Madam Speaker, first of all, I would like to say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.
Since this is the first opportunity I have had to address the House other than in question period, I would like to take a moment to thank the voters in Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques for putting their trust in me for the second time. It is a privilege for me to represent them in the House. There is a lot of work to be done.
When the last session of Parliament ended, I was the official opposition critic for energy and natural resources. Obviously, the issue of pipelines, and energy east in particular, was very important. It was a major concern for me. This issue generated a lot of debate across the country, but particularly in Quebec. I took the issue very seriously because it affects me directly as an MP. The route proposed for the pipeline then and now goes through Témiscouata in my riding to get to New Brunswick. I had the opportunity to speak to many residents, mayors, and regional elected officials regarding their completely legitimate concerns about the project.
As the NDP's energy and natural resources critic, I undertook a consultation. I held some information sessions in my riding, across the Lower St. Lawrence, the region I represent, and across Quebec. It is important to note that every resident from a given municipality was invited to come hear about the project and to learn about different aspects of it. For example, the economic aspect is important and is often underestimated. In Quebec, we often forget that the natural resource, gas, and oil industry is important not only to the west, but also to Quebec. This was an opportunity to inform people who had an interest in the pipeline about the economic spinoffs of the project, not just in terms of investments, but also in terms of jobs. My consultations were as neutral as possible, to give residents the facts about the various studies that have been conducted on this topic, including a study carried out by the Conference Board of Canada and the Deloitte report. The consultation also included other studies from organizations that did not necessary support the project. I presented all of this, and I shared my comments as an economist.
We also had a legal component in order to inform the public about the nature of the National Energy Board and how it works. Again, this is a little-known organization in Quebec because we are not used to having transboundary pipeline projects that come under the responsibility of the NEB. There was a lawyer on hand to talk about the process in an informative way.
Finally, we discussed some important environmental aspects that are the main cause for concern when it comes to energy east, as they are for any pipeline project we discuss in Quebec. This is about the potential impact on landowners, more specifically farmers who might end up with a pipeline traversing their fields. This is about the repercussions for the waterways and the watersheds. We shared the information as objectively as possible with residents of the municipalities where we had the chance the speak. Some of those municipalities were in my riding and in the Lower St. Lawrence. In fact, there were eight in all. I was able to speak to people in the municipalities that, under the current plan, would be crossed by the pipeline. People in Yamachiche, Lanoraie, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Terrebonne, and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville had concerns and they wanted to hear about these issues.
As I said, these are legitimate concerns and they have to be part of the public debate. My problem with the motion is that it asks us to take a position and support the project before it ever undergoes a process of assessment and legitimate consultations whose objectives would include providing important information to the government so that it can make an informed decision.
That is why, this morning, my colleague and our House leader, the member for Burnaby North—Seymour, tried to amend the Conservative motion to include an element stating that the House should express its view that pipeline reviews must be credible, thorough, open, and free from political interference. The reason why this is so important is that one of the primary obstacles to this project in particular and others across the country is the lack of credibility; people do not trust the process or the National Energy Board.
It is extremely difficult to get support for a project and allow it to move forward without social licence and the knowledge that the people who will be affected by such a major piece of infrastructure are okay with it. Much of the blame lies with the Conservatives because they watered the process down and dismantled it to the point that people lack confidence in the National Energy Board and the process.
As for the consultation process, the Conservative government limited the consultation period to 15 months. For such an important project that runs from Alberta to New Brunswick and crosses thousands of waterways, the ramifications are absolutely endless, and yet a single body was asked to examine the entire issue in just 15 months before making a recommendation to the government. That is extremely problematic.
Another thing that is problematic is the restrictions imposed by the previous government, once again, on identifying people who can come forward and express their concerns or their opinion about this project to the National Energy Board, or NEB. In the case of the energy east project, when the NEB opened its doors and invited people to register for hearings, nearly 3,000 requests were received, but over 90% of them were rejected. For a consultation process that is supposed to be transparent and open to all Canadians, the fact that 90% of those who applied will not be able to submit a brief or even appear before the NEB is extremely problematic with respect to social licence.
It is the same problem with environmental assessments. Who was responsible for environmental assessments before the Conservative government made changes in the last Parliament? It was Environment Canada in co-operation with the provincial environment departments involved in the project.
Today, the National Energy Board is required to consult all of the people affected by such a long pipeline and conduct the environmental assessment. After speaking with many stakeholders, not only in my region, but also in the rest of Quebec and Canada, I can say that people have major doubts about whether the National Energy Board is competent and credible enough to work on the environmental assessment of these projects specifically. There was a reason why these two processes were separate. Each process required a different type of expertise. Now, the same organization is responsible for analyzing the entire file.
Obviously, I will not go back over what we learned yesterday about the report of the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, who raised serious questions about the National Energy Board's ability to ensure that the conditions it imposes on such projects are met.
I could go on about that for a long time. I am very familiar with the topic. I will let my colleague have the chance to speak, but I would like to say that, as an economist, I fully understand the economic importance of this project. I understand that it is important not only for Alberta and the western provinces, but also for Quebec and the entire country. However, although it is important to look at the economic aspects of a major project such as this, if we want to gain Canadians' trust, we also need to consider the environmental and legal aspects. Unfortunately, they have not really been discussed in this debate.