Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I would like to begin by moving an amendment to my colleague's motion. The amendment is as follows:
That the committee express its disappointment with the regulatory environment created by this government that has led—
Here I would like to add:
—Sustainable Marine Energy to withdraw a tidal energy project that would have generated clean electricity from the Bay of Fundy
I would like to cross out the words “tidal power projects pulling out of Canada”, and then the remainder of the motion stays as is.
The reason for this—and I believe my colleague Mr. Perkins spoke about this at length at a previous meeting—is that Sustainable Marine Energy was the particular project that was in the news and had the most potential for generating clean electricity, and it was the subject of, I believe, three years of back-and-forth between this company and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. That one incident really highlighted the trouble with the regulatory environment at DFO and in other government departments.
I believe the amendment is being circulated right now in both official languages. I think focusing on this one particular project, which highlights these problems, would be beneficial to improving the regulatory process. That's my amendment.