Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to welcome Mr. Bergeron. As my colleague Wayne Marston said before, it's good to be able to have a joinder of issues on these matters in the witness testimony, so in that context I'd like to go back to what my colleague David Sweet was saying. He referred to some testimony of Professor Gordon. You said you had read the testimony, and I appreciate that.
I just want to reference an excerpt from that testimony. You've touched on some of this, but with regard to the specifics, this is what Professor Gordon said. Then I'd like you, if you can, to react to those comments in this joinder of issues approach. His comments were as follows:
I have met a number of Hondurans, for example, who for more than a decade have been involved in the struggle against Goldcorp, as well as activists with the Siria Valley environmental defence committee who blamed Goldcorp for polluting the local water system and poisoning inhabitants of the valley. They point to deforestation, diversion of natural waterways, starving of poor small farmers of scarce water resources, and food security for the small farmers in the region.
I'd like you to respond to that, because that testimony is on the record, and I felt you should have an opportunity to respond to that.