Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to be here. I would also like to echo the earlier land acknowledgement.
As mentioned, I'm Margareta Dovgal, the managing director of Resource Works Society. We are a B.C.-based non-profit and we advocate the continued recognition of Canada's economically productive, responsible natural resource industries, including mining, forestry, and oil and gas. We also organize the annual Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase, an event that brings together industry leaders and indigenous partners to discuss pathways to economic reconciliation. We'll be returning in June to Vancouver for our fifth year, so hopefully we'll see people there.
To delve into some of the pressing issues before us today that hinder Canada's ability to meaningfully respond to opportunities arising from the North American energy transformation, I wanted to touch on a couple of things.
Before I do that, I just want to say that the choices that we make here on energy and industrial policy, including right here in Ottawa, have enduring effects impacting not only workers in natural resource and clean technology industries but also the quality of life for all Canadians. Our overall standard of living does continue to rely on the production and export of in-demand commodities to global markets.
What the world seeks to buy is definitely shifting gradually, but we're actually well positioned for that shift. We have the right mix of raw materials, a skilled and trained workforce, a mature regulatory environment, and a wealth of innovation expertise and excellence within industries like natural resources. We can't lose sight of the value of what Canada can do for the world and our allies through our natural resources.
One major challenge that we observe at Resource Works is the growing perception that federal recognition and support for natural resource development as a key driver of this economic well-being has declined in recent years. Continued investment in natural resource development has been, and continues to be, a cornerstone of our economy, but we're having issues, as Greg mentioned, with retaining and attracting investment to enable that job creation to take place. Right now, we're in a world that's filled with economic and geopolitical uncertainties and we urgently need investor certainty, which can only be achieved through strong, positive signals from all levels of government.
Another matter is the creation of productive jobs in Canada. Resource-based manufacturing is something we think and talk about quite a bit at Resource Works. It's our strength here in Canada and has immense promise for the future, but without a secure and reliable supply of raw materials grounded in timely mining approvals and permitting, our manufacturing capacity will continue to suffer and potentially decline.
Consider, for example, lithium iron phosphate batteries. Recent decisions by auto manufacturers to direct investment to Canada relied on a combination of factors, including proximity to U.S. markets and our ability to source these critical minerals, like phosphate. Without a secure and reliable supply, that anticipated growth of EV manufacturing cannot be realized.
Permitting issues represent a significant bottleneck here, with timelines for many types of new mine development estimated at 10 to 15 years, far longer than the global standard and what we should be striving for. Urgent action is needed to streamline and simplify these processes to provide clarity for investors, both from Canada and abroad.
Another issue is the polarized and politicized decision-making process. Co-operation between federal and provincial governments is not just a good idea; it's also essential if we want to move forward. A lack of alignment not only hampers progress but also results in policy measures that actually work at cross-purposes with each other. Valuable time and political capital are being spent negotiating these conflicts rather than responding in a unified, coordinated manner to the changes afoot globally and with our greatest trading partner, the United States.
If projects make business sense and they advance objectives shared with our allies, such as the U.S., the government's role should be to ensure that regulations are conducive to attracting that investment and that the joint responsibilities and accountabilities between federal and provincial governments are clearly defined and can be actioned.
In order to align all of these potential benefits of a coordinated North American energy transformation, it's imperative that we strengthen our ties with the United States, but Canada also needs to be proactive in diversifying its trade and export products to seize global opportunities in the clean energy market. We see examples like liquefied natural gas, LNG, off the coast of British Columbia and in other jurisdictions in the country. We have taken many years to get close to completion on our first major export project, LNG Canada, and that represents the largest private sector investment in Canadian history.
In the same period of time, other competitor jurisdictions, like Australia and Qatar, have made sizable leaps forward, so that's a sobering reminder that we need to improve the speed at which we bring these projects online.
By providing clarity certainty to attract capital through competitive regulations and by providing support for technology development, Canada can successfully transition to a clean energy economy and capitalize on the opportunities presented by the North American energy transformation.
Thank you for your attention. I look forward to questions and further discussion on these topics.