Environment committee  He is the guy. He said for decades.... You've got the guy. This man needs to be commended for his incredible tenure in wildlife service. You've got the guy.

Environment committee  I am not a scientist. That question should be put to scientists. I don't know whether Environment Canada's scientists have done any work on that.

Environment committee  Urbanization and farming are important factors.

Environment committee  I couldn't answer that because we haven't considered the issue. I don't know whether Bob can answer you.

Environment committee  Any kind of development can degrade a habitat. Even farming operations can lead to habitat degradation. A natural habitat exists prior to the arrival of humans. Once humans start using a habitat, its quality becomes affected. Every time humans are introduced into a habitat—be it in a city or a village—and they use it for agricultural, mining or foresting activities, they change that habitat.

Environment committee  Are you asking what affects habitats and what makes them less useful?

Environment committee  A number of factors can lead to habitat degradation, the first being outright habitat destruction. If a habitat is being used for something other than its intended purpose and it is changed, it can be almost destroyed. A habitat can be degraded in a number of ways, such as pesticide application and air pollutants.

Environment committee  Once again, we have not looked into that aspect, but it's clear that climate change has repercussions on all habitats. It leads to all sorts of changes, such as the amount and timing of rainfall. All climate change has an impact on all habitats, including ours.

Environment committee  According to our report on migratory birds, insectivores—birds that feed on insects—have experienced a major population decline ranging from 40% to 60%. Scientists have a theory on this phenomenon. According to them, when migratory birds return to Canada, the insects are not yet out because of climate change.

Environment committee  We haven't looked at that. That's not something we would look at in terms of an audit, so we can't comment.

Environment committee  Not that I'm aware of, no. The type of audit we do is called a performance audit. We look at objectives and commitments that the government has made. Then we indicate whether or not, and we advise you whether or not, the government's actually meeting its own objectives. There's a whole other side of the Auditor General's office that does look at the financial statements.

Environment committee  I don't think anything is completely out of my bailiwick. I can, I believe, if I'm interested and want to, pursue that. I would bring some people from the financial side over into our group to do that, but we haven't made that decision.

Environment committee  You will have to ask the department.

Environment committee  I can tell you that everything we indicated in our audit report was correct as of the date we audited. Our findings are stamped approved by the department at that time, so they are correct. You'd have to ask the department about anything further.

Environment committee  You have a lot of questions. I will try to answer you. The recently established National Conservation Plan has not yet been audited. It's highly likely that our office will audit that organization or fund. So we could conduct an audit, but we haven't done so yet. As for the more technical question regarding the audit of a third party, I will let Mr.