Mr. Speaker, the truth of the matter is that we all care about the environment. This partisan one-upmanship that happens in the House of Commons, frankly, is nonsense. We all care about the environment and the futures of our children, grandchildren and future generations of Canadians. I want to make that clear right off the bat.
Like all public servants working at Environment Canada, our scientists play a very important role in assisting the minister and discharging his responsibilities to make sure we have a clean, safe and sustainable environment for Canadians. Environment Canada scientists are among the absolute best in the world. They conduct research and perform other scientific duties that inform the minister's policy decisions, identify environmental issues, and help enforce the laws and regulations that protect Canada's environment.
Let us talk about the communications policy. The communications policy of the Government of Canada holds that we provide the public with timely, accurate, clear, objective and complete information about the government's policies, programs and services. As members of Canada's public service and employees of the Government of Canada, Environment Canada scientists are subject to this policy. Environment Canada is very active in discharging the responsibilities laid out in the communications policy. Environment Canada scientists are encouraged to publish the results of their research in peer-reviewed scientific journals. We are very proud of their work, the 684 scientific articles they published and 326 conferences they attended in 2011, and our reputation as one of the top 10 producers of environmental science in the world. We are very proud of that.
As members of Canada's non-partisan professional public service, Environment Canada scientists, like any other public servant, cannot comment on government policy. We have already addressed that they are already commenting on their research. In Canada's democratic system of government, the role of commenting on government policy is reserved for ministers and their designated spokespersons. This is a fundamental tenet of our public service values.
We recognize that the media play an important role in the democratic process by informing the public of government activities. Our response to media inquiries is exemplary. In 2011 alone, Environment Canada received more than 3,100 media calls. Our officials completed over 1,200 media interviews, and responded in writing to media questions. Environment Canada welcomes the interests of Canadians in our environmental science and will continue to disseminate the results of our work by presenting and publishing it in an open and timely way.
Let no one in the House say that our scientists are not allowed to brag about the accomplishments they have made. They do, and I have cited a number of examples of the way they do that. We as the government will follow the policies that are in place and provide Canadians with the information they need to know that this government is taking the environment very seriously and doing what it takes to make sure it is preserved for generations to come.