I'm not filibustering, no.
This is my last one:
Just as important, offshore oil has given Newfoundland the fiscal capacity to fund a mega-project. That's happened just as Nova Scotia Power gets very motivated to find alternatives to the dirty coal-fired generation it relies on for more than 80 per cent of its output. Hydro power is clean, renewable and its price is predictable. Fossil fuels are none of those things.
So I think you can see there's a lot of support for this project, not only from the politicians involved, but from all four provinces, the editorial boards of all four provinces, and it is seen as “our CPR”, to quote the NDP premier of Nova Scotia. This is a project, as the hydro project in the Bay of Fundy is also a project, that's going to produce clean, green, renewable, perpetual energy, which is exactly what we should be supporting.
This bill, however, has the potential to threaten that, and I'll tell you why. Clause 22 of the bill envisions any plaintiff, even someone as far-removed or completely unaffected by the specific matter--such as an issuance of an individual permit--may apply for judicial review of the government decision. If this provision is implemented, it would be certain to lead to a marked increase in litigation around environmental assessments, approvals, and permits issued by responsible federal ministries and regulatory bodies.
Clause 23 says we note that compliance with the terms of a permit or licence is not a defence to civil action that may be brought under this provision, and the current language appears to contemplate that it would apply even to matters falling within provincial and territorial jurisdiction. Needless to say, this would cause a high degree of uncertainty for many business operators, while also setting the stage for conflict between levels of government. In our view, it is wrong in principle for a piece of federal legislation to openly encroach on provincial jurisdiction or to purport to limit the exercise of legitimate provincial powers in this way.
We have four of the most economically depressed provinces in this country working together for one of the first times to produce clean, green, perpetual energy, and here we have a bill that would allow not only someone in a different province, but a competitor within that province, to challenge it legally, slowing it down, challenging every permit, which would stop a project or delay the project or continuously challenge the project—maybe not even a Canadian citizen, but any resident or any entity that has a residence in Canada. North Korea, China, anyone who is against this project, anyone who's against this development, could legally challenge this in court.
So here we have what we're referring to as the CPR of this century for Atlantic Canada now going to be challenged by people maybe not even of Canadian descent. Maybe not even Canadians are going to challenge this in court: every permit.
If you are looking for private investment in this project, how can you guarantee those investors that the project will go through and will not be challenged legally in court? How can we go and ask people to invest in this project, which will produce clean, green, perpetual energy? Where is the certainty for those investors investing in this project?
These are just one or two projects. There could be hundreds of projects in the future, destined to produced green, clean energy, that are going to be stopped.
That is why I cannot support this bill, Mr. Chair, and that is why I'm going to support this motion.
Thank you.