Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Senator Carney, for appearing here and for your work--and not only on this bill. I know you've been determined over the years about this, but you have also ably represented British Columbians, of which I'm one, for the last many years, so I appreciate that.
Perhaps you can help me understand the chronology of this bill. As I understand it, if everything goes according to plan we will have royal assent. Built into the bill is a two-year period following royal consent before it comes into force. In the two years following the coming into force, a couple of things happen. The minister can receive petitions, but during those two years the ministers who have any lighthouses under their jurisdictions can make public a list of lighthouses that are surplus to their operational requirements. Then, according to the bill, there's also a five-year period from the coming into force, when the minister considers the petitions he's received. After that five-year period, he or she has 90 days to publish the decisions made on the petitions they have received.
As you see the bill, is it only surplus lighthouses that will be the subject of petitions? Is it only lighthouses that are the subject of petitions that will then become designated? Those are two kinds of related questions. In other words, does it require somebody who has an interest in actually taking over this lighthouse to make a petition for it? So will only lighthouses that are divested be designated heritage lighthouses, or is it built into the bill that some lighthouses that continue to be owned, maintained, and even perhaps operated by the federal government can be designated heritage lighthouses?