Evidence of meeting #20 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was infrastructure.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
I also note that from time to time, there are meetings at which witnesses for some reason or other can't make it, or they have to bail out.
Liberal
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
It would be nice if where we required a filler, we could plug this in.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Ms. Gelfand has been quite available on numerous occasions. Since we're dealing with our civil servants from the different departments, it might work.
Liberal
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
I very much appreciate where it's coming from, but at the same time, we are looking at CEPA, which will cover the chemicals management plan. We are looking at climate change, which will cover the climate resiliency and the flood mitigation aspect of it.
As much as I love to have Ms. Gelfand here, I'm sure we will have her here again to talk about these things when we get to climate change and further to see whether there will be requirements to do that. Also I think this would be better discussed at subcommittee.
We have committee business we have to get to, and you have to get out of here. This is a discussion that doesn't have to happen right now, I think.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
That's fair enough. It wouldn't be bad to have a motion, if somebody's prepared to move it, to have that report back here at committee in one year so we can see where all the departments have gotten to on these very important topics, and so that we can take under advisement whether or not to fit in some more time for these topics in our committee work.
Conservative
Dianne Lynn Watts Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC
On a point of order, my comments here were mis-characterized by Mr. Amos, because that's not what I said. I just want to be clear that in the context of the gas tax, there were criteria around clean water, reduction of greenhouse gases, and clean air. I said that the words “climate change” were not overarching in that, but that these elements, under that umbrella, were definitely there, and there were a significant number of projects that fell under each one of those categories.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
That wasn't a point of order, for sure, but the clarification was welcome.
Okay, Mr. Amos, keep it really short because we really do have to move to committee business.
Liberal
William Amos Liberal Pontiac, QC
I'd just like to clarify. What I said was that the fact that climate change was not an overarching factor of the program was a discredit to the previous government.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Okay, guys, this is not the way we really like to move forward in this committee.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
That was it, yes. Let's end that. We're going to move on. I'm sorry that we've gotten to that.
Go ahead, Ms. Gelfand.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
I would like to make one last comment just to let you know that in the past—and I don't know how long ago—we used to have one hearing per chapter. So for Mr. Fast, who is saying we don't have enough time, that is how it happened in the past: one chapter, one department, and then one after another—not for this time, but next time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
Okay, that's excellent advice.
Moving forward, unfortunately for us, we only booked one session. As we're learning the value of these sessions, I think we'll carve out some more time for them, and that would be helpful.
There's a motion that needs to be made.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
In one year we're requesting a report back to the committee on the program to just kind of tune it up.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Deb Schulte
We're asking the departments to report back to the committee.
Go ahead, Mr. Donnelly.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Madam Chair, what we heard from the commissioner is, once they've been through public accounts, to have those reports come to this committee. I think that's just—
