Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
Mr. Hazell, in your remarks, you talked about the fact that Canada has not met and is not meeting its commitments.
I'm going to read you some newspper healines from recent weeks or months: “Ottawa setting the stage for an offshore oil boom”; “60 oil drilling projects found to have no major repercusions”; “ExxonMobil looking for a deposit three times bigger than Bay du Nord off Newfoundland”. Here's one last one, from a European newspaper: “Canada, a steward of global biodiversity, authorizes oil and gas in marine protected areas”.
The minister recently appeared before the committee, and I asked him a question. He told me that oil drilling is prohibited in or near marine refuges. However, we see that the government is authorizing exploratory dilling to look for deposits. If the company finds deposts, the government removes the protection status of those targeted areas.
If Bill C‑73 as currently drafted were in force right now, would it prevent the federal government from promoting oil development on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and removing protections when oil deposits are found?