Thank you very much.
I've certainly appreciated the testimony that we've heard today, especially from fellow British Columbians who experienced the severe impacts of the atmospheric river events of November 2021.
Mayor Goetz, I'll start with you. It's kind of shocking to learn that 16 or 18 months later, Merritt is less protected, I would argue, than it was back in November. You say that it's still at the same state, but you've indicated that some of your diking infrastructure has not been able to be rebuilt.
When I was talking with my communities that were affected by that event, specifically the district of Hope, I was very frustrated that the senior levels of government would not allow them, when they were doing emergency work to repair something like a washed-out culvert or road or bridge, etc., to build back better, if I can put it that way. The funding and the approvals were only to replace what had previously been there.
Were there examples of that in Merritt, where at the time when you were doing the emergency work to replace the infrastructure that was destroyed or washed away, etc., you could have built it up to a higher standard but government regulations prevented you from doing that?