Thank you very much.
My thanks to all the witnesses, and in particular to Mr. Penner. You were coming up with so many good ideas so quickly I was having trouble writing them all down. I know I have a written copy of your report, and I thank you for that.
Also, I want to welcome Ms. Minshall from the Grand River Conservation Authority to our committee today. I am very proud of and pleased with the work the GRCA has done in my backyard. I'm a regular user of the trails and have canoed the Grand, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work you do.
I'd like to start with that, because among other things I know our current population in this area of the Grand River is about 960,000 people and that we expect it will grow to about 1.4 million people over the next 30 years. I'm going to take a guess that in the last 30 years, it has probably doubled.
Could you give us some insight into what you would say have been the greatest keys to success for the Grand River Conservation Authority in preserving and restoring conservation in such a growing and enlarging urban area? What has enabled you to be so successful, and what do you think is most important in the future? Urban areas are expanding all across Canada, and I think they could learn from your experiences.