Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for her presentation. I hope she will forgive me for using this as a moment for a comment.
I have been subjected to speeches on Bill C-38. A number of claims have been made by government members. Having read the bill, a number of the things that have been said are simply not in the legislation.
For example, it is not required in the legislation that the Minister of the Environment be satisfied the provincial process is equivalent before a substitution occurs. The language is completely discretionary, and merely says the minister must decide it is an appropriate substitution. “Appropriate” is not defined. Then there is a mandatory duty on the federal minister to turn the project over to a province if the province requests it.
Tanker safety regulations are not put forward anywhere in Bill C-38. That may be something they intend to do, but it is certainly not in Bill C-38.
Bill C-38 is not a budget bill, it is the decimation of environmental laws.
Hélène LeBlanc: Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to have this opportunity to respond to the comments made by my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands.
The bill certainly does cover a lot of ground. My colleague mentioned just one of the issues that deserves our attention. I would like to reiterate my belief that the Standing Committee on Environment should thoroughly study the section of the bill relating to its mandate, just as everything I talked about should be studied by the Standing Committee on Industry.