Thank you for your question.
For the past ten years or so, we have been planning the construction of an interchange to connect the communities. When we issued a call for bids and then began the initial work—namely, tree cutting—we found an unexploded munition. We then had to halt all work. Since this is an area we are unfamiliar with, in which we have no expertise, we worked with the Department of National Defence to find solutions. That is how we were able to issue a call for tenders. We based our decision on information provided to us by the department and on discussions held with its representatives.
It must be said that if this interchange is not built, it will prevent not only the construction of 5,000 housing units on federal lands contaminated by unexploded ordnance, but also the development of an entire sector that will allow for the construction of 20,000 housing units south of the highway. I didn't mention this earlier because this sector is not located on federal land, strictly speaking. This interchange is therefore essential to the economic and real estate development of Terrebonne. For us, it is essential that this work be done.
Because of the discovery of the unexploded ordnance, we are two years behind schedule on the work that will bring communities together, if I may put it that way so you can fully understand the situation.
As I mentioned earlier, detecting and removing this unexploded ordnance is not the municipality's responsibility. That responsibility falls to national defence, and therefore to the federal government. That is why we are here today.
I hope that answers the question.