First of all, I would like to thank you both for being here today.
Minister, I know your schedule certainly is very active, and we really do appreciate the time you've spent to be here with us today.
My question is related to the fact that our government was elected on the belief that the environment and the economy must be balanced. We know that developing our resources and getting them to market benefits us all, creating jobs, spurring innovation, and ensuring that we have full value of our energy products.
To support this, and build Canadians' confidence in the environmental regulatory process, our government has initiated a review of the environmental process and a full modernization of the National Energy Board. We've established an interim strategy to give greater certainty and public transparency to the review of the project, but Canadians want to make sure that we will still be able to fulfill our environmental responsibilities, that we can still meet our climate change commitments, that we protect wildlife, and that we are basing decisions on science and evidence. They also want to know that our indigenous peoples will share in the benefit of resource development and be consulted throughout the process.
Last week, our government announced several important decisions that will have a significant impact across this country. You played a critical role in those decisions. They will create more good, middle-class jobs while protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
Minister, please give your thoughts to the committee on the steps being taken to balance the protection of the environment with finding new markets for our resources, ensuring that they really work hand in hand.