Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I would thank the law clerk for that clarification. I just would like to address some of the arguments that I heard from the Minister. He said that a few other jurisdictions, or no other jurisdictions, at least perhaps in Canada, required financial security become mandatory. I don't think many other places in Canada have a Giant Mine in their backyard that is going to cost taxpayers well over a billion dollars.

This provision that's in the Commissioner's Land Act right now was carefully considered by a previous standing committee, and actually agreed to by a previous Minister based on the result of the experience from Giant Mine. Committee, previous standing committee, and a Minister actually agreed. It came to the floor of the House. It was voted on and approved. Now, this Cabinet wants to roll that back without any evidence that the current provision causes any problems. The current mandatory financial security has been in place for seven years. The Minister and his department could not provide any evidence that this is a problem. No evidence. The Minister says we don't want to send out the wrong message.

I think we want to send out a clear message. If you're going to come here and do things, you have to be able to pick up if you make a mess. That is the kind of message that I think we need to tell people. This is not about stopping business. This is about implementing the "polluter pays" principle. The best way to prevent public liabilities is to put in place mandatory financial security. That is what this is attempting to do. I would like to think that we have actually learned from the past and want to maintain the system that we have in place, based on the past experience from Giant Mine and other contaminated sites that have created public liabilities, and keep that system in place. I don't think that it is appropriate to roll back that protection for taxpayers or the environment, but that is what this Minister would like to do.

I encourage my colleagues to support this, and Mr. Chair, once again, I would ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.