Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to start by thanking Mr. DeMarco for his work and his determination to ensure that through this accountability process the government gets back on track. I think that's a desire shared by many of us at this table. This isn't meant as an opportunity to bash the government. We very much need the government to do right by its promise that it's going to meet the commitments that it made on the most important issue of our time.
I want to thank you, Mr. DeMarco, for your part in that.
I'm a bit concerned to hear what seems like a disagreement between Mr. Hermanutz and yourself around whether the projections are optimistic or not. The accountability measure that we have involves the work of the environment commissioner. The environment commissioner is saying that the projections are overly optimistic and that we're not going to meet the target. I would hope that Environment and Climate Change Canada would take that information very seriously and abide by the recommendations and the strong direction that's been provided by the commissioner.
I'm trying to think of where to start. There are so many questions.
One of them is that when we worked on the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, one of the things we fought very hard for was the 2026 emissions objective. We felt that 2030 was too far out and that the government was going to drag its feet and then at the last minute throw up its hands and say, we just can't possibly do it. Or perhaps by then we would have a different government that doesn't care about it anyway.
It was important to have a near-term target or objective.
I wonder, Mr. DeMarco, if you consider that objective and if you would have any insights to share on whether we are on track to meet that objective in just a few short years.