Madam Chair, I am concerned by the minister's unwillingness or lack of knowledge on this file. He asked me to refer to the Minister of the Environment. The Minister of the Environment has no purview over this whatsoever. It is under his watch and the Minister of Indian Affairs. That is it.
The requirement by the NEB to have these so-called stringent rules that the minister spoke of, in 2005, NEB Chair Caron said “to contribute to an innovation and economic growth and to reduce the administrative burden on business”.
At the Nova Scotia level, the chair there said:
And we are considering allowing new technology [to reduce costs] for exploration. This might require regulatory changes. We’re looking into that now. Flexible. Flexible. Flexible.
Does the minister feel that the NEB is in any conflict of interest whatsoever?