regions, and we believe that today we have a better chance of instilling confidence among Canadians than we had when they were running the show.