Mr. Sullivan, regarding your question on the lightweighting of rail vehicles, I can tell you that in terms of NRC's role and how we fit within the innovation chain within the government framework, my technology centre has been operating as a full cost recovery organization for 16 years. Typically, our role has been to work with Transport Canada as a trusted technology partner in assisting that department in moving forward a number of policy areas where they feel that they can improve safety for public transportation systems in Canada and, as well, that they can advance other initiatives related to S and T priorities in Canada.
Therefore, although we do participate with Transport Canada to the best of our ability on such meetings, frameworks, or arrangements—such as the Railway Research Advisory Board, for example, where we understand what the industry needs are and we also understand where policy is going—in the end our role tends to be more in the realm of an enabler of technology. We go to great pains to identify different approaches, options, and analyses. As well, we have the engineering know-how to be able to bring solutions into what we would call a TRL 5 or TRL 6 level, a technology readiness level, which is a protocol that is widely used in R and D circles.
However, typically we do not get ourselves involved in working to influence policy. That's not a role that we see ourselves playing, because we have to continue to preserve ourselves as a trusted technology partner that brings scientific and engineering rigour to the forefront. We purposely stay out of the policy domain.