Environment Canada received that funding in the amount of $630,000—for chemical, biological, radiological initiatives. It was to be used through the supplementary estimates of the same fiscal year, and Environment Canada is returning an amount of about $136,000. This came about as a result of the transfer from other government departments in the budget in 2010-11. In order to require funding for these other government departments, the money went back to the participants in the program—RCMP, Natural Resources, National Research Council, and Health Canada.
The funds were used to develop and maintain laboratory services across these partner departments. This was to enhance our capability in responding to emergencies, environmental spills, biological release, chemicals, explosive research, and radiological nuclear research. In the current context of what we're seeing unfold in Japan, the more knowledge that we can garner from various departments, experiments, and laboratory work, the better we will be as we work to improve cooperation and information sharing. This program is a whole-of-government effort. It has a mandate that ran for five years from 2002. The program was renewed in the first year of our government in 2006, and the program is all about enhancing Canada's capability to work with other departments in the face of a chemical, biological, or nuclear explosive event. We need to make investments in this area, to collaborate, and to conduct reseach. In the overall scheme of things, $5 million per year is a small amount relative to the overall budget, and it will not affect next year's funding within the same areas of research.