Thanks, Chair.
Thanks, Minister, for being here, and thanks to your officials for giving their time to us today too.
Minister, I have a question for you about the $12.8 million allotted in these estimates “to implement the Impact Assessment Act”. I think it's helpful for Canadians to know the context, which is, of course, that your government froze project assessments as far back as 2016, delayed and then implemented interim measures and applied some arbitrary standards to certain proposals that weren't applied to others. Then, of course, it took three years until Bill C-69 was imposed, despite the near-universal opposition from nine out of 10 premiers, indigenous communities and entrepreneurs, municipalities and private sector proponents that warned that it would be a barrier to development.
Of course, the first major decision wasn't made under the new assessment until a year and a half ago. It's very obvious, despite the periodic positive words, that the actual outcomes of your regulatory changes to the policy framework are killing billions of dollars of investment projects and jobs, and driving them into other competitive jurisdictions.
The consequences and the costs to Canadians are real. For example, your government has had 18 LNG export terminals proposed in the time that you've been in office, and only three of those have been approved. Of course, zero have been built, while the U.S. has built seven and permitted 20 more in the exact same time frame. Germany permitted and got a terminal up and running and built in 194 days.
You talk passionately about a critical mineral strategy, but your own documents show that critical mineral mines won't be operating or producing in Canada for 25 years. There is the same challenge with your aspirations around electrification.
I just wondered if you could speak specifically about what that $12.8 million will do. What are your specific outcomes for implementing the act that you have imposed?