Madam Speaker, I would suggest to the member who just spoke that there is a lot in the bill that relies on trust between the federal government and the provincial government of British Columbia. I too met with Mr. Neufeld in Victoria to discuss his government's position on the bill.
Unfortunately, the history of federal-provincial relations, particularly when it deals with the energy industry, is not one that builds trust in the provinces. I could go through a long list but a couple of them come to my mind. One recent agreement was the federal-provincial agreement on the Kyoto accord on climate change in Regina. When the federal government went to Kyoto it totally abandoned the agreement it had made with the provinces and signed on to an agreement that was entirely different than what it had agreed on with the provinces.
Members can look at various phrases in the bill. I was part of some of the committee work and have read the transcripts of much more of the committee, and the same kind of rhetoric was flying around there about how the federal government would not act unilaterally and that it would consult the provinces.
Yes, if the government were wise it would do that. However, a lack of trust exists with the federal government because of its tendency to act unilaterally even though under the terms of the supreme court agreement dealing with the Hibernia project off the east coast of Canada, it is pretty clear that legally it has the right to act unilaterally and to move to ban the development of offshore development. I think the term was anything outside of the low water mark on Canada's coasts.
Given that the federal government has the legal right to do that and given its history and record, if I were a provincial minister or a premier it would be a cold day before I would accept as a fact that the government would negotiate, consult and act in the best interests of that province. I simply do not believe it.