Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My next questions will be for either Mr. Rennie or Mr. Ridal, by which I mean whichever is in the best position to answer based on their scientific expertise.
My first question is really more of a comment.
Several people, including you, I believe, have emphasized that it can sometimes be difficult to quantify the potential impact of shipping, owing to a variety of factors. For example, there is the nature of the soil, the width and depth of the waterways, the distance between ship and shore, and so on. That's why it's difficult to quantify the impacts of commercial shipping.
On the one hand, I'd like to know current scientific opinion about the status of things.
On the other, have comparative studies been conducted on natural shorelines or shorelines close to navigable commercial waterways compared to other shoreline sections that do not have navigable shipping lanes? That would enable us to have comparable data.
Have such studies been conducted in the past to compare locations where there is a navigable waterway to others where there is not?
This kind of data would show whether there are significant long-term impacts.