Thank you, Mr. Chair, that's an important question.
I think there are multiple factors here. I think in some cases resources are a factor. I would say, though, that it's important to remember that these problems really date from some time ago. We talked about many of these problems back in the 1990s. In the time since, there have been periods of reductions in resources and periods where resources have been increased. So I think it's a factor, but it's only a factor of several.
I do think that in many of our audits we found that management could use existing resources better. In some cases we identified processes that could be simplified and streamlined. The process to update a management plan at Environment Canada has 60 steps in it, so there are some cases where things could be simplified. That's important. I'd also underscore the number of times we found unclear plans and objectives, which can't help but lead to a situation where efforts are not clearly focused. That's never a good use of resources.
Part of this is setting priorities. It's management 101—setting priorities and following through. We auditors talk about that a lot, but we talk about it a lot because we find those absences a lot.
The final thing I'd come back to, as I did in answer to an earlier question, is that these are immense challenges. The ecosystems in Canada are on the receiving end of all the other environmental problems we face: climate change, pollution, and invasive species. So a lot of this is just the immensity of the task.
I was reminded of an analogy one of my predecessors once used. He said this is like trying to go up the down escalator. It's not that the government's not doing important things; a lot of this is simply just the immensity of the challenges.
I am quite troubled by many of the trends that I see in the ecosystems in Canada.