Mr. Speaker, these regulations are very complex. In total they are nearly 300 pages. We did not want to take shortcuts, as I have told the hon. member at committee. We owe it to our workers. We owe them to keep them safe. We had to consider 173 domestic and international standards, which amounts to over 15,000 pages in total. They are developed to be consistent with the joint management framework that characterizes the Atlantic offshore.
Regulations must be vetted and agreed upon by Canada, by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and by the Government of Nova Scotia. It is three governments. It is not something that happens with the snap of someone's fingers. It is complex. It takes time and that is precisely why the original bill in 2014 included a five-year period to get it done.
There has been extensive engagement of stakeholders, particularly through 2016 to 2018. In fact, there was an amendment of the transitional regulations in 2017 to address a number of administrative irritants. That fix set us back some time.
Then there is COVID. No one can ignore the impacts of that, which we are confronting. It has forced us to change everything that we do. For institutional processes like regulation drafting, adapting to virtual working was challenging. It took time, but I am confident that the work that remains can be completed with the time that this bill will provide, if passed.
I am grateful for the thorough going-over that it has received at committee and I thank the hon. member for his work.