Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
If the bill is here in committee, it is because a majority of parliamentarians supported its principle. Not just on this side of the table, but also on the other side. This means that in principle, parliamentarians unanimously want to see the right to a sound environment recognized. That is reality. I think that the majority of MPs want to work on the bill before us. I agree with Mr. Scarpaleggia: we do want to prevent frivolous legal action.
There are two problematic elements in the bill. Firstly, there is the whole issue of simply alleging environmental harm. Secondly, there is the possibility of breaching a law. I think that that is what we have to work on in this bill.
I'd like to get back to the issue of guidelines. I think that the legal opinion submitted by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is quite interesting. For instance, on page 5, they tell us that “Unlike comparable provisions in the CEPA and the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993, a person does not need to apply for an investigation before bringing an environmental protection action or civil action under Bill C-469”.
And so I'd like to get back to my original questions. Can't we bring in guidelines so as to avoid legal actions that would have unfavourable economic consequences as well as unacceptable social repercussions? For instance, isn't there an investigation procedure that we could include before people could institute legal action?
Some people may ask for the bill to be tossed into the dustbin, but the fact is that parliamentarians want to work with it. Are there constructive amendments that could limit this civil action access, so as to ensure that what a majority of parliamentarians want will be expressed in an upcoming piece of federal legislation?