Jim Carr

[Natural Resources, November 29th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House understand that energy workers and the natural resource sector represent about 20% of Canada's economy. We know how important they have been, and how important they continue to be.

The member also knows that on January 27, the government announced a set of principles that would govern those projects that were currently under review. At that time, we made commitments, and we established principles and timelines. We have respected the principles and we will respect the timelines.

[Natural Resources, November 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. Canadians want an environmental assessment process that they trust. That is why the government has established a country-wide survey of Canadians on the Environmental Assessment Act, on the Fisheries Act, on the Navigable Waters Act, and on the National Energy Board. All of those results will come back to the government in late March and we will have a long-range plan of environmental assessment.

I hope the member is not suggesting the government should tell the National Energy Board chair who should sit on what panels.

[Natural Resources, November 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have been engaged in meaningful consultation with indigenous people on all of the major energy projects that are currently under review. Unfortunately, the former government was insufficient in its consultation with the very people that the member just referenced, so much so that the Federal Court of Appeal quashed the application.

Therefore, we are responsible for a new and more meaningful way of discussing these projects with indigenous people, and we will be loyal to the timetables that we have announced.

[Natural Resources, November 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we did commit to the people of Canada that all of those projects that were under review would be subject to interim principles and timetables and deadlines.

From January 27, we have been respectful of all of those deadlines and all of those timetables, as we will continue to be.

[Natural Resources, November 24th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we could talk about the action of the Harper Conservative government. Let us talk about the number of kilometres of pipeline that were built to oceans during that government's 10 years. The number is zero.

If the hon. member thinks that it makes good public policy to try to repeat that failure, we think we have a better way. We have offered the people of Canada ample opportunity to offer their views. We have a process. We have certainty of deadlines. We have a much better process than the one we inherited.

[Natural Resources, November 24th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have not been silent. We have been speaking from the moment this government came to power about the importance of developing our credible regulatory process and giving proponents of these projects some certainty.

In the case of all of the projects that the hon. member has mentioned, there are deadlines and processes. Literally tens of thousands of Canadians have offered their points of view, and we are very pleased to listen to all of them.

[Natural Resources, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, if those members really want to refer to what the Federal Court of Appeal said in the northern gateway case, it said that the Harper government had insufficiently consulted indigenous peoples. That was the reason. It was not because of the proponent, not because of the regulator but because of her government. Canadians deserve a better process, and that is what we are giving them.

[Natural Resources, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the member one of his favourite questions. How many kilometres of pipeline did his government build to export markets? The answer is zero. The reason the answer is zero is because the people of Canada lost credibility in the process.

In order to rebuild that credibility, we have established a set of rules that will govern those projects currently under review that will lead to long-term reform of the National Energy Board, which is in Canada's interests.

[Natural Resources, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we have shown certainty where before there was only uncertainty. We have a very specific set of timelines that are predictable. They are predictable to proponents. They are predictable for those who want to offer their opinion on all of these projects.

The member has mentioned four or five projects. What they share is that there is predictability, there is a timeline, and there is a process, none of which was the case when we took power.

[Natural Resources, November 23rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we announced in January a new set of interim principles that would govern those projects that were currently under review. As part of those principles there was extensive consultation. In fact, there was a ministerial panel that worked up and down the coast. As a matter of fact, on the website there were more than 35,000 people who expressed themselves. That seems to me to be a much better process than the one we inherited from the previous government.