Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm very supportive of the amendment. I think it's acceptable, because it provides more time than in the case of CEPA. It provides far more advance notice than the Ontario Environmental Bill of Rights, which merely requires not later than ten days after the day the statement of claim is served. In this case, it's before the statement of claim is even filed in the courts, let alone served.
Of course the Attorney General of Canada and any other party can apply to intervene. This simply gives a heads-up to the Government of Canada that the plaintiff is considering filing this action. From my experience in working with public-interest litigants, I have yet to see a litigant who seeks to go to court on their own, without having spent many months, if not years, trying to get the government to intervene. This would just be pro forma additionally giving notice.
This provision would allow the Government of Canada to do a number of things. They could intervene. They could also intervene to take action to address the problem that the public litigant is raising. So the matter of notice is an excellent addition to the bill.