Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Minister and officials, for being here today.
Minister, I just want to clarify the record on the northern gateway.
You've said multiple times this fall that the court quashed the northern gateway pipeline. In fact, recently in an interview, you said that “any intelligent person” would know that the court quashed the northern gateway.
Let me just read from that court ruling. The court said, “remit the matter back to the Governor in Council for a prompt redetermination”. The Governor in Council, of course, being the Prime Minister and the cabinet. The court did not kill this pipeline. It gave your government the chance to redo consultations.
On November 29, 2016, the Prime Minister personally said the Government of Canada “has directed the National Energy Board to dismiss” the application of the northern gateway pipeline.
The Liberal cabinet order says, “the Governor General in Council”—that being the cabinet, including you—“on the recommendation of the Minister of Natural Resources...directs the Board to dismiss Northern Gateway Pipelines Limited Partnership's application”.
Your own personal website says you “are fulfilling our environmental responsibilities by rejecting the Northern Gateway proposal and imposing a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic along British Columbia's north coast”.
Will you tell Albertans why you vetoed the northern gateway pipeline, which would have allowed access to the Asia-Pacific?