Mr. Speaker, the hon. member was quite right when he said that Environment Canada has within its ranks some of the brightest and best scientists in the world. I actually got to meet many of them, and celebrated and congratulated them for their successes, as he pointed out, as Nobel Peace Prize winners on the environment. He also knows this government is very committed to seeing the end of 13 long years of Liberal neglect on the environment. This government is very committed to getting it done on the environment.
As I said, the hon. member is quite right that the brightest minds are right here in Canada. We are very proud of them. The rest of what the hon. member said was simply not true.
The fact is that the media relations policy exists to support and to ensure that media inquiries are addressed quickly, accurately, and in a consistent way right across Canada. I encourage the hon. member to take a closer look at the federal government's communications policy which was first introduced when he was a minister, when his Liberal Party was the government of the day.
If he reads it, he will find the following, “Institutions must ensure processes and procedures are in place to assist managers and employees in responding to media calls”. Actually, his party was government when this was the policy, and it continues to be the policy.
Environment Canada's policy merely responds to the requirement set forth in the communications policy. It also falls in line with the policies that guide and govern media relations practices in all the federal government departments. There are very similar communications policies used in the private business and not for profit sectors. To be clear, Environment Canada asks that requests be run through its media relations officer in order to better ensure that subject matter experts are made available to speak to the media on complex and technical issues, and to be kept fully informed on what is being asked of its employees.
Scientists will continue to be able to speak directly to the media on their specific areas of expertise. Environment Canada's media relations policy is quite clearly based on the elements of good government and common sense. We are there to meet with the media. As I said at the beginning, the claims of the member are not true.