Thank you.
I've had the opportunity through my 26 years of practising law to participate in both the emergence of modern project environmental assessment right back to the EARP guidelines order through the early days of the first CEAA, then through the development of regulations under that first CEAA, through the amendments in 2009 until now with CEAA, 2012.
I've sat on both sides of the table. I have looked at this from an academic point of view partly. I worked for the first 10 years of my career with the environmental community through the environmental assessment caucus understanding what their vision, their concern, and their approach to environmental assessment was. For the last 14 years I have advised and worked with pipeline companies. I'm in-house counsel for TransCanada PipeLines and I actually do environmental assessment in project contexts.
When I bring that full breadth of experience to the table, in my view CEAA, 2012 strikes the right balance now of where we are in terms of the generation and evolvement of environmental assessment. It is in my view again, the right approach to focus federal assessment where it ought to be. The federal government is not the only level of government doing environmental assessment of projects. In my view, CEAA, 2012 is a modern, focused, and credible piece of environmental legislation.
I want to quickly address something that Professor Doelle said. I'm not sure if I understood you correctly, but if you were saying that somehow CEAA, 2012 turns project environmental assessment into a regulatory process, I don't agree. I know what it feels like and how much work goes into doing project environmental assessment. I don't see it all of a sudden becoming regulatory in nature. Perhaps you and I are thinking different things, but I'll make that point.
With respect to unnecessary uncertainties, I don't agree. I think CEAA, 2012 is clearer. It's early days so perhaps there's time yet to be confused, but I think it is a much more direct and much more easily understood approach.
Those are my comments. I'll turn it back to Brenda.