Thank you, Chair.
Welcome, Minister.
Minister, recently, constituents in my riding from the Canadian Federation of University Women, the Nanaimo branch specifically, brought to me a series of petitions from constituents who are concerned about deep seabed mining.
We know that in the deep sea ecosystem, there are species of which we have yet to even have a glimmer of understanding. We also know the deep seabed regulates climate by sequestering carbon and that mining in our deep seabed would destroy sponges, corals and other important marine life and habitat. We heard in our most recent meeting from Susanna Fuller of Oceans North, who also talked about this issue.
Minister, I'm wondering if you could provide some clarity both to constituents in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith and to Canadians across the country who are concerned about deep seabed mining. We know that you made an announcement last summer that supported a moratorium on deep seabed mining, but a Canadian-registered company called The Metals Company recently announced that it plans to submit an application to mine the international seabed on June 27, 2025, which is rapidly approaching, even though there are no regulations in place to manage deep seabed mining.
I'm wondering if you and the Liberal government will commit to putting words into action to prevent this application from being approved.