Environment committee  The one that comes to my mind right away, and I'm not sure it goes all the way to actually having been considered established, is the work that's happening in Toronto around the Asian longhorned beetle. That was identified quickly, so we had the early detection. There was rapid r

Environment committee  I think climate change is reflected in the strategy more through what I mentioned earlier, that Canadian ecosystems are going to be a little more receptive to species not currently found in Canada. I think what's really difficult is actually predicting what our ecosystems might l

Environment committee  The mobility of species is at the heart of how I think the strategy addresses the implications of climate change: the activities in the strategy, the focus on prevention, early detection, and rapid response. We have change happening in the Canadian landscape. If we tackle those p

Environment committee  I tend to focus more on the invasive. I could follow up by providing you with information on alien species that are not invasive.

Environment committee  Actually, the source for that information is a report from 2006 that we could make available to the committee. It assesses more than just the $20 billion in the forest sector. It also addresses some species harmful to the agriculture sector as well.

Environment committee  With respect to the Environment Canada role, we focus on the strategy and a funding program. The direct management is not something we do, and I would be deferring to federal colleagues, and perhaps on something like the giant bullfrog that might be more municipal and local actio

Environment committee  That's right. You're actually blessed in your jurisdiction to have a very active invasive species council, which we've worked with. I mentioned the funding program and funding being provided to that provincial entity. I know that they do outreach. I can't speak to the particular

Environment committee  I could probably make my presentation with answers, but maybe I can show one more slide and quickly mention federal legislation. I'll stop at the next slide.

Environment committee  Thank you very much. The federal role is focused on prevention, as far as international and interprovincial trade and transport. The key statutes are managed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, with the exception of the Canada Shipping Act, which is Transport Canada. The wor

Environment committee  If the issue is change in natural distribution and the species is expanding its range, say from the United States into Canada, such as we're seeing now, they aren't considered alien. That's a part of the very natural change you alluded to that's happening in ecosystems. That's no

Environment committee  Yes, exactly.

Environment committee  And that can happen as well, although something like West Nile virus—I'm trying to recall its pathway of introduction, and it's escaping me at the moment—can happen naturally as well, the spread of disease.

Environment committee  This definition would be common not just in the United States but globally, more generally. Those are the core characteristics of how any country is defining invasive alien species.

Environment committee  Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to be with the committee this morning on this particular subject matter. We've prepared a presentation. I wonder whether it has been circulated.

Environment committee  I'll jump into it anyway. In my presentation I will spend a few minutes speaking about why we should care about invasive alien species; provide an overview of a national strategy, an invasive alien species strategy for Canada that was developed a few years ago; and then speak a