Madam Chair, it is a little absurd that the minister himself is not capable of assessing programs that will be slashed by his own department, under his authority. Eighty-eight million dollars seems like a lot of money.
His team is incapable of putting their fingers on the figures, despite the fact that there are three people with him who are supposed to come up with the answers. So I will switch topics and give the minister some time to come back to that a little later.
I will now talk about Environment Canada's Report on Plans and Priorities, which was recently published and details personnel requirements on a program activity basis for the next three years.
In fact, 94% of the job cuts fall under one single program, which deals with climate change and air quality. The staff working for this program will be cut back by 14% over a mere three-year period.
The programs' objectives concern the health of Canadians and the economy. If these objectives are important, why get rid of so many jobs?