Thank you, Ms. Fraser and Mr. Vaughan, for being here. I'm not a person who goes into long preambles, but as for today's questioning, I have to set the groundwork so that you understand where I'm coming from.
The overarching concerns that I see in all eight chapters of the AG's report and the five chapters of the environmental commissioner's report have been a lack of accountability, a lack of governance, and incompetency in management. But my major concern—and I'm going to deal with the environmental area—is that I feel ideology overrides evidence.
I used to sit on the environment committee, and the Conservatives at that time did not believe in climate change. Kyoto was there, but you rightly pointed out that the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has said that the environment has transformed over the past 50 years, and that there is a correlation between environmental degradation and food safety, health, and weather.
You also indicate that the National Cancer Institute of Canada states that 40% of women and 45% of Canadian men will develop cancer. So we all know that the environment is important and that we have to manage it. Whether we like it or not, we are going into global warming. You also stated that the government has an important role, and that it has tools that it should use such as regulation, economic measures, pollution prevention, and voluntary agreements.
One of the things that were very disconcerting to me was the $1.5 billion for the clean air and climate change trust fund, which is transferred to the provinces. So I shall ask you five specific questions.
One, how does this program work, if you know?
Two, who is the trustee of this fund, from a federal government perspective?
Three, are there any memorandums of understanding between the provinces and the federal government regarding the management and the use of this fund?
Four, in your audit, would you be able to trace the money? Would you know where it has gone, or how it has been used?
Five, in your opinion, what is the environmental impact of the $1.5 billion?
I'd like to start with those.