Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will share my time with my colleague, Mr. Lussier.
I have a feeling, this afternoon, that we are walking into a lion's den. We are asking our witnesses to come up with recommendations but, for us, CEPA is a somewhat distant memory. I believe it would have been useful to set up a preliminary information meeting with the officials. It could have avoided this situation.
I have a few questions for Mr. Khatter. The situation that you have summarized is quite clear : Canada is 29th out of 29 for volatile organic compounds, 27th out of 28 for sulfur dioxide, and 28th out of 28 for carbon monoxide.
However, we have legislation about this. Since I was first elected, in 1997, we keep passing all manner of legislation, whether it be the Species at Risk Act or the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, but their implementation is often than hindered by a lack of resources and money.
If the government had provided the required budgets to implement the Act, what would be the results for Canada in the various categories you have mentioned today? As far as you're concerned, is funding the problem, or the Act itself or both?