Thank you very much for that. I certainly appreciate it.
It's very important. I was a tradesperson before politics, so I know how many people left the province within my own trade, and now they're looking to come back.
On the speed of this, I'll be quite honest. There are people in the sector who have been watching this committee over the last couple of weeks. There are probably people who have put projects on hold along the strait in Cape Breton to see how things are going today.
You asked how important this is. Passing this bill is very important for the economy in Nova Scotia. There are people from all over the world, stakeholders who are coming to Nova Scotia and looking at the wind regimes that we have in Nova Scotia and the ability and expertise that we have in offshore to make this home and to help Nova Scotia grow. Our population is growing by great numbers for the first time in many years.
People are looking at Nova Scotia as a leader in many things, but something we're very proud about is that Nova Scotia is being looked at as an opportunity for green jobs and a green economy. In years to come, I think people are going to look back at this. Once this gets moving along, once Bill C-49 is passed, people will look at this decades from now and say, “Here was a move that made Nova Scotia a capital of renewable energy in the world.”