Thank you.
I appreciate the discussion on how you see the committee working, and I look forward to seeing and hearing from the witnesses we'll be calling, to educate myself especially. But I'd also just add a couple of things that haven't been mentioned yet.
One thing that I think is very big right now and on a lot of people's minds is the issue of water. I know there are some issues around the Great Lakes and also with water worldwide, not just in Canada, but I think it's something that this committee should discuss and hear from people on.
I think the boreal forest is another very large issue for Canada, and it overlaps again with the environmental issues with the environment committee. But part of the boreal forest issue is the encroachment of the pine beetle infestation, which is moving eastward. I think that's something we need to talk about, and also just generally the forest policy in Canada. Others have mentioned the softwood lumber issue, which is also important.
With regard to energy, someone mentioned sustainable energy development. That's a very large issue that I would like to have on the agenda as well, as it relates to what's becoming the topic in the world of peak oil and where we're at in the world and our oil and gas exploration, talking about the tar sands, offshore oil and gas, and those kinds of things.