This clause almost sums up what the entire bill purports to do. One thing that hasn't been emphasized in these discussions, at least the ones I've been on, is that Bill C-469 plants a dagger in the heart of rural communities, especially low-income and economically vulnerable resource communities.
Rural communities are much more dependent on the harvesting of natural resources than the rest of the economy. The natural resource economy is carrying the entire country right now, and natural resource harvesting and processing occurs in rural areas.
Rural economies and rural communities are the most common targets of environmental activism, whether it's oil sands, pipelines, commercial forestry, the seal hunt, the trapping industry, mining, commercial agriculture, ocean agriculture, intensive animal agriculture, or other resource industries. The common thread is that these natural resource harvesting activities occur only in rural areas. It is almost always vulnerable rural communities that bear the cost of these aggressive and well-funded environmental campaigns.
As a member from a rural, somewhat low-income constituency that depends upon the harvesting of natural resources, I can tell you that it is communities like mine that will be the first targets of the actions allowed under this bill.
Furthermore, this bill introduces U.S.-style litigation into Canada, where it is not appropriate. We just got a letter from Newmont Mining Corporation. They write to us that the draft legislation appears to be focused on increasing avenues for litigation rather than resolving issues or conflicts.