Environment committee  I should say initially that I have not read that section of the commissioner's report, but I take from your remarks that they're commenting on what they perceive to be a lack of an inventory, in essence. Is that correct?

Environment committee  So the degree to which COSEWIC.... COSEWIC has very limited opportunities to contribute to such an inventory. We certainly use existing inventories as a basis for deciding which species to undertake new status assessments on, but in fact we have a fairly limited capacity to under

Environment committee  Basically this comes down to a variety of factors that have prolonged the process and the establishment of recovery strategies, listing decisions, and so on. The longer that timeframe is, the more likely a species will be sent back to COSEWIC for further information or reconsider

Environment committee  Yes, that's correct.

Environment committee  I hadn't thought of it in those terms. We think of it as a review period, but it certainly involves consultation, so that's--

Environment committee  Absolutely.

Environment committee  Well, let's take a species, for example, that's found across the country. The woodland caribou would be one example. The canary warbler is another. They are boreal forest species that are found in many provinces. Parks Canada has jurisdiction, the Canadian Wildlife Service has ju

Environment committee  Well, it's adequate in terms of the construction of the report. It depends what the purpose of this feedback is.

Environment committee  It could be done. It's simply that most of these jurisdictions are dealing with multiple COSEWIC reports.

Environment committee  I do know something about that. I think it's fair to say that consultations take varying amounts of time depending on the purposes of the consultations.

Environment committee  At present, the GIC has nine months to make a decision. It could make a decision in one month.

Environment committee  Well, not exactly. The act does not specify a consultation period.

Environment committee  Let me explain why it's worded the way it is.

Environment committee  That will depend on the minister. That will depend on the government. That will depend on a variety of things. There are consultations that take place within a three-month period--

Environment committee  That is outside the purview of COSEWIC. My understanding is that the consultations are there to inform those who might be potentially affected by a legal listing decision in order to provide information to them on what COSEWIC suggested, to inform them of the basis for COSEWIC's