Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My next questions will be for Mr. Bernier and Mr. Lajeunesse.
You are experts in the field of erosion of the St. Lawrence shorelines because you study the situation extensively. Citizens have previously taken action and requested that a program be introduced to protect the shorelines. They were told that the matter wasn't their responsibility, that it concerned climate change and that Transport Canada therefore had nothing to do with it.
In comparing various situations, such as those of the Magdalen Islands and Est du Québec, it's apparent that erosion is due, in particular, to the tides. We know that wind and melting ice have an impact, as does shipping.
How can we isolate each of those factors and determine whether anthropic forces or commercial shipping has an impact? I'm talking here about the specific case of the municipalities of Varennes, Verchères and Contrecœur and the section from Montreal to Lake Saint Pierre, from which I hear more complaints.
I'd like to hear your comments on the subject and to know where the situation stands from a scientific point of view.