Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Labonté, as you know, Canada released a list of critical minerals last March. The critical minerals list was created in collaboration with exploration, mining and manufacturing industries and through extensive consultation with the provinces and territories over a period of several months. The list certainly provides greater certainty and predictability to industry, trading partners and investors about what Canada has to offer.
For example, Canada is the only western nation that has an abundance of cobalt, graphite, lithium and nickel, metals that are essential in creating the batteries for electric vehicles of the future. Of course, minerals that can be produced in Canada are essential to domestic industry and security and have the potential to support secure and resilient supply chains to meet global demands.
Can you tell us more about the essential mining strategy that the government is currently developing?