Thank you very much for the question. It's one that certainly has been raised by a lot of people who are perhaps more affected by navigable waterways and streams and rivers in relation to developments than they are to the fish and the industry. But it's just as big, and probably more frustrating, a problem. Several of your colleagues, on all sides of the House, have raised that.
When we came into the department, we were also bothered by this red tape.
We've all heard the story. I heard it the first year I came here, and I still hear it. I hear the same example about the farmer who is trying to put in a culvert and six guys with guns appear to stop him. He had never seen a trout in his life. Now, whether that's true or not, it still exists. There have been frustrating stories.
We are responsible for fish and fish habitat. We're not responsible for anything else. If there are no fish or fish habitat being destroyed, we are not affected. What we've done is taken the guys with guns, our protection officers, and moved them to areas where they're needed. We brought in habitat people and developed plans, where we try to be aware of the area as quickly as we can. One phone call and we'll sometimes be able to answer the question of whether we are involved: “No. It's not a fish stream. There's no fish habitat.”
If there is, then sometimes we have a problem. We're not only governed by our own act; we're also governed by the Species At Risk Act and the environmental acts. So sometimes our hands are tied there. We were accused of holding up construction of a bridge because an eagle had a nest in the uncompleted section. It wasn't us. We're not responsible for eagles, but we get the blame.
I'll have the deputy discuss some of the things we have done recently. We have taken this very, very seriously. We've tried to cut the red tape and bureaucracy to get down to the point where developments can occur. However, sometimes you get people pushing an issue where we do have responsibilities. We're governed by the law and we have no choice.