The federal government sat on the committee along with officials from other levels of government. It offered the committee its support—unconditional support—just as the other levels of government did. To my knowledge, the Minister of Natural Resources was in contact with Shell officials at various levels throughout the process. And, as I recall, at the end of the process on June 1, when two formal offers were made—one from Mr. Boles and one from another company—the Minister communicated in writing with senior management at Shell to say that he was very pleased with the outcome and let them know he was following developments.
So, Mr. Bouchard, in terms of what I needed to ensure our committee could do its work, I must say I enjoyed excellent cooperation not only from Ottawa, but from Montreal, Montreal East and Quebec.