Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today.
This study is about large port infrastructure expansion. I'm very compelled by Mayor Pond's assertion that we should expand our thinking of port infrastructure to include the municipal infrastructure that is inextricably linked with our ports, especially in the context of smaller communities.
I'll start with some questions for Mayor Pond.
Allow me, Mayor Pond, to echo the chair's gratitude at the beginning for the warm welcome you showed the committee during our time in Prince Rupert. The city council, you and the port authority really rolled out the red carpet, and we're very appreciative.
You spoke a bit about the payments in lieu of taxes system. I wonder if you could expand on some of the reforms to that system that you feel would better support municipalities in their infrastructure aspirations.