Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, witnesses, for being here.
The last time you were here we talked a little bit about the Ring of Fire, and you mentioned it again today. Since that time a minister for the Ring of Fire has been appointed. We also understand there's a 15-department secretariat to coordinate the Ring of Fire. Can you supply us, please, with a list of those 15 departments that are involved in the Ring of Fire?
Also, since you appeared here last, the government took three expert witnesses to court to try to prevent them from testifying. Of course, the court ruled in favour of the witnesses. So mining companies still aren't getting good leadership for the Ring of Fire.
We really want to support this project. We want it to go forward, because it's going to create a lot of jobs. When we heard testimony in the committee when we studied the Ring of Fire, the first nations that came to testify were quite explicit that they really support the Ring of Fire and they want to work with the government and the companies. The companies said, “Tell us what the rules are and we will follow the rules”, but we're not getting this kind of leadership.
Would you agree that we need a better approach to the Ring of Fire?