Thank you, Chair.
I think I have substantially foreshadowed this. This is designed to address the concern about organizations having to potentially guess where the law applies. It says that if organizations ask the government whether they need an authorization in a particular case, the government has to tell them. There's a common law principle of officially induced error, which would effectively mean that if the government told someone they didn't need to apply, they would not be prosecuted if they did not apply. It provides substantial protection for organizations. It provides them with the means of getting information.
It was pointed out earlier that this puts an onus on the organizations to ask the government the question. That's true. All other things being equal, it would be slightly easier if they could just look online. This provides a greater degree of certainty, and it's not that onerous, I think.
Hopefully, we'll be able to develop a process whereby it's not too onerous, and organizations can say at a very simple level, “We plan on doing X in Y region. Do we need to apply or not?” The government will tell them yes or no, and then either they'll be able to make the application, knowing they had to make the application, or they'll be free and clear to proceed.
This, I think, addresses all of the issues around requirements to list applicable places or organizations. It's all designed with the objective of giving the organizations certainty. This is what gives organizations certainty. I think it cleans up a significant problem with the bill, and I think it does so on a basis that is acceptable to the government and, therefore, will not lead to further delays.
It's a reality that this bill is not perfect, but if we tried to amend it in ways that were fundamentally unacceptable to the government, they would just not call it going forward. I think the Conservatives have tried to play a reasonable role in finding compromises that work, and I think this amendment achieves that.