Mr. Speaker, the government naturally wants to have thorough environmental examinations. We want to make sure public involvement is at the appropriate level and we want to make sure we improve the management of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. It is for these reasons that I have decided to appeal the Sunpine decision. If left unappealed, the decision would undermine the discretion of federal departments to determine the scope of environmental assessments which is a very important part of CEAA.
In the House of Commons on October 2nd, 1998. See this statement in context.