In Manitoba, we had a process wherein we sat down for quite some time and thought about this. This was a multi-stakeholder group brought together by the province. We had some agreement quite early on the initiation of the process. That could be within the legislated process or on behalf of the proponent, following directions provided for in legislation. So there was agreement, including agreement from industry, that the process could start quite early.
Now there are obviously issues of confidentiality around some activities that proponents want to undertake and don't want their competitors to find out about. What can I say about those?
It needs to start as early as practicable in the process. Right now we often start the participation process once we've decided what the project is, exactly what it looks like, and where it's going to be. That's too late, as we're then just working with operational decisions.