Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister and team, for being here today. Thank you for acknowledging the work we've done to come up with not one but two unanimous reports. It's something we've worked very hard on, and something, as a committee, we're very proud of.
You spoke of some of the recommendations in our most recent report on protected spaces. One of the recommendations, I want to point out, envisioned the federal government partnering with municipalities, provinces, territories, and interested governments to work towards hitting our targets, the commitments we've made for protected spaces.
I think I probably have harassed you enough on this topic, when you walk by me all the time. When I talk about Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes wilderness area in Halifax, I think about the impact such a partnership could have on this space. This would be our Rouge park.
The municipality is working hard to secure the appropriate lands, and I think of the impact a partnership with the federal government could have. I'm interested in your thoughts. With the perceived decrease in planned spending on protected areas in this budget, with the expectation that spending will go up but our time is running out, I'm interested in your thoughts on how partnering with other levels of government could impact our hitting the targets we've committed to.