Mr. Chair, our colleague raises a good question. If we conclude on this, it's an instructive moment.

One of the things that we've heard about projects is that they are big and small. This comes back to Mr. Barsalou-Duval's question around smaller projects that may have provincial or municipal approvals. The ability for the government to say that it has signed co-operation agreements with the provinces and territories to have one project and one review is not about lowering everybody's standards to the lowest common denominator. It's about eliminating duplication and overlap. Of course, nothing in this legislation affects the jurisdiction of provinces, but it would allow proponents to benefit, again, from a basic principle that makes economic sense. We think it can make environmental sense, as well, in terms of allowing them to have the certainty that when a project is submitted, there is a coherent and non-duplicative review process.

The Prime Minister's instructions to us have been clear. Within six months, he wants us to have co-operation agreements with all the provinces and territories and, frankly, to build on many of the best practices. The provinces and territories have been doing great work in this regard for a long time. If there's a way to ensure there are comparable federal standards to a province doing the work, or vice versa, what an opportunity to assist proponents in arriving at a more coherent and cost-effective process.

What's interesting is that improving that system will apply to projects big and small, so it's not only about a designated project in the national interest. Done properly, this will assist, we hope, many much smaller projects going through the appropriate scrutiny and review but in a way that's much more cost-effective and much more effective in terms of time.

Dominic LeBlanc

$486,855.00