Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll try to be brief, given my allotted time.

I'm pleased to be speaking with you today here on Parliament Hill on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation.

I would like to thank the commissioner for the report and for the quality of the report. I would also say that it's an important audit for us.

As he mentioned, every day, Canadians are seeing the growing impact and costs of climate change. I'm talking about people such as firefighters, first responders, indigenous peoples and people in western communities such as Fort McMurray in Alberta and Fort Nelson in B.C. who are asking themselves what kind of forest fire season they will get this year.

This audit is important because it reiterates the urgency to act. It's also important because it provides even more transparency on the government's efforts to reduce emissions. As the commissioner pointed out, little time is left to achieve our goals by 2030. However, I would like to come back to some elements that I think are positive.

The report was released before the ERP of last year. If you are looking at the ERP for the first time, we have a report showing that we will exceed the old target of 30% by 2030, which was not the case—we were far from there—a few years ago. We will also exceed the 20% reduction by 2026.

Furthermore, the 2024 “National Inventory Report” indicates that Canadian emissions are continuing to drop. In 2022, emissions were at 44 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions below prepandemic levels. This is the lowest level ever in 25 years if, of course, you eliminate the two years of COVID.

Regardless of the progress, we agree that we do not have a lot of time in front of us and that more effort is needed.

Today, I want to reiterate to the committee that my department welcomes the commissioner's recommendations in the report.

We believe that we're taking steps in this area in terms of transparency, the quality of reporting, actions, the development and implementation of new regulations, the enhancement of current regulations, the increased capacity to model greenhouse gas emissions and the scope of different policies.

In a way, these are the points that I wanted to emphasize.

Along with my colleagues, I would now be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have.

Thank you.