Mr. Speaker, again I sat here listening to the rhetoric. What is important to the government is the continued subsidy of the oil and gas sector and ensuring the continuance of the contracts to supply our resources to the United States.
Time after time in the House, I have heard the government say that it wants to mirror U.S. law and policy on energy and the environment, but let us consider the disaster in the gulf and the potential for far greater disaster in our Arctic. As the disaster in the gulf was occurring, our National Energy Board was about to hear an application to relax the requirement for a relief well. In this case, it would take three years to do a relief well and not two or three months, as was the case in the gulf.
Will the minister commit to open up his review? Will he ensure public participation and ensure costs to the public so that others can bring in their own independent experts and legal counsel if necessary regarding a review of improving the regulatory regime and governance in this critical area?