Environment committee  It would seem to me that burning waste is an environmentally better thing to do than grow crops specifically for biofuels. That's a personal opinion, I guess. If we have a chance, I'd like to talk a bit about carbon offsets, which I always thought were an opportunity just to relieve how bad you're feeling about your carbon footprint.

Environment committee  Well, from my perspective, I'd have to buy them, but for selling—

Environment committee  Thank you for being with us today. My riding is Kootenay—Columbia, located in southeastern B.C. I have three mountain ranges: the Rockies, the Purcells and the Selkirks. I have dairy farms around the Creston area, but much of East Kootenay is mostly cattle ranching and crops grown to feed cattle.

Environment committee  Thank you. It's very interesting, and I want to continue the discussion a little. I don't want to create issues between the departments, but when I was taking out the trees, I was creating grasslands, native grasslands. In terms of carbon sequestration, an acre of trees—and I know it might depend on the age and the stage of the trees—versus an acre of native grassland, have you looked at which one is actually doing a better job in terms of carbon?

Environment committee  I have the same question for agriculture. If I wanted to be a really conscientious environmental farmer, what crop would I grow to sequester the most carbon? Have you looked at that?

Environment committee  It's not the what; it's the how.

Environment committee  Was that the low-carbon economy fund?

Environment committee  Is that under the champion fund as well?

Environment committee  Thank you.

Environment committee  Six plus three is nine, but.... Sure, I'd like to continue, yes.

Environment committee  That was the investments in forest industry transformation fund.

Environment committee  Thank you. In my former life I was regional manager with the Ministry of Environment for southeastern British Columbia, responsible for provincial parks, fish and wildlife, and ecosystems. In that part of the world, grasslands and restoring grasslands was a major part of what we were doing, so we would cut down a lot of trees.

Environment committee  Is there specific funding, though, if somebody wants to set up a bioenergy plant out in our rural ridings?

Environment committee  Thank you. I just want some clarification, Chair. Are we particularly speaking to the forestry, agriculture and waste component, or the larger study of Canada's leadership around climate change?

Environment committee  Then I'm very interested in having the minister come to talk about Canada's leadership in climate change in general, but if that's not what we're dealing with on this motion, I will wait.