Certainly, Mr. Chair.
Consultation is absolutely important here. The federal government has some important places where it can act on species at risk, particularly the federal lands. Those are not inconsiderable: the protected areas of Environment Canada, as I mentioned, are equal to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. That's a large area where the federal government can act on its own, as it can in national parks and other federal lands.
That said, I quite agree. I think action on species at risk depends upon action by everyone. We really signal that as an important area for action.
In terms of the impact on timelines, we know that this is some of the explanation for the delays that we have noted in our report. I think I'd just simply highlight the importance of getting those tools in place. It is a concern that of the over 500 species at risk in Canada, at the moment only 7 have the recovery strategy and the action plan necessary.
I support the efforts of the government to try to deal with that backlog.