Environment committee  What the minister said in the national statement was in fact that the current obligations of industrialized annex I countries should be expanded through deepened commitments by all industrial countries as well as through the participation of others. We did not put on the table wh

Environment committee  I would just state that the government has said that this process has to lead to a halving of global emissions by 2050 as a long-term goal, which should guide the whole negotiation. Then, as a mid-term goal, Canada has committed to a national policy, a national objective, of a 20

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, I cannot confirm that. The member is referring to a report concerning such a meeting in the media. There was a fairly important meeting—I believe it was Thursday evening—of the friends of the chair group. It took place at the same time as another ministers' meeting

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, the issue of the two degrees was not expressly on the program. The targets, objectives and scientific facts highlighted by the group of international experts were of course a part of the discussions. Canada took part in these in a dynamic and consistent way and supp

Environment committee  Did you want to comment on that?

Environment committee  I don't know offhand. If the committee wishes, we can provide that.

Environment committee  I'm sorry?

Environment committee  Well, I don't know the per-person cost. I know we work within Treasury Board guidelines, of course, to--

Environment committee  Yes. There is the ad hoc working group for the Kyoto country further commitments, and there is the convention dialogue, both processes of which were discussed and confirmed with end dates established.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair, the objective of the government--and it was applied consistently in the negotiations--was not to go beyond the purpose of the Bali conference, which was to establish the negotiating process. The actual discussion of what a target would be was not in fact an item for de

Environment committee  The key statement to the conference is the national statement made before all of the delegates, and that is pubicly available. Allow me to summarize some of the key points along the lines you have asked about. First of all, the minister underlined the government's commitment to

Environment committee  I believe 2006 has been referred to, but we certainly refer to 2006 very transparently in all of our interactions.

Environment committee  Different jurisdictions do use different baselines.

Environment committee  I don't know if any such announcements were made at the Bali meeting. I would point out that all jurisdictions, and we have been clear on this with the UN, know that it is entirely feasible to make a crosswalk between the 2006 base year and the 1990 base year.

Environment committee  Well, I would say that our reference to our base year has been clear throughout our interactions internationally. I don't think it's a secret at all.