Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to use my time to ask Mr. Simard some questions.
Mr. Simard, thank you for joining us. I would first like to point out that you said that Bill C-38 violates the non-regression principle in terms of environmental protection. I would like you to provide us with more information about that.
It is said that Bill C-38 will enable the federal government to delegate environmental assessment responsibilities to the provinces, under the pretext that time delays are too long or that there is duplication of work. However, yesterday, the commissioner said that the delays were due to a lack of coordination between departmental agencies and that an agency may exempt the same designated project because it no longer has enough time to assess it.
As a result, the number of assessments could go from 6,000 to 30 per year. How could that affect the Great Lakes or the Gulf of St. Lawrence?