Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. Your expert testimony is valued by this committee.
I want to start with Ms. Morton.
Ms. Morton, you mentioned the Cohen commission and the Broughton Archipelago. The Cohen commission has 75 recommendations. Recommendations 18 and 19 clearly state that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans should prohibit net-pen salmon farming in the Discovery Islands by September 30, 2020—that's this year, next month—unless the minister is “satisfied that such farms pose at most a minimal risk of serious harm to the health of migrating Fraser River sockeye salmon.”
In your opening remarks this morning, you said that it's not possible for the minister to make that decision. Could you expand on why the minister will not be able to make that decision?