I've been an opposition MP too. If it's something with which you agree, you say, “Why did it take you so long to get there?” I understand why you'd ask that question. It's taken us a lot less time than it took Mr. Harper to get there. I can tell you that.
The other thing I think is instructive here is that in those projects.... One of the challenges that I wouldn't.... Of course, I don't share the melodrama of investment fleeing and all of the stuff you said in the premise of your question, but I recognize that one of the challenges is to get a greater level of certainty up front. It's for a promoter of a project that is as important to the economy of the country as many of these energy projects are....
I come from Atlantic Canada. The success of the energy economy across the country is pretty important in the region I represent, as it is all across the country. Every Canadian has an interest in our getting this right. I say that consistently and in any part of the country.
However, one of the challenges was that without a greater level of certainty about the process and the timelines at the beginning, many proponents and many companies wouldn't invest the hundreds of millions of dollars, or potentially billions, necessary to get to an ultimate final investment decision. This, to some extent, is what we're trying to remediate in this legislation.