Environment committee  Whenever people are involved, a population getting involved with the Great Lakes.... In the areas of concern that we have, the hotspots around the Great Lakes, the remedial action plans are populated almost entirely by volunteers, by people who are participating in helping to solve the problem.

Environment committee  I sure hope so.

Environment committee  Climate change is huge for all of us, and none of us in this room could likely say that they haven't seen the impact of climate change, such as more moderate winters, although I can't say that about right now. We've had a pretty impressive winter, and just two weeks ago 90% of the surface of the Great Lakes was covered by ice.

Environment committee  Well, that's not our job. I think we sort of say that we suggest they put—

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  This is like putting the ship in the bottle, but it's up to you to put the ship in the bottle. We believe that it's possible to do. In fact, we're very strong on all of the Great Lakes having more wetland acres. We're going to be strong on that in the future. In other areas, we're going to be calling on it, and certainly with Lake Huron and Lake Erie, it's feasible for governments to do that and just to reserve areas and make them better for wetlands.

Environment committee  Wetlands are something of a canary in the mine shaft. The wetlands are able to produce the kinds of water species, the kinds of growing species—flora and fauna—that are important to restore the shoreline and also to restore and replenish the birds, to restore and replenish the animals, to restore and replenish the growing fauna.

Environment committee  Certainly, Mr. Carrie, the renewed agreement, the updated agreement, which in many respects has a number of changes, reflects a much more modern approach to be taken. The IJC has a number of responsibilities that flow from the actual Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, particularly the annexes: the areas of concern, the lake-wide management, discharge from vessels, and science generally.

Environment committee  It's an appropriate place for me to stop.

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm Gordon Walker, acting chair of the Canadian section of the International Joint Commission. Two of our staff people are here today, our secretary, Camille Mageau, and Nick Heisler, senior adviser. With your permission, they will answer any questions I can't, which are mostly technical and scientific, I'm sure.