Mr. Chair, it is a great pleasure to be here tonight.
I thank the minister for the speech on the importance of resource development to Canada's economy and particularly on how we are proceeding while protecting the environment. He has made it crystal clear the very stark contrast of our approach versus the NDP, whose members, we would argue, have abandoned our Canadian workers with their anti-development rhetoric and anti-development stance.
I am fortunate to come from my home province of Saskatchewan where we have a very strong resource sector with oil, potash and uranium production. These jobs are crucial to the Saskatchewan economy, which has been incredibly strong over the last few years. They have been incredibly important to the national economy because we have been able to provide some of the stability that has gone toward carrying us through the crises of the last few years.
However, throughout my time as a member of Parliament, businesses, municipalities and people in my riding have told me that the development of our resources have been held hostage to an environmental review system that does not balance our needs.
Last year our government introduced important legislation in this regard called “responsible resource development”. Could the minister take a few minutes tonight to tell us in the House how this legislation balances the need to protect the environment, while also ensuring that we have a review system that is not cumbersome or inefficient?