Discussion · Government Orders
Mario Simard Bloc Québécois
“I oppose this bill. It hurts workers and does not help the country. It will also lead to expensive lawsuits against the government when oil and gas projects are rejected for environmental reasons.”
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. At the beginning of my speech, I asked who will benefit from this legislation. It is certainly not the workers. Worse still, as I have said, we experienced first-hand what happens when an oil and gas project is turned down. That is what happened in Quebec with GNL Québec. When the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement said no to GNL Québec, the company turned around and sued the Canadian government. It is not hard to imagine how much trouble a piece of legislation like this could lead to. Imagine how many lawsuits will be filed against the federal government if the Pacific link project is rejected on environmental grounds. This is all completely irrational.”
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right. At the beginning of my speech, I asked who will benefit from this legislation. It is certainly not the workers. Worse still, as I have said, we experienced first-hand what happens when an oil and gas project is turned down. That is what happened in Quebec with GNL Québec. When the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement said no to GNL Québec, the company turned around and sued the Canadian government. It is not hard to imagine how much trouble a piece of legislation like this could lead to. Imagine how many lawsuits will be filed against the federal government if the Pacific link project is rejected on environmental grounds. This is all completely irrational.