Thank you.
Mr. Burgess, the world of environmental assessment is a very Byzantine and dense world. It's very hard. I remember when CEAA was promulgated, so I've been following these issues for some time. It's just so difficult to get a grip on it; thank you for being here and giving us a rundown of how the system works.
Let me ask you a couple of basic questions that are probably very simplistic.
Based on what you've said, my understanding is that the office cannot stop a project. It basically does an assessment; based on the assessment, it can propose mitigation measures to make the project less damaging to the environment.
Who can really stop the process? I would assume it would be the government, the cabinet, and the ministers involved, such as the fisheries minister or another minister. I suppose they can refuse to give a permit for a particular project.
How does the process work? Do they employ objective measures, or do they receive your report and then look at it, judge the economic and environmental trade-offs, and make almost a value judgment on whether the project should go ahead or not?