Mr. Cullen has just raised an important point. Take, for example, softwood lumber. Live trees are considered to be a natural resource. Lumber is an industry concern. Lumber exports are a foreign trade issue. Sustainable development is an environmental consideration. Some issues that fall within this committee's mandate involve several departments.
First of all, it's important to avoid any duplication. Some matters fall within the scope of our mandate. In my opinion, that includes resources and sustainable development. We've skirted the issue of climate change which, although within our committee's mandate, also falls within the purview of the environment committee. We need to safeguard our renewable resources for the future, with an eye to sustainable development. Finite oil and mineral resources, as we well know, are not renewable resources. It's important to ensure that we sustain our natural resources for as long as possible, in the spirit of sustainable development.
As Mr. Cullen was saying earlier, we could discuss softwood lumber at considerable length, but that's also a topic that the industry and foreign trade committees will be taking up. As for the briefing session, I agree with him that it shouldn't take six months. We need to take stock of the situation, then identify departmental plans and urgent questions. Then we can turn our attention without further delay to the priorities that we have identified.