Natural Resources committee  Do you know how much power is lost per line kilometre on 735 kV wires?

Natural Resources committee  You sell a significant amount of power to Montreal. I would like to know what the line loss is between Churchill Falls and Montreal. Ten per cent, 15% or more?

Natural Resources committee  And to Toronto, it would be another 5%, and if it is Vancouver, you'd have nothing left ?

Natural Resources committee  You are considering a possible subsea line towards New Brunswick. Would there be as much line loss there as in an overhead line?

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The map you gave us does not show Lower Churchill, but I can see Churchill Falls. Where is Lower Churchill? Is it the same thing as Churchill Falls? If I understand correctly, the dams are lower down at Churchill Falls and there may not be any hydroelectric facilities there.

Natural Resources committee  From Lower Churchill and the other place, what is the voltage of your electrical transmission lines?

Natural Resources committee  I'm referring to transmission line voltage. I'm sorry, I'll have to ask you in French. What is the voltage for the high-tension wires?

Natural Resources committee  You already have our list. We've already submitted it.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, I think we need to come to a decision today and not wait until next Wednesday to discuss this matter. Then we could substitute other witnesses for the minister. It's interesting to hear from generalists. This witness is a specialist, but not in our current field of study.

Natural Resources committee  It was an excellent question. Summing up, I'd like to come back to a question that was put to you earlier. Who has the final say on research priorities? Does the federal government ever ask you, through its minister, to focus on specific research areas? If so, do you ever advise the federal government that you have taken specific action to further its understanding of or to help it resolve certain problems?

Natural Resources committee  You spoke during your presentation about an action plan for climate change. Does this action plan, which is of special interest to our committee, affect energy transmission and the safety of the grid? Without question, climate change affects the safety of electrical grids. As part of your study, do you have people looking into the effect of climate change on electrical distribution?

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have known Sherif for at least 25 years and I know that he speaks French very well. Unfortunately, he is shy and that why he's not speaking French today. I have a brief comment to make. He is extremely modest. He's a renown researcher who has worked on glass, among other things.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, you do.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Del Mastro asked a very good question, but didn't get an answer. He asked about the amount of sunshine Canada received. The energy from the sun is the same here in Canada as it is in Africa, India or anywhere else on earth. From a perpendicular angle, the sun generates 3,400 kilowatt-hours per square metre anywhere on earth.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, I took a little longer than I planned to, and I apologize for that. This is a topic near and dear to me. Moreover, it's unfortunate that we have only an hour and a half to discuss these three very important issues. A full afternoon should have been set aside to discuss each separate topic.