Thank you, Chair.
Of course, operations of this kind, with spills—let’s call a spade a spade—like the one we’re discussing today, have significant health repercussions for neighbouring Indigenous nations. For example, we spoke earlier of a relative of Grand Chief Adam suffering from biliary cancer. The University of Alberta investigated the links between oil extraction and the health of people in the area between 1995 and 2006, and the findings are troubling.
To please my colleague Mrs. Goodridge, I’ll mention that, among the people who know where oil sands are located and who’ve seen them before, are the members of the Fort Chipewyan Indigenous Nation, who have asked for light to be shed on the matter.
Mr. Pushor, you began several of your sentences by talking about your role as a regulatory agency. You seem to take your role very seriously. Yet, as Mrs. Chatel aptly pointed out, the public perception is that, in many ways, you’re an industry regulatory agency that’s governed by and for the industry, and little else. You can agree or disagree, but that’s the perception of many people.
Do you think major regulatory reforms are needed so that you’re better able to do your job and the public has more confidence in you?