Mr. Chair, again, and I will try to be very clear for my colleague's benefit, the media protocol is public.
Journalists of one sort or another, whether scientific journalists or general news journalists, contact the department when they see an item, a paper or a statement that they would like to address. The communications department of Environment Canada, as in other government departments and in most private sector companies, processes the request. In 99% of the cases it enables the interview to take place.
With regard to the two incidents referenced by my friend, the circumstances simply did not work out to enable those interviews at that specific time.