Thanks to all of the witnesses.
It's certainly been a morning rich in presentations and in contradictions, and I suspect we're going to be exploring those contradictions over the course of the morning.
I'm looking forward to hearing Mr. Guilbeault talk in more detail, in response to Ms. Donnelly and Mr. Alvarez, but I'd like to begin with the commissioner.
I very much appreciated your presentation. In a sense, I think we had this conversation when you initially released your report for 2006 on climate change.
If I may return to Bill C-288, the whole point of this bill is to actually increase accountability and, in the spirit of your suggestions, to attempt to better define roles, responsibilities, and authorities so as to understand the performance of policies and programs and to monitor and report broader objectives. The language is picked up in regard to our obligations under the Kyoto agreement.
I know the Auditor General had some issues concerning the role that was proposed for your office under the legislation. I think we will be taking it into account in our amendments, which will suggest that some of the things we originally thought you might do might instead be done by the National Round Table on the Economy and the Environment and, I hope, would meet the objections.
I'd like to begin in terms of this bill, which recognizes that we have signed the Kyoto agreement and we've been trying to do our best. We need a plan and we need to understand what is expected from each element in terms of greenhouse gas reductions and how we're doing each year.
Does this bill go in a direction that helps to answer some of the suggestions you've made both in your report and in your remarks today?