Public Accounts committee  You're absolutely right that Canada is the worst performer in the G7 since both 1990 and since 2005, the two baseline years. What is needed is a collection of effective measures that will meet or exceed the next target. We're not in the business of setting a target. You mentioned 60% or something else, but we're in the business of assessing performance towards the committed target, which is 40% to 45%.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, if any of their measures are delayed or watered down in the consultation process, it means that it is all the more important to have other measures to fill in that gap. If you diminish the scope of a measure, for example, as happened with the clean fuel regulations in terms of the evolution of that regulation, then you need to catch up somewhere else.

Public Accounts committee  In answering that question, I'll take us back to my first appearance before this committee a couple of years ago. In the lessons learned on climate change report from our office in 2021, lesson one is, “Stronger leadership and coordination are needed to drive progress toward climate commitments”.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, I am, in terms of the principle of transparency. If Canada were a country that showed it could set targets and meet targets, and we didn't necessarily need to see what was going wrong because nothing was going wrong, I would still agree they should be transparent. However, it's even more important that they be transparent with a track record of failure after failure.

Public Accounts committee  Time flies, but it hasn't been a year yet. It was in November, I guess, when we tabled this report. I would say there's been no major change in the key, existing measures when Environment Canada models them. Do they add up to 40% to 45% yet, or do they not? They still do not. It's oscillated between 34% and 36%.

Public Accounts committee  I can answer that from two perspectives. The first is at a conceptual level. Our 2021 “Lessons Learned” report says stronger leadership and more effective plans are needed. Then, at a sectoral level, I can answer it from a second perspective. Canada really needs to get a handle on oil and gas and transportation.

Public Accounts committee  Principal Leach will address that.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. I can't say whether I'll agree with the department until I see what happens. We'll see.

Public Accounts committee  I'm not confident right now. I want to see a reduction in emissions from year to year to bring us closer to the target. We need to focus on results. We need to see results.

Public Accounts committee  I can give you an example regarding the modelling that we just discussed. Our office and our principal, Ms. Leach, have made recommendations as part of a number of audits over the past two decades. We proposed a series of recommendations, which the department agreed to. However, we found that not enough progress had been made and that the situation wasn't improving.

Public Accounts committee  I would like the department to reach a target and improve its modelling. However, I can't say whether this will happen and whether I'll agree with the department—

Public Accounts committee  Are we back to the net-zero act or are we still on the net-zero accelerator?

Public Accounts committee  I'll ask Ms. Leach, the principal responsible for this audit, to return to the table and assist with this. Ms. Leach is the principal responsible for the net-zero act report.

Public Accounts committee  We anticipated that there would be some questions regarding our new net-zero accelerator initiative report, and Mr. Lequain is here to address those questions.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're happy to appear before your committee to discuss our November 2023 report on the 2030 emissions reduction plan, which was developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. I would like to acknowledge that this hearing is taking place on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.