I'll go first.
Thank you, Monsieur Ouellet.
Let me respond, first of all, to the question on environmental assessment. What we are looking for simply are that both the assessment and all of the authorizations and permits that the company needs to operate, once it gets through an environmental assessment process, be done in a more efficient manner. We're not asking for less, but we're asking for it to be done more efficiently, and for coordination in that process between all of the elements of the government, which is not taking place at the current time.
One of the key elements on which we were in agreement with first nations and environmental groups, in terms of the amendments to CEAA—which we are still waiting to see put fully in place—is that there should be more transparency for all who want to follow and engage in that process, and that the decisions with respect to scoping be upfront and be understood by all participants. This would lead to more rigour in that process and, I think, allow everyone, no matter what their point of view and concerns were, to come to the table and be heard appropriately and to have all of the documentation they needed. That's where we're coming from there.
With respect to sustainable initiatives, yes, the Mining Association of Canada, much like Alcan.... In fact, we've traded a lot of views with Alcan over the years, and they've looked at what we are doing as an association. You may have missed one of my early comments, that the Mining Association of Canada, on behalf of its members, won the 2005 GLOBE Foundation Award for Environmental Performance.
We have a set of guiding principles. We have a multi-stakeholder advisory body to help us implement those principles. We have reporting and transparency requirements, covering areas such as greenhouse gas emissions. We use the Brundtland definition of sustainable development. The requirements include community outreach and engagement; the management of tailings facilities; biodiversity issues, which we are now looking at; and appropriate aboriginal consultation processes with our first nations, Métis, and Inuit colleagues.
So those are there and will continue to progress in our sustainable mining approach. For many years we published an environmental progress report. We documented our releases, not only ones within the NPRI but also beyond the National Pollutant Release Inventory.
So all those things continue, and the members of the mining association are certainly committed to sustainable practices.