Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members, for the opportunity to be here today.
Treasury Board Secretariat is a supporter of green government operations and has committed to building on the efforts to date and ongoing improvements. The Treasury Board Secretariat is pleased to work with Public Works and Environment Canada on greening government operations. Public Works has a great deal of operational expertise in these areas and has influence over much of the federal government's real estate holdings and procurement. Therefore, Public Works is well placed to lead efforts in this regard.
The role that will be played by the Treasury Board Secretariat relating to the greening of government operations will complete and support those efforts. As a central agency, we will support the leadership of Public Works Canada by cooperating with them and with other departments to establish government-wide targets.
We will help Public Works Canada to issue guidance or guidelines as required to make those targets compulsory within the whole of government. The Treasury Board Secretariat will also see to it that the departments provide appropriate reports on their success relating to those of targets in the context of their Reports on Plans and Priorities and their Departmental Performance Reports, and this information will be shared with Public Works Canada.
In partnership with Public Works, Environment Canada, and Natural Resources Canada, we can provide strong leadership on this file. We have worked hard to establish and refine clear roles for each other and to effectively communicate those to departments in order to ensure that progress is made on this important aspect of sustainable development.
Let me highlight from Treasury Board Secretariat's perspective some of the progress made with respect to generating a greener federal government.
TBS, Environment Canada, and Public Works have collaborated to further strengthen reporting requirements across government. We now require greening government operations reporting through both the RPP and through reporting on implementing the policy on green procurement.
Furthermore, the 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities requires that departments submit information on how they plan to take account of environmental issues and to include them in their decision-making process, whether it be for purchasing, for their objectives relating to green purchases or for related benefits.
At the same time, Treasury Board Secretariat will focus its efforts to further simplify government operations according to the promise made by the government to reduce bureaucratic hassles which too often stifle progress.
In keeping with this approach, we will work with public Works, Environment Canada, and Natural Resources Canada to green existing policies and directives before we create new ones. This will ensure that we're not adding to the web of rules.
In conclusion, we recognize that greening government operations can progress more rapidly, and additional effort is needed to achieve this. Treasury Board Secretariat, Public Works, and Environment Canada will continue to act on our path forward for greening government operations.
This now concludes my remarks. I will be pleased to respond to any questions.