Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses, in person and by video conference.
Mr. Post, it was interesting to hear you talk about how you have maintained things. It puts a burden on your budget, I guess, to continue maintaining something that you've excavated or dug a ditch to prevent flooding upstream somewhere, perhaps for people who live in your town. To me, by doing it you're probably saving money in the long run, because you're not going in and being challenged by a resident to sue the town or whatever because of the flooding taking place.
We had a similar situation, I guess, speaking as a former councillor and mayor of my hometown, with a very slow-moving river. Every time there was a good heavy rain, there would be flooding. We tried to get permission. It seemed like it was going on and on and on, until we found out through some source that with a flooding issue, next time you're in fear of a flood, go out to the river with your excavator and fix it. You don't need permission to do it. We did exactly that, and to my knowledge, we didn't get in any trouble. DFO probably came up afterwards and looked at it.
Sometimes in an emergency situation, it's probably easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. I'd like you to comment on how it works in your municipality and on your dealings with DFO.