Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses, particularly you, Mr. Sinclair. You've done your homework; you obviously understand the file. We appreciate your bringing your expertise to the committee.
I'd like to ask two sets of questions. You made a comment, and I was very interested in it, saying that even though the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature had passed legislation that allowed for the compensation of real assets by the company, the company did not follow up; the company did not pursue that avenue.
I'm interested in a little more detail there, because the company didn't follow up on that. They didn't use the court system. In a very real sense, what they've done is try to destroy the rule of law by going directly to the federal government with their hands out and just asking for money. There's no court process, no legal process involved. The company obviously would not have won in a court of law.
How does this decision impact upon companies now--being able to rip up the rule of law, not go through the court system, and simply go to the federal government and demand money?
I'm also interested in the fact that this is a Canadian company headquartered in Canada. The witnesses from DFAIT confirmed that on Tuesday. What was supposed to be used by foreign investors can now be used by Canadian companies. I'm interested in what the implications are there as well.
My final question is this. We're counting up the hundreds of millions of dollars: $130 million that was given to AbitibiBowater; another $30 million that was assumed by the Newfoundland and Labrador government, which was certainly partial compensation; the environmental remediation that Mr. Simms has spoken about, which is in the hundreds of millions of dollars range. How much is it going to cost Canadian taxpayers and Newfoundland and Labrador taxpayers because the government is not pushing AbitibiBowater to respect its engagements and is simply handing money over?