Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Simons, the committee knows about my own past history and involvement in Sudan. This conversation about Talisman always drives me a little bit crazy. I've been there a lot. It's no worse under the Chinese than it was under Talisman. I think that's a specious argument.
Without Bill C-300, what Talisman went through was gruelling. It went through a 7% share drop. It divided the country as a result of its own lack of expertise in knowing what to do in the country. It didn't heed the government's advice when the government of the day gave it advice not to do it.
My concern is not so much with what everybody is talking about here, but that within Canadian society we had teachers' federation groups delisting from Talisman. We had all sorts of other NGOs and we had companies speaking out against Talisman. It actually created a rift within Canadian society, and I am concerned about that.
We had no place to go to in the end to actually find out what was going on, to find out who was actually obeying the standard and who wasn't. I wonder, since you were part of the Harker report--and I'm aware of its work--if you could speak to that comment about its effects on Canada.