Environment committee  I can just give you the examples that we had. The same group has litigated us eight times--three times after the Supreme Court denied leave to hear it. We've been awarded costs, which approximate 1% of our costs, by the court. We've paid millions of dollars. We've been awarded ab

Environment committee  In the United States, quite often if somebody's going to bring an action they have to put up security for the costs they are inflicting, and that's in the millions, as it should be. Otherwise litigation is just intended to litigate you into the ground, and quite often the securit

Environment committee  Oh, yes.

Environment committee  I would. I think that's precisely right. No project ever meets the test of unanimity. And what troubles me about this is that essentially, I, as a developer, have to risk shareholder money trying to find unanimity. In every project you do you are advised as to who the parties a

Environment committee  Absolutely, I can see that, depending on whether it's direct current or alternating current, DC or AC. If it's AC, it will have EMF. If it's EMF, it will have an impact on fish species. You'll have issues with trenching. You'll have issues with icebergs possibly coming through

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, honourable members, I completely concur. It will gut the capacity to finance these projects. Banks will not take litigation and appeal risk because then they have nothing. In our situation, there are literally decades of detailed regulations, detailed rules, standa

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Yes, exactly; that's precisely what it is. We experienced a very seasoned regulator in the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. We had three to four weeks of hearings, we had several dozen witnesses, we had several hundred pages of analysis and expert testimony, and the tests we

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, Ms. Duncan, that's quite inaccurate. Both the Alberta Utilities Commission and the NEB have made it clear, and the court of appeal made it clear, that the degree of consultation was acceptable.

Environment committee  No. The reason he went to court was to stop the project.

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman and honourable members, I speak to you as a finance person. I'm a project finance person and I get projects done: I get them financed and I get them built. I can tell you that you will not get projects financed until they are beyond the risk of appeal. Bankers will n

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman and honourable members, thank you very much for taking the time to hear me. My name is Johan van't Hof, and I am the chief executive officer of a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange called Tonbridge Power Inc. My role here as a CEO is to talk to y