So from tight gas to tight questions.
Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with my colleague, Mr. Kennedy, who is our party's environment critic.
Natural Resources Canada is a wonderful umbrella organization, with much expertise, etc. My question concerns the latest budget, which removed environmental assessments from the hands of the National Energy Board. You did not speak about that.
Would it not be possible to also engage in environmental assessments? Obviously, one of the problems with shale gas is that its production requires a lot of water. Many studies have been quoted here and there. Mr. D'Iorio, you yourself are the expert resource person at National Resources Canada. Could your department not consider the fact that, because of the water situation... The water table ends up by reaching the river. There must be a way the department can play a role. I would like for you to explain whether Natural Resources Canada could indeed play such a role.