Thank you, Madam Chair.
My thanks to both witnesses for being here today.
In a previous life, before I was elected to Parliament a year ago, I was the mayor of a municipality of 45,000 residents.
Mr. Atkinson, I confirm that there are many bylaws, many environmental regulations—particularly at the provincial level—that stand in the way of people who want to create wealth and to develop the various municipalities across Canada.
In any case, I can confirm that this is the reality in rural areas. It often causes more problems than anything else. As mayor, I had to play the role of mediator, to deal with provincial authorities to try to untangle projects that were subject to excessive regulations for all sorts of reasons. I could prepare a whole list, but I don't think this is the objective today. For anyone wondering, I confirm that there are a lot of them.
Let me ask you both some simple questions.
First of all, on a scale of one to 10, what is your level of satisfaction with the existing legislation and with the amendments that were implemented in 2012?