Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member raised the northern gateway pipeline, because it is part of why the Trans Mountain expansion is so crucial right now. The Conservatives approved the northern gateway pipeline, which was the only new opportunity to tidewater to export to the Asia Pacific. After the Supreme Court ruling and the election the Liberals could have extended the number of months and scope for consultation, as they actually did with the Trans Mountain expansion. Instead, for the first time in Canadian history, the Prime Minister overruled an expert independent recommendation by the regulator. He stopped it in its tracks. He killed two billion dollars' worth of equity partnerships for 31 first nations and the hope for their communities' futures, the social benefits and opportunities that the pipeline would have provided to them and also to the energy sector overall by diversifying market access.
What is very concerning is what the chief of the Peters First Nation is saying, that pro-natural resources indigenous communities' voices are being lost. The Trans Mountain expansion is supported by the vast majority of indigenous communities, and we should listen to them. They have been consulted. They deserve to be consulted. The crown has a duty to consult. However, the attacks against indigenous people pursuing their own futures with resource development have to stop.