Environment committee  Thank you for your question and I'll take a stab at it. I think it is about the fundamental question around biodiversity conservation and in some ways my answer—and I hope it doesn't get too technical—relates a little to earlier questioning around climate change. I

Environment committee   guess it was online—about the George River caribou herd which is in decline. What was really important about the way that scientists were talking about this herd being in decline is they said that it was factors like strain on the habitat and climate change that were an issue

Environment committee  Thank you. Ultimately, the food availability and the conditions that the birds receive when they come back to Canada are going to be dependent on a great number of factors, as the commissioner has said, and it is possible that climate change and the timing of migratory return

Environment committee  Okay. What role does climate change play in the destruction of natural habitats?

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  Are migratory birds struggling to adapt to climate change? Can the usual time when species return to their natural habitat be disrupted by climate change, either because the temperature is already too high or too low when they normally return?

Environment committee   out because of climate change. As a result, the birds have nothing to eat, and that leads to a decline in their numbers. That's one scientific theory, but I am not sure whether it has been proven. There is another explanation. The change in the birds' habitat in the south may have

Environment committee   ecosystems, acidification of lakes, habitat loss, climate change, biological diversity, vulnerability, adaptation, and so on. As commissioner, have you ever audited the work Environment Canada has done to reach the targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity? If not, do you plan

Environment committee  Thank you. You are right. The system clearly has to be managed properly and seriously. I'm glad to hear you talk about the importance of taking action against climate change. In fact, the committee will be debating some motions I provided notice of last week. One of them

Environment committee   opposed to a carbon tax but I do believe we have to put a value on the carbon that we're putting into our environment. Climate change is real. It's happening at an accelerated rate, and we as developed countries need to deal with that. We need to take into account the value or the cost

Environment committee   Members of the Opposition to join the official delegation, from December 1 to 12, 2014, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference taking place in Lima, Peru. The second one says: That the Committee invite the Minister of the Environment for an update on the climate change

Environment committee  That's not my understanding. It's the case that we are developing far more sophisticated tools that reflect the progress in our understanding of the global climate system. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, and that is a function of the phenomenon of climate

Environment committee  I've been given to understand this is becoming quite a challenge because climate change seems to be driving some extreme weather events. It's been hard to keep the modelling up to speed so that Canadians get timely and accurate forecasts. Is that a reasonable observation?

Environment committee  I would have to check on that. Climate change, both mitigation and adaptation, is one of four key priorities under our departmental science plan. I'd be happy to verify whether we are specifically addressing the impacts on contaminated sites.

Environment committee   and environmental warnings. We continue to do a great deal of science in that area. The third, as I mentioned, is climate change mitigation and adaptation. The fourth relates to this area of conservation and all of the work we do in wildlife-related science, which is both flora and fauna.