Public Accounts committee  Let me ask Paul Mayers to start with this one.

Public Accounts committee  As you can see from the CFIA response to the audit, our challenge is risk management. Whether it's in food safety, animal health, or plant health, we have to find the right balance of risk. We cannot inspect our way out of a plant health situation. As others around this table have noted, inspection is an important aspect, but it's by no means the only way to guarantee that invasive species don't enter Canada.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you. Again, there are a number of questions there. I'll take one at a time, and I will ask Brian to give a little more detail in terms of the action plan. The honourable member mentioned that a lot has changed since 1996. I think that's quite true. This committee has referenced a number of those things—globalization, trade has increased dramatically—with challenges for plant health.

Public Accounts committee  I'm going to ask Paul Mayers to give us a couple of examples of how we monitor. In particular, he will address some of the issues where we have plant emergencies currently in place.

Public Accounts committee  I will turn to Stephen in a minute for cost. He may not have those figures readily at hand, in which case we will have to get back to you. We absolutely agree that a national tracking system is an important aspect of being able to monitor and do proper risk assessment on plant health issues.

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, if I might clarify that, you're absolutely right, and certainly if I left the impression that we were in any way saying that the 1996 audit was not relevant because we were created in 1997, that wasn't my intention. It was only to say that the audit was on plant and animal health.

Public Accounts committee  The current management team that you see before you has been in place for approximately two years or less. I was appointed in June 2007, as was Dr. Evans as executive vice-president. Paul was appointed fairly recently, this year, and Stephen as well. So as with any department or agency, there always is some churn.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. I think it's fair to say you can tell from our action plan and our comments here today that we take this audit very seriously. We found it a very serious audit as well. I would like to underscore one thing before I proceed with the rest of your question.

Public Accounts committee  It is, in fact, becoming more complex. I'll ask Dr. Brian Evans just to give a couple of examples of how we are trying, on a science basis, to identify additional pathways for pests.

Public Accounts committee  It is true that we have had indications before. The 1996 audit actually predated the existence of the agency that was on an Agriculture Canada program, so some of the validity is still there. As far as 2003, we have made some progress in terms of meeting the commitments we made to the Auditor General.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, and thank you for the question. There are, in my opinion, four major aspects of our action plan relating to the recommendations of the Auditor General. The first is using a more risk-based approach for plant pest surveillance. We agree that we must be more risk-based. So we are doing things like auditing our pest survey protocols, which we hope to improve in next year's surveys.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. There are many parts to this, so let me take them in order. One thing I do want to make very clear, and the Auditor General will correct me if I don't have this right, is that this is not a health-of-people issue. This is an issue about pests, about potential risk to Canada's forests and crops, but we were not interpreting it, with all due respect, as a health issue.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. To clarify, in terms of a food safety issue, as I mentioned, the inspection agency has three very important mandates: food safety, animal health, and plant health. This audit is a very important audit in terms of our plant health responsibilities. We take it very seriously, I can assure you.

Public Accounts committee  I will ask Stephen Baker, the CFO, to handle the details of this. I will just indicate to you that IM/IT systems generally are very important to CFIA in the plant health area, the animal health area, and the food safety area as well. We recognize at the agency that it is an area we need to invest more in.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. I'm going to ask Paul Mayers to speak to the issue of Health Canada and our relationship, particularly in relation to resources.