Thank you, Chair.
First of all, I'll reiterate some facts in regard to Canada's regulatory standards. Studies were done by WorleyParsons in 2014 and 2016, so under the previous government and going into the new government that's sitting right now. It confirms that Canada maintains the highest level of environmental stringency in compliance and the highest level of regulatory transparency and life-cycle analysis in the world, and, notably, thorough consultation and collaboration with indigenous people. The exhaustive benchmarking of major oil and gas jurisdictions explicitly noted the incorporation of traditional knowledge as one of Canada's world-leading strengths in indigenous consultation on energy.
I'd like to quote from the report. It said that Canada was among the countries “consistently leading in a comparison of existing environmental policies, laws and regulatory systems.” That was in 2014.
In 2016, the report states:
The results of the current review re-emphasized that Canada's EA Processes are among the best in the world. Canada have [sic] state of the art guidelines for consultation, TK, and accumulative effects assessment. Canadian practitioners are among the leaders in the areas of indigenous involvement, and social and health impact assessment.
Now, I can read that, but I can also affirm it, being from Saskatchewan and having good relationships with first nations businesses and individuals who have been working within the mining field in Saskatchewan for a long time through Cameco up north, and BHP Billiton, with the new mine in Jansen, where first nations have considerable responsibilities. As well there is Mosaic, which is located in my hometown area. There have been amazing relationships built over time. As well, there have been no issues at all.
My first experience as a member of Parliament dealing with someone coming to my office to talk to me about their area was with a gentleman who was part of the Engineers Canada. It was right at the beginning of 2016. I was there to learn. I had to listen. I had a lot to learn. One of the first things he said was, “We do an amazing job of what we do.” I know that all of these very conscientious organizations like Cameco, BHP and Mosaic have hired individuals whose entire focus is to ensure, before they even begin a project, that they are in line as much as possible with what they know will be the expectations as they go forward to announce that project they are hoping to build.
I have to say that when I hear this and then when I hear quite honestly the rhetoric around how inefficiently and inappropriately our NEB has functioned, I find that quite disconcerting.
I would like a comment from you in regard to how effectively the NEB has worked on behalf of Canadians and the acknowledgement and recognition around the world for how we do things in this country.