Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses. You may all have different views on this issue, but I do hope there is some convergence in terms of your all having the same concern regarding the need to address climate change and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr. Guilbeault, you said, quite rightly, that in 1997 in Kyoto, the European Union was better prepared and better organized than Canada.
I would like you to give me an assessment of the options in terms of the preparation and the approach used in 1997—a territorial approach that focussed on setting reduction targets by territory and the whole mechanism and system of trading emissions credits.
In your opinion, if the federal government were to introduce regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions by province, while at the same time allowing the provinces to take whatever measures they deemed necessary to meet their greenhouse gas reduction targets, would that be a viable option in terms of addressing climate change, while still ensuring some flexibility?