Environment committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. I'm very pleased to be here to speak about our progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our approach to addressing climate change. This is certainly something that's important to talk about, as

Environment committee  The emissions data are available. The reported inventory is available every year. Emissions have fluctuated over the last several years. I believe the auditor's report does have a line graph. In the absence of policy, they are projected to increase going forward, but as you'll se

Environment committee  That's right. There's typically a two-year lag on emissions inventory information.

Environment committee  I think the fact that climate change is happening is unequivocal. The leading scientists of the world have stated unequivocally that climate change is happening and is unequivocally caused by human actions. I don't think there's any debate on that point.

Environment committee  Absolutely. We've approached the development of our policies by trying to look at it from all angles. I think we've certainly concluded that there is no silver bullet. Had there been one, we would have one policy rather than a suite of policies. There are so many different source

Environment committee  Yes. I think this is the most comprehensive plan, and I think a number of commentators, whether it's on the environmental group side or on industry or elsewhere, have referred to this as the most comprehensive plan we've had to date in Canada. In addition to the funds you've men

Environment committee  Well, no, frankly. It takes time to implement these policies. Regulations need to be drafted and gazetted. There is a legislated process with specific timelines and a commitment to rigour in how we design and implement our regulations. There is a financial management system, of

Environment committee  It's a difficult question to answer, just because you will see emission reductions being achieved by different measures at a different pace. There is a specific time frame associated with carbon pricing, but that will take time to step up. Other measures, such as enhanced buildin

Environment committee  I'm sorry to say that I'm not the senior official responsible for either carbon pricing or economic modelling within Environment Canada, so I have not seen this analysis. I'm not aware of the analysis that you're referring to and I'm not in a position to promise that it will be d

Environment committee  I can say a few quick remarks on adaptation, then I'll turn to my colleagues who work more specifically in that area. I think it is important to note that the commissioner's report was very narrowly focused on departmental vulnerabilities and risks. What's not covered by that re

Environment committee  I can speak specifically to the low-carbon economy fund, as I'm trying to oversee its implementation. Currently I can tell you that we've engaged with, and received proposals from, the vast majority of provinces and territories. Quite a bit of work was needed in order to define

Environment committee  It depends on the fund. The most significant funds are held by Infrastructure Canada. There are significant funds associated with the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund and some clean technology funding that perhaps other colleagues could speak to. It does take time to seek

Environment committee  There are a lot of ideas that are being considered at various levels in terms of the governance of this file. With the pan-Canadian framework being so broad—I believe there are 19 federal departments and agencies responsible for some aspect of a program or other in the framework—

Environment committee  We are looking at the information that's become available recently in the various reports suggesting that methane emissions are greater than previously understood. We're working to develop our methane regulations as we had announced them previously. As the commissioner has encour

Environment committee  In terms of our cabinet materials, we prepared environmental assessments as standard practice for all of our memoranda to cabinet. My understanding is that's not the focus of this meeting. I understand we were focusing just on the first two audits on adaptation and clean technolo