Madam Speaker, I think what unites all Canadians is the idea of having a fair process in place. What unites all Canadians is the idea that when a major project is going through an approval process, Canadians can have their say and first nations can have their say and we will all be aware of the environmental problems that need to be taken into consideration and what the economic benefits are. All Canadians from coast to coast to coast believe in those principles.
What happened over the last 10 years is that we saw a complete gutting of that process of trust and of putting it in Canadians' hands and ensuring proper public consultation.
There is probably no more vivid an image of how badly the Conservatives destroyed the public consultation process than the hearings taking place in Burnaby, British Columbia, where in a room the size of this place, only the witness giving testimony is allowed to come in. The public is barred. The public is not allowed to hear that testimony. The public is completely thrown out of the process.
I think what we have is a crisis of confidence by the public. It was started by the former Conservative government, and we are asking the new Liberal government to take that into consideration and open it up so that the public can come in.
Sadly, last night, the window dressing that was announced does not allow for that public consultation. I hope that the Liberals will revise it and open up that important public consultation, because that is the key to our democracy.