Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just want to point out that in this amendment we have at the outset of the clause the sort of reverse of the notwithstanding provision, which, I mentioned earlier, might be applied if the legislature ever wanted to override this act. I think it's important to note this, because when this particular provision says “notwithstanding remedial provisions and other acts”, the court can go ahead and do these things. If the legislature passed this act, it would be clearly expressing the intent, which I mentioned earlier, that this act be superordinate and supersede all other legislative provisions.
That places this act in a very special category of acts that do have that quality of being superordinate. That's why, in my opinion, it is incumbent upon us to take the highest care when discussing an act like this that will have such a fundamental impact upon people and businesses and job creators and ordinary Canadians, hunters, and trappers across the country who might be affected at the instance of a lawsuit from someone anywhere in the world who comes to Canada to engage in these kinds of lawsuits.
I must say, as a new parliamentarian, I'm very disappointed and rather shocked that we would be discussing this kind of legislation in the manner that we have been. If I haven't said so already, I want to say that I consider a number of these provisions to be very irresponsible, and yet they're passing anyway.
I don't know how I can make clear to those around this table the severity and the importance of what they're talking about today. It's really for that reason that I point out this notwithstanding clause in this amendment, which makes the intention of this act very clear.
I'm sure Ms. Duncan wouldn't disagree with me that she wants this act to be superordinate and to supersede any other laws or regulations in Canada. I'm sure she wouldn't disagree with me when I say that she would regard this as a piece of fundamental legislation of great importance. The only point where she'll disagree with me is that she is speaking on behalf of environmental activists who want the ability to challenge the government and other Canadians with lawsuits. I'm speaking on behalf of those Canadians who would like some balance in their laws and some more moderate provisions. I think we both agree, however, that this is a superordinate act, and certainly the notwithstanding clause in this amendment demonstrates it.
Thank you.