Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here.
In my seven years in the House of Commons, I've seen quite a few ministers, and I think this is about the fourth or fifth natural resources minister I've had the privilege of questioning. Welcome to our committee.
One of the things we hear frequently about from industry is regulation, regulation, and more regulation. I see that in these supplemental estimates we're asking for another $13 million for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, a couple of million dollars more for the Northern Pipeline Agency, and also for the National Energy Board. That brings to mind how absolutely important regulation is, particularly in the natural resources sector. In these last few months we've been doing a study on natural resource issues in the north, particularly mining issues, and one of the things that has come up over and over again is regulatory frustrations. There have been some comments about the Major Projects Management Office. It seems to be expediting some things, but there have been other frustrations that have been expressed.
Looking at this new money and other moneys that have gone into regulatory issues and into making regulations work better, what specifically is your department and your ministry doing to assist our companies to work through the regulatory process in a more efficient and streamlined way?