Environment committee  The approach that we have right now, as I mentioned on Tuesday, is a useful approach to the issue. The monitoring I'll come to in the second half of my response. In the first part of my response, the focused approach on, for example, plants and plant pests, that we have through three departments or agencies—the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, within Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Canadian Forest Service—allows that focused effort around species that are very similar.

Environment committee  On Tuesday, I mentioned the different federal-provincial partnerships that we've established. There's a federal-provincial partnership around aquatics species and also around plant and plant pests, as well as around forest pests. It's those federal-provincial partnerships that really provide an effective mechanism to sort out what the collective priorities are first.

Environment committee  The committee is made up of the departments and agencies that are listed on that particular slide, so I think it's a very inclusive interdepartmental committee. In terms of key roles and functions, one key role is the sharing of information. For example, at our most recent meeting a couple of weeks ago, Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were sharing information on ongoing work on risk assessment around forest pests.

Environment committee  I think the answer is yes to both parts of those questions. There's always going to be a debate around how much is enough. I mentioned earlier the statistics around the magnitude of trade and travel. On the strategy itself, we've had two recent national fora--one in 2009 and one in 2010--and the strategy has so far stood the test of time in terms of getting that focus on prevention and early detection and rapid response.

Environment committee  With respect to the budget available to me for the roles I've described already, there have been no reductions. I have the same budget this fiscal year that I had the year before. Within this budget I have to maintain coordination, in the context of this strategy, to implement the $1 million contribution program that we manage.

Environment committee  Canada will maintain those international linkages—not Environment Canada, though. This would fall to my colleagues in the federal government. There is something called the International Plant Protection Convention, and within that there is a mechanism called the North American Plant Protection Convention Organization, where risk assessments are done on plants that could be invasive.

Environment committee  I would need to check with Agriculture Canada to get a list of the species that they would put at the top of their agenda.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Generally, on the assessment of the economic impact of invasive alien species, there haven't been systematic assessments; and generally when there is a number it's viewed as conservative. I would share the observation that it's probably low.

Environment committee  I actually dove into a document and some examples. I'm not saying that this is an exhaustive list of invasive agricultural weeds in Canada, but there's the Canada thistle, and yes, it's called the Canada thistle, but it actually comes from Europe. There's also something called the ox-eye daisy, as well as leafy spurge, which you will have heard of, spotted knapweed, which my colleague from Parks Canada mentioned already, and quackgrass, wild oats, and green foxtail.

Environment committee  Do you?

Environment committee  That would be under the auspices of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. I would defer to that department for that particular information.

Environment committee  Environment Canada has a small office of about two people, to maintain the coordination and be able to be here today to present the overview information, and then a person who implements the funding program. But the regulatory authorities, the capacity to do the inspections, the on-the-ground work, actually lies with my federal government department colleagues.

Environment committee  That I don't know. I'd need to double-check what DFO has.

Environment committee  That's the kind of role we play. The one bit of financial information with respect to DFO's investment—not to get off topic—is in annex 2 of my presentation, which notes about a $4-million investment in the aquatic invasive species program. But it's not specific at the Great Lakes necessarily.