Environment committee  Thank you. We hear a lot of talk about smog, air quality and climate change. They are all important considerations. In specific terms, how important is the effort to counter climate change? Do you think the government should consider this a priority?

Environment committee  I repeat, it is not my job to set the government's priorities. I understand that climate change is a priority for the federal government. I have reported on the progress made so far.

Environment committee  Are you not concerned about the fact that climate change is not one of the government's five priorities?

Environment committee  I think the results achieved so far are disturbing. If climate change remains a priority for Canada, it is disturbing that we do not have a much more aggressive and rigorous approach in order to move from slowing down emissions to actually reducing green house gas emissions in Canada.

Environment committee  Combating climate change must happen first within the federal family. It does not involve just two departments. It involves a concerted effort from the part of all departments. Mr. Bigras was asking me a question earlier about the relationship between the provinces and the federal government.

Environment committee  It has been mentioned, Ms. Gélinas, that the previous government wanted to invest close to $6 billion in climate change activities. $1.6 billion was actually spent, which means that there is still $4.5 billion floating around somewhere. Actually, I am not sure I understand correctly. We really do not know whether this money has been spent.

Environment committee  There are even some members who do not really believe the science around climate change. In your opinion, is the science around climate change reliable? Can we say today that climate change will truly have a concrete impact?

Environment committee  We take for granted that the government has recognized the scientific analyses conducted, namely by the United Nations' committee on climate change, as well as other scientific reports that are based on decisions made by Canada to reduce greenhouse gases. I take that as a given. I do not challenge science. I am not a scientist, and I am not an expert in the science of climate change as long as the government, on the whole, recognizes that the problem exists and bases its position on scientific facts, I will act accordingly.

Environment committee  My colleague was saying earlier that we will revisit the smog issue for next year's report. We have looked here and there at some air quality issues, but not as we did for climate change, with one focus and covering the broader aspects of it. But as Richard is involved in the production of the 2007 report already, he can give you a few details about how we will look at this air quality issue.

Environment committee  I appreciate that. Could we pass on, then, to the climate change issue? I just wanted a general answer. But that is coming.

Environment committee  We have a plan that we believe very strongly will have achievable results that will deal with the issue of climate change. You've gone into the next paragraph for the final word. You've said that reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to present and future effects of climate change is a challenging task.

Environment committee  So whatever targets and measures are put in place, if the governance and accountability aspects are not looked at seriously, I will probably be here again five years from now and have an almost cut-and-paste copy of this section. I also would like to remind you that in 1998 we looked at climate change and almost said the same thing. So things have not evolved that much in terms of good governance and accountability. Mr. Cullen was asking who was responsible for what, and I can still not tell who is responsible for what.

Environment committee  The last thing you need to know is that even though Treasury Board now is working on this framework--and you will remember that Treasury Board came here and talked about the RMAF, the framework for the pilot on climate change, to develop this framework on horizontal issues. The reality is still that even though the Treasury Board has committed to develop the framework, it's unclear who will take over when the framework is finalized.

Environment committee  There was some economic analysis, but it was not detailed. We couldn't find any social, environmental, and risk analysis linked to this. Climate change is not only about the environment, it's also about sustainable development; it's about our way of living, because it's linked to energy. So we would expect that kind of analysis to be done.

Environment committee  I really do appreciate this report...challenging government to take climate change as a high priority, which we do. On the issue of air quality, when would we be looking for a report on that?