Environment committee  Thank you, Basia. Environment Canada works very closely with other government departments on the climate change file. Organizations such as PCO are constantly seeking our advice on the types of programming that should be put in place. The decisions at the end of the day on that programming are made by cabinet, not by Environment Canada.

Environment committee  The other thing I'd like to bring to your attention is there is about $14 million in supplementary estimates for climate change initiatives. A very big proportion of that funding is for paying the salaries of the people, because the decision was that nobody will be affected until the final decisions are made.

Environment committee  How come this $34 million adjustment has been transferred under the heading "The impacts of climate change..." which initially had been approximately $19 million and was suddenly increased to $34 million? What process led to increasing this $19 million budget item to $34 million? Did it involve breaking down the adjustments under different themes?

Environment committee  Approximately 15 or 16 months ago, a decision was taken to do a full review of all climate change programs. This review was carried out by the Treasury Board Secretariat with considerable input from the department. There was a rather systematic process: 95 initiatives were reviewed.

Environment committee  But how would you state that the government is setting those priorities, given the fact that there's been a very urgent call by the environment commission for action by the government on issues such as climate change, which are so critical for the environment?

Environment committee  For the chemical industry, I provided information when I talked about our reducing emissions report last May, where I discussed in detail what we're doing on climate change. We also track what we've been doing on emissions of substances like dioxins and furans, and those have been substantially reduced. I know it's also the case in broader studies that have shown it outside the chemical industry.

Environment committee  If we really are going to make advances, culturally, from a consumer's point of view, we have to educate the consumer that this is an important issue. We have a tremendous problem with climate change. We have a tremendous problem with air quality. We must educate the consumer about change, and then we have to change. We also have to educate politicians about behaviour change, to get to the point where they start looking past an election period.

Environment committee  I will skip over some of the other points here and move directly down to an important one. Carbon dioxide, being of greatest concern for its contribution to climate change, must remain in the act as a pollutant to be subject to regulatory control. All decisions regarding toxic substances should explicitly consider exposures to vulnerable populations, such as children, pregnant women, aboriginal groups, and people more than normally exposed to multiple pollutants.

Environment committee  As the spokesperson for your government on environment and also as the chair of the UN's Conference of the Parties, does your government believe that climate change and global warming are the most important environmental issues facing our planet? A yes or no question.

Environment committee  We need enforced powers for reporting, for auditing, to be able to show measurable results to Canadians, and that is what you'll see in Canada's clean air act. To respond to Mr. Silva's question, yes, I agree from a global perspective that climate change is without a doubt the environmental issue that has brought the world together, and Canada is there participating on the world stage. But as I said as well, we need a strong domestic framework.

Environment committee  I look forward to working with all of the committee members when Canada's clean air act is tabled, to move forward to make it stronger, and to show Canadians that we can work together to put in place, for the first time, a national framework to deal with their number one environmental priority, which is air quality, and another issue that they're very concerned about, which is climate change.

Environment committee  This government will continue to work on moving forward with our international partners within the Kyoto Protocol, the G-8 plus five dialogue on climate change, and the Asia-Pacific partnership. It's important, though, and I've tried to make it as clear as possible that the best way we can make a contribution internationally to this agenda is to have a strong national framework in place.

Environment committee  The Prime Minister doesn't seem to. It seems that in casting doubt over the very science of climate change by inviting skeptics like Dr. Ball and others--have you attended any of Timothy Ball's sessions? No?

Environment committee  A lot of your caucus members have. The Prime Minister cast a doubt over the very science of climate change only last week, asking how can we possibly have any certainty over what's happening in the climate over decades if we can't predict the weather next week. That seems to me an irresponsible comment, considering the incredible amount of research that's gone into this and your own admission that it is an important and pressing problem.

Environment committee  What's irresponsible is that we're still having this debate and you are still asking questions about the science of climate change.