I'll try to put it into context here.
We'll talk about Infrastructure Canada and the building funds. Let's say you're going to re-deck a bridge that's been there for 40 years and the bridge was approved when it went in. In re-decking that bridge, you're not hanging anything underneath it and there's no scaffolding there, so why are you coming to us? You're just on top; you're not changing the structure or diminishing the envelope of the navigational channel underneath it.
On building small bridges over those little creeks and waterways, right now if you refurbish a highway and replace all the culverts, every culvert that you can stick a canoe or kayak in, regardless of whether the culvert is five feet long or 500 feet long.... Even if it were 500 feet long but only 20 feet high, I don't know many people who canoe or kayak who would want to go through that culvert. For those sorts of projects, as long as we can establish the type of criteria whereby navigation could be reasonably anticipated or expected....
Projects that fall outside of that, and ones that do not affect the navigational channel that already exists for refurbishment, alteration, or repair would be streamlined. Under this new style of legislation we propose a tiered approach to our approval system based on perceived ultimate impact to navigation: no impact, no process; little impact, little process; big impact, big process. We would be able to define for you exactly what those levels of process would entail from both an overall time standpoint and a performance standpoint on our part.
On the cost-recovery aspect, I have gone across the country talking to all these associations listed here and average Canadians with concerns. All of those people expected that we had fees associated with our approval processes, because that's the course. We have the only building permit I'm aware of that's absolutely free of charge, although in the Mackenzie Valley it might cost $1,000 in chopper time and over $20,000 to take one flight to look at something. But they expect it and are surprised we don't have it.
When you can start assessing these costs against the level of service provided, which you have to in accordance with the User Fees Act, if we don't meet the level of service, we can't charge Canadians the cost. It forces us to be honest. It provides clarity to the situation for our proponents, and ultimately it's just better government.