Environment committee  So going by some of these estimates—I'm only talking about cuts now—$9 million for climate change initiatives, $39 million for the opportunities fund, $35 million cut for the ethanol expansion program, $10 million for the green energy support, close to $10 million for EnerGuide, and the cancelling of the climate change policy directorate, were those seen as initiatives that Canadians should celebrate?

Environment committee  I assume last year's numbers will be discussed with the DPR and the public accounts, which are published at the end of the initiative, in 2006-07. I think Environment Canada has received about $25 million with respect to climate change. This is part of the $3.336 billion we'll spend on the climate change and clean air files, something that I think is crucially important.

Environment committee  You mentioned you were in Potsdam last week. At the time you stated that Canada has a plan for climate change. You said that Canada wants to join international talks on measures that go beyond Kyoto. Can you help us by letting us know what plan you tabled in Potsdam for the G8+5 meeting? What did you put forward as Canada's plan for climate change?

Environment committee  We have been a pioneer in offsets and emissions trading. Before we get into the substance of the bill, I want to emphasize that our climate change strategy has been to have continuous improvement. We are currently at 8.8% in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, which is intensely below our 1990 levels--and that's with our capacity being up 77%.

Environment committee  I appreciate the comments from each of the witnesses here today. Dr. Stone and Mr. Rutherford started with the science of climate change. I think we all agree we've moved beyond that. There is a sense of urgency. We are experiencing climate change, and what we're looking for are solutions. Mr. Rutherford recommended that we have to be efficient and look for efficiencies.

Environment committee  Is your industry doing anything with this on the more progressive side, suggesting to homeowners and businesses—two fronts, two questions here, one to the homeowners in specific terms—that if you build a property in what we consider to be a risky area with respect to climate change, you will be penalized by higher rates? On the business front, to businesses that you believe are susceptible to climate change—the forestry sector and others who don't have a climate change strategy—do you then incorporate some of those influences in the way you set out your terms and policies?

Environment committee  I'd like Mr. Villeneuve to tell us about the impact of climate change in Quebec. I read the report he helped produce: “Adapting to Climate Change.” Could he summarize the impact of climate change in Quebec for us? Among other things, I'm thinking of the Quebec high north and the St.

Environment committee  To measure progress against the climate change convention would actually contribute more to this issue. Thank you.

Environment committee  I will try, with some trepidation. I am not an economist. The issue, in my view, is climate change. As Dr. Villeneuve said, Kyoto is a first small step. Tackling climate change requires long-term, medium-term, and short-term targets and actions. As Professor Villeneuve mentioned, if we want to stabilize the climate, it's going to take a reduction of between 60% to 80%.

Environment committee  Let me just say a few words about the urgency of addressing climate change. Last year, in preparation for the chairmanship of the G-8, the United Kingdom government organized a conference on dangerous climate change. The reference to “dangerous” is from article 2 of the framework convention, what some refer to as the ultimate objective--that is, to avoid dangerous interference with the climate system.

Environment committee  Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Alex Manson and I'm director general of the domestic climate change policy at Environment Canada. I don't have the numbers right in front of me, Mr. Cullen, but I believe the decrease you're seeing in there is what Ms. Ruta was referring to earlier, and that is, there are a number of initiatives in the department, and particularly in the climate change area, that are funded to the end of this fiscal year, and the government will be making decisions about what should be continuing.

Environment committee  In terms of our strategic outcomes, science deals with a lot of that. So in terms of what was actually captured under the climate change particular strategic outcome, that's not to say that it wouldn't be informed from the other strategic outcomes. I'll ask my colleague, Craig Ferguson, to provide a few more insights in a moment, but I can say, again, it's not to say that just solely the money on climate change, as we have there, is dealt with investment-wise in a very discrete sense.

Environment committee  Government has to put money and resources at this very moment toward fighting climate change. That should be the number one priority for all those who really care about the environment. My concern is that when I look at the estimates, only 2.5% is to deal with climate change.

Environment committee  What really struck me in the last little while is that leading climate scientists who used to be very cautious about stating an opinion on what would be dangerous climate change--because that does involve not just scientific evidence but also a value judgment--are now coming forward in substantial numbers. I cited that Bali Climate Declaration by Scientists as a striking example of this.

Environment committee  There has been a lot of new science on climate change. By and large, it has been very much pushing in the direction of raising our level of alarm, raising the sense of urgency that we should have, and it is a fact that the IPCC fourth assessment report, third volume, which came out this year, did confirm those numbers that we ended up concluding, the numbers for the Canadian reductions that we think we need to see by 2020 and 2050, the numbers we put in our report.