Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
The minister will understand that he clearly has time for rebuttal when his members on his side ask questions. As we've seen, he had a half hour to speak at the opening. This really is our time, members of the committee, and it's a chance for us to ask questions. So I'd ask that he get to the answers once we pose our questions.
First of all, I'm going to ask that he table the slide show that he has on the screen today, which we don't have copies of. So I would appreciate it if you'd provide the committee this week, perhaps as early as today, with copies of the slide show.
Now, the big claims you're making in your plan—so called—is that you'll stabilize emissions by 2012. Well, the fact is we now know that emissions have been stable in Canada for the last three years. So that's achieving nothing whatsoever in that claim.
Secondly, you're claiming that you will have absolute reductions in emissions by the year 2020. But your officials, your own officials, admit that these claims cannot be made because of all the unknown pieces. They can't verify. They can't substantiate how the basis of these claims is founded. Meanwhile, you have no credible third party—scientists, environmentalists, or economists alike—who have stated that your claims can be achieved. Your own officials said before this committee that it's a target. In other words, it's not really precise, we can't really measure it, we can't back it up; it's a target.
Will you disclose the details that will let independent third parties fully assess whether your numbers even come close to your claims? So far, you have refused repeated requests to disclose the details—the basis, the analysis—that supposedly back up your plan.