I can understand why you see it that way. Moreover, a number of people initially understand, if only from the name of our organization, that our mandate is to conduct environmental assessments or to give scientific advice in the context of environmental assessments. However, that is not the case.
The agency's role is really to provide support in training the various departments involved in environmental assessments and to advise the Minister of the Environment, where the minister has to make decisions in the context of the process. The scientific advice that the various departments conducting environmental assessments must obtain comes instead from what we call the expert departments. If Transport Canada, for example, has concerns about fish habitat in the context of an environmental assessment, it will turn to Fisheries and Oceans, not to the agency, to get that expertise. If it has concerns about migratory birds, it will turn to Environment Canada. The agency's role is not to provide scientific opinions.