Thanks for the bad news that the Minister has provided there. It sounds pretty grim. Many of the environmental monitoring functions performed by Environment Canada are referred to as mandated requirements. Meaning if the federal Minister issues a licence or authority with conditions requiring regulatory agencies to monitor compliance, the federal government is legally obligated to provide the resource necessary to carry out the monitoring. This legal compulsion would presumably govern the monitoring

requirements arising out of authorities granted for the operation of our mines, the Mackenzie Gas Project, and so forth. When the specifics of the cuts are announced, will this government be doing a cross-check to see whether the cuts cripple the federal ability to meet its mandated monitoring responsibilities?