Mr. Patrick Dorgan:

To go backwards slightly, it is important for the committee to understand that we are not so much at the beginning but rather the end of a lengthy process of engagement with all stakeholders, including our members, the people present and banks. The project has been teased and worked out so it is pretty much ready to go. We got to a point in approximately March 2013 where the banks had been given some time to do their homework, and at that time a project manager was appointed to do a business case for the banks. We gave them extra time to do the business cases and they eventually reverted to the society in November 2013, setting out a number of concerns. One of the major concerns was that "during the course of the investigatory phase, consideration of the role of government both from a regulatory and sponsorship perspective was deemed critical to the success of the project". At that point it appeared that the banks were saying that if we could get the Government to endorse the project, they would be happy and we were delighted, as I mentioned, that the 2020 initiative gave such Government endorsement. It seems that in the banks' latest document they are seeking something way more than what they were in the form of Government ownership. We do not understand that or much of the document sent to the committee today. I repeat my regret that representatives could not be here today as it would have been of great assistance to the committee.