Thank you, Mr. Chair, for having me here.
As I'm sure you all know, in Powell River, in the riding that I represent, two hydroelectric dams were built over 100 years ago to provide power to the local pulp mill and create thousands of good-paying jobs. Just over 10 years ago, that mill fell into financial trouble and was forced to sell the dams as a distressed asset to Bermuda-based Brookfield Renewable, a company that has since applied to the Canada Energy Regulator—to you—for an unprecedented 30-year export permit to send this electricity directly to the United States, with almost no benefits to the people who live in Powell River, my province of British Columbia or our country. It is doing this at a time, I might add, of aggressive and totally unjustified U.S. trade action against us.
On December 18, the Canada Energy Regulator made a recommendation to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources to reject this electricity export permit request from Brookfield, operating under PREI, or Powell River Energy Inc., and to instead proceed with a full licensing process, which would allow for further inquiry, public hearings and any other conditions that the commission sees fit.
First of all, I'd like to applaud that decision you made. I'm hoping you can confirm whether the minister has accepted that recommendation and whether a full licensing process is now in place.