Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Welcome, minister, and thank you for coming to testify before the committee on the main estimates and the Climate Change Action Plan that you presented.
Over the past few weeks and months, we have heard criticism on the part of scientists, environmentalists and members of Parliament, and yesterday we heard more from the provincial environment ministers who said they were disappointed with their meeting with you. To say the least, things may be looking up for the Ottawa Senators but they are certainly not looking up right now for the Canadian Minister of the Environment.
In a few days an important G8 summit will be held in Germany. The positions of the participating countries are quite clear. On one hand, the United States does not wish to have clear greenhouse gas reduction targets nor does it want a timeline; on the other hand, Germany and Europe want firm commitments for 2020. Then there is Canada in between the two, which just continues to waffle.
My question is simple. What will your position be at the summit in Germany next week? Do you support binding greenhouse gas reduction targets? If so, are you on Europe's side or George Bush's side?