Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a question there but I will take this opportunity to speak a bit further to some concerns I have about the environment.
After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has had to spend $14 billion so far in cleanup efforts. As well, $179 million have been spent on tourism promotions across the four gulf states, $82 million have been spent on seafood testing, and a $20 billion trust was established in 2010 for the claims and oil spill related costs.
The U.S. government recognized the need to strengthen the environmental approval process it uses for major projects and to put a halt to some projects where the risks were unknown as a result of the BP oil spill. Why would the Government of Canada go in the opposite direction and weaken our environmental oversight for major projects like pipelines that could damage sensitive wilderness areas and coastal waters when we see the cautionary tale in the Gulf of Mexico? Why would the government not protect Canadian interests?