To be honest with you, I don't know if I'm capable of wading into the minutiae that goes on behind the scenes and the tos and fros on what we get onto a government agenda. I'm very grateful that it is on now. I'm very grateful to the honourable member and to his party and to other parties present for making it such priority. I will say that. It's with your help that we were able to get this done, so I'm very grateful for the moment.
Also, ingrained in every Newfoundlander and Labradorian is the fact that the offshore for Newfoundland and Labrador is jointly managed. Therefore, everything has to be not just vetted and agreed upon by Canada, but also by Newfoundland and Labrador and in Nova Scotia by Nova Scotia. There are three governments. It's not something that happens at the snap of your fingers. It is complex. It does take time. I think that's precisely why the original bill in 2014 included a five-year period to get it done.
There have been extensive engagements with stakeholders, particularly through the 2016 to 2018 period. In fact, there was an amendment to the transitional regulations in 2017 to address a number of administrative irritants then. That fix set us back some time. Then with COVID, nobody could ignore the impacts of the global pandemic. It forced us to change the way we do everything, including institutional processes like regulation, drafting and adapting to virtual working. All of that was challenging, but I am confident that the work that remains to be completed within the time that this bill would provide will get done and it will be passed.