Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I guess for the purposes of people watching these proceedings, it needs to be said that my amendment replaces one line here, but that one line is highly significant.
We worked hard in the environmental movement—I wasn't in the Green Party then—in the first of many overhauls of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to include the concept of “virtual elimination” so that substances that were extremely toxic on the list of toxic substances could be scheduled for virtual elimination.
That was a hard-won achievement, and in one fell swoop, in clause 12 of Bill S-5, there's a repeal of that virtual elimination process and the list. I don't think this is justified. I think it weakens the act, as I think overall the Liberal efforts on Bill S-5 weaken what was put in place in 1988 under Brian Mulroney.
This is just to say that my amendment restores the virtual elimination list from the acts of repeal and further clarifies how it can be used in future.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.