Thanks a lot.
I'd like to welcome the minister to committee. It's the first time he has appeared before us, and I really appreciate that he has taken the time to meet with us.
I have a lot of questions, so I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your answers short. I realize you only have an hour to meet with us and there's a lot to get through.
I'd like to pick up on my colleague's concerns about funding allocated to the clean air agenda. We know there's an increase of $90.3 million to this funding, and as my colleague mentioned, this funding will allow us to develop a “platform to deepen engagement with the United States on climate change issues and enhancing Canada's visibility as an international leader in clean energy technology”.
It does sound as if this funding is being allocated to PR, and that's a concern that has been expressed by civil society as well.
At a time when we're cutting ozone research, laying off scientists at Environment Canada, and we're gutting funding to CEAA by 43%, can the minister explain to the committee why this is a wise allocation of funding?