Natural Resources committee  Yes, they are implemented. In the case of a project that has been subjected to an environmental assessment, she imposes requirements on the promoter. There is a whole series of conditions that the promoter must respect. Our recommendations to the Minister of the Environment can be formulated in this way: in this case, Madam Minister, for all the following reasons, we recommend that you appoint an independent review panel; or in this case, a comprehensive study would suffice.

Natural Resources committee  I’m going to ask Scott to add to my response afterwards. If there are greenhouse gas reduction targets, they are taken into account during the assessment of individual projects and we ask that a certain number of mitigation measures be taken to reduce these emissions. It is not our role to establish reduction targets.

Natural Resources committee  First of all, I report directly to the Minister of the Environment. To my knowledge, it has never happened that a Minister of the Environment has... It has never happened. So it’s hypothetical.

Natural Resources committee  Which I know well, by the way.

Natural Resources committee  More and more, the Minister of the Environment is appointing review panels, but not just for the oil sands. It’s a very strong trend. Previously, a Minister of the Environment would appoint one or two review panels a year. This year, if the trend continues, by the end of the month, she will have appointed some ten or twelve.

Natural Resources committee  You've asked a lot of questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. If you don't mind, I'll ask my colleague Scott Streiner to give me a hand as well. He was taking copious notes here. First, the obligation to do an environmental assessment is triggered by a number of factors.

Natural Resources committee  I thought you would tell us who would start.

Natural Resources committee  All right. Thank you very much for giving us an opportunity to talk to you about the work of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and in particular the work we do on the oil sands. We've prepared a presentation that shouldn't take too long. It was distributed to you.