Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. The motion is on the floor and has been distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. For those who are not acronym-savvy, SLAPP stands for "strategic litigation against public participation," and this is the use of the courts, essentially, to silence criticism or public advocacy of a project or a policy or something that a private interest does not want to be criticized about. A number of Legislatures are considering similar legislation. The British Columbia Legislature has since passed an anti-SLAPP bill, and it received all-party support in their Legislature.

This is a really important issue. It is imperative that we protect the public's interest to be able to raise differences of opinion without intimidation from those with the means to take SLAPP actions against members of the public. I strongly support this recommendation. It does not flow directly from the bill itself, but, during our consultations, it became very imperative to the public and the nature of this bill around ensuring rights to citizens to get the government to look into problems in the environment. It is consistent with the idea that there should not be obstacles to the public raising concerns and raising their voices when they see something wrong in their community, so I think this is a very important and worthy initiative of our successor Assembly, and I hope to see this legislation come forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Next, we have Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Actually, I do not have any comments, but I do support the motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Vanthuyne.