Environment committee  Process substitution refers to equivalency agreements, or equivalency with provincial legislation. The Canadian Hydropower Association will be here on the 15th of November and will be able to address that in greater detail. Most of their brief is focused on that.

Environment committee  And just to respond, my background comes from the environmental community. That's where I started my career. In my experience—both in my career in the environmental movement but now in the industry sector—we actually have quite a bit of common ground. It's a matter of finding pro

Environment committee  As Mr. Toner already pointed out, it's still very early in the process. We're not familiar with any particular projects that members have where that has been encountered, at this point.

Environment committee  Just to clarify, I think what Mr. Bennett was actually saying was that it was a regulatory agency, not industry. I just want to clarify that from an industry perspective. I don't believe that was the comment that was made. But perhaps my colleague could actually address, in mor

Environment committee  Just to add to that, the bottom line is that with $293 billion of investment required in the electricity sector over the next 20 years, with a streamlined process, with a more efficient process, that will help. But we have a large number of projects that are going to be required.

Environment committee  As we mentioned in our testimony, the regulations we're establishing, the timelines in particular, for comprehensive studies that were adopted in June were a good start. But we also feel that the proposed timeline itself is not strict enough and it doesn't take into account the w

Environment committee  I'll let Mr. Toner respond.

Environment committee  I would just add two other things we also firmly believe: duplication with the provincial assessment process should be avoided, and the benefits of the project--and not just the risks--should be included in the assessment.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  I'll let you answer this.

Environment committee  If I can add to that, I think the important point is that our industry has a licence to operate. So for us to build, we must seek the public's approval to do that, and if the public says no, then we need to look at other options or other places to proceed with projects.

Environment committee  If I may, I will again reiterate the point where the original intent of environmental assessment was not necessarily to halt or stop projects, but actually to ensure that environmental impacts were mitigated or removed.

Environment committee  If you can mitigate for those environmental impacts, that's what environmental assessment is supposed to look for. Then, ultimately, the proponents are to address those environmental impacts—

Environment committee  I'm looking to my colleague over here to answer that question. It's hundreds of thousands. Thank you, John. One point I do want to make on the cost side—it is important in our sector, and I think probably Ms. Jackson would echo this in the municipal waste water sector as well—

Environment committee  They're passed on with increased electricity rates.