Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. And Minister Merrifield, it's good to see you here.
I see that you did bring up the issue of the Navigable Waters Protection Act, Mr. Minister, so I guess I feel confident in talking about it now. As an issue, I must say that I'm a bit surprised and shocked to see it in the budget implementation bill. I fully expected that we would see an important bill like that back in front of this committee for debate and discussion, but that's not going to happen.
I see this as an abrogation of federal responsibility in this area. Certainly the provinces would be alongside for that, but that's simply not a reason to give up federal powers in this area. Some of the justification that's been given for this bill: it can already be accommodated within existing legislation, or the preliminary screening process that is available for small projects on small rivers is not an encumbrance to get projects forward. But this bill really just turns over the very important responsibility that the federal government has, or gives the minister the ability to turn over that responsibility.
I'd like you to perhaps take a minute or two to justify moving this bill ahead in the fashion that you have.