Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing before us today, and also thank you to your staff members.
I can tell you, as a representative from western Canada, specifically British Columbia, that our region is very excited about this legislation. As you know, the Pacific gateway is a huge opportunity for Canada, as well as the other two gateways you mentioned.
There have been some stresses. There have been restrictions on the ability of the ports to do the job they've been mandated to do. This certainly frees them up to a much greater degree.
We had some witnesses before us an hour before you came. The suggestion was that there hasn't been enough consultation on this bill. There was concern that there hadn't been enough notice for them to provide their representatives with authority to speak. Yet I note that this piece of legislation goes back to 2002. There were extensive consultations going back that far.
Could you explain the consultative process that you and your staff went through to come up with the bill before us today?