Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the parliamentary secretary. He has been up in the north. He has travelled in our territories, dealing with this file and the NWT devolution.
This is an important question. As I said in my speech, the Yukon was very proud of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act. We had nation-leading legislation. We were taking full advantage of that, with nine consecutive years of GDP growth and support in our mining industry.
What happened is that as changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act came into play, as the NWT devolution act moved forward, the Yukon started lagging behind. It was clear to industry. It was clear to investors. It was clear to the Yukon government. We went from having one of the best environmental review processes to one of the worst in the country, and it was starting to be noticed in our economic development and our opportunities moving forward.
All we are asking is that we have parity, equality, so that the Yukon stands a fighting chance in a competitive market, and at the same time ensures environmental integrity and socio-economic integrity. I think we have achieved that with this bill. We look forward to continuing talking and working with Yukoners, to make it the best piece of legislation that we can.