Thank you so much, Chair.
Mr. Rushton, I'll begin with you.
My grandfather was Joe MacNeil. He would have done anything to stay in Cape Breton, but when the coal gave out, that was it, they were gone. We grew up as expats in northern Ontario, where all the other Nova Scotians used to come on Saturday nights and sing the songs. There wasn't a single one of my relatives in New Waterford, Iona or Glace Bay who stayed. When the coal went, they all went.
I guess the issue here is that you have an economic opportunity, and we can sit and have it blocked by the Conservatives, or we can move ahead, but the facts are the facts. The change is coming.
How important is it that we move with speed and get this through the House of Commons, so that you can do what you need to do to ensure economic diversity in Nova Scotia?