Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I come from a mining region, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where social licence is particularly important. Years of mining development obviously left significant marks because the environmental laws were not strict enough. There was a lot of laxity, but the Quebec government has largely rectified this.
Bill C‑5 forces us to understand that a small coterie at the Privy Council can decide that a project is in the national interest and therefore justify circumventing a series of laws and regulations. Unfortunately, I see that many of these laws or regulations that can now be circumvented fall under your department, despite the best of intentions. In my opinion, the Government of Quebec should act as a bulwark—but the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement, or BAPE, also seems to be quite easy to circumvent under Bill C‑5.
So what safeguards do we have as citizens to ensure compliance with environmental laws? I agree with the exploration and development of strategic critical minerals. That is part of the solution and we want to contribute to it. On the other hand, the environmental aspect is, to me, fundamental. It's all well and good if everyone agrees on the principle of speeding up the process, but that shouldn't come at the expense of strong legislation. As far as I'm concerned, one would suffice—Quebec's legislation—but I get the impression that both federal and provincial legislation can now be circumvented. Is that correct?