Thanks, Mr. Chair. So the trigger is going to be set by regulation. I get that. That's the way this has been drafted. The benefits are going to be set by regulation, so there is nothing stopping a future Minister from requiring benefits right back to prospecting through the entire mining cycle. Those benefits could include requiring local hiring, spending, the sorts of things that we do now. They could actually involve setting penalties. You know, this is just far too broad, Mr. Chair. There is no certainty created by this.

What it looks like is the department, the Minister wants to obtain ultimate flexibility in defining this in the future, but you have to balance that off against the uncertainty that this is going to create. This has the potential to scare away investment because it is so broad, so vague, it could allow future Ministers to reach right back to the beginning of prospecting. You know, I've heard the intention is to build on socioeconomic agreements; great. That's now what this provision does.

Now, other parts of this section deal with the Indigenous government benefit agreements. That's great. There is a clear process for that. There is dispute resolution laid out. Those are going to be negotiated. There's a process laid out. It's tied to, right now, a production project, and I think we're going to talk more about that. There's a clear trigger. There is a process. There is nothing around any of that for these broad public benefits.

I'm sorry, the Minister and the department cannot have their cake and eat it, too. You've got to provide some level of clarity, certainty, here, around what this really means. The way this bill has been drafted, it doesn't do that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If the Minister would like to speak to this, I'd be happy to hear what he may have to say. Thank you, Mr. Chair.