Thank you, Chair.
I thank the witnesses for being here. I've heard most of you before, and it's good to see you back.
Canadians often criticize the previous Liberal government, which was in power for the 13 years from 1993 to 2006, for doing nothing on the environment. We blame them for creating an environmental mess, but, Mr. Lazar, you reminded us that climate change is a global issue and not just a Canadian issue. Thank you for that reminder.
The mountain pine beetle kill occurred not just because the Liberals were not acting on the environment, but also because of a warming climate, a changing climate. On the mountain pine beetle kill, we've heard that it takes a very cold temperature arriving very quickly to kill the mountain pine beetle. I've watched, hoping that we're going to get a very quick, very cold winter.
Last year in British Columbia and Alberta it became very cold very quickly, and it lasted a long time. Did that affect the spread of the mountain pine beetle?