Transport committee  Thank you for the question. Again, I'm not an expert in the shipping components, but I think it's safe to say that there is certainly an impact when a ship goes through, the extent of which depends on a number of factors. A lot of those factors were discussed by a lot of the different witnesses here today.

Transport committee  Thank you for the question. I can't comment on the past study. I'm not familiar with that from 2015. It does predate my days at the conservation authority. I would say just in general that our conservation authority, in partnership with the municipalities, always tries in partnership to reach out and grab as much funding as possible, whether it's through in-kind services or cash in hand, to do any types of these studies, whether it's erosion or flooding.

Transport committee  I apologize; I missed the start of that question. There was a slight audio cut-off. If the question is whether we could take advantage of accessing funds and grants, then yes, we would love to be able to take advantage of that.

Transport committee  Through you, Mr. Chair, to the member's question, my expertise does not lie in shipping. However, as I mentioned, we have different circumstances within our area, depending on where that shipping and that vessel is, whether it's through Lake Erie or through a narrower portion of the Detroit River.

Transport committee  I'll say that the question is a challenging one to unpack wholly, because when we start to consider the full financial impacts of something like that occurring, we're looking at the immediate financial impact to the municipal landowners themselves. It is very costly to undertake repairs on something like that.

Transport committee  Through you, Mr. Chair, to respond to the member's question, yes, in terms of a full comprehensive study for erosion along the shorelines, it was comprehensive to evaluate the natural effects going on out there in the Great Lakes system and comprehensive being around Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and through Lake Erie.

Transport committee  Currently there are no eligible expenses to the flood hazard identification and mapping program being administered through NRCan and funnelled through the local provinces. No portion of that is eligible towards erosion hazards.

Transport committee  I don't have any awareness of available funding out there to specifically address that. I guess—in part to my earlier remarks—we're hoping to see something become available because we have a combined effect that we're dealing with here in terms of the flood hazards. As I mentioned before, the program that was initiated is very important.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, members of the committee and, specifically, MP Chris Lewis of the Essex riding, for allowing me to speak with you on the subject of erosion in our area, both from a shipping perspective and from a natural process perspective. As an agency responsible for the protection of life and property on behalf of local municipalities and the Province of Ontario, our team is constantly faced with the challenges of both flooding and erosion, as our area is bounded by Lake St.