Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Thank you to our witnesses for appearing today.
I've heard other companies in the past say that they meet provincial and federal regulations, but in a lot of people's eyes that's not necessarily something to hang your hat on, because many of us don't think that provincial and federal regulations are strong enough or stringent enough. I know that my colleague Yvon Godin had raised concerns about this, as one of the representatives out there. I know a fair number of people were opposed, on both sides of the Baie-des-Chaleurs, on this issue.
I've always indicated that if everything you've said--you're a very good representative of your company, and I give you credit for that--is absolutely bang-on...and I'm not a scientist or a regulator in any way. I can't really say you're wrong or you're right. But to allay the fears of the people in the surrounding area--ignore what the federal government says about whether it requires a federal assessment or it doesn't--why wouldn't the company or you say today to the people, “Look, we know that technically we don't have to have a federal independent assessment, but to allay the fears of people in the surrounding communities, we will go ahead and do one?” Why wouldn't you do that to put to rest the fears?
Most people don't trust government. Most people don't trust big business. But they will trust information if it comes from an independent, non-biased third party. As my colleague Mr. Blais said, why wouldn't your company ask to do just that?