1. How the Canadian federal government responds to oil spills from ships
2. How Canada monitors the quantity and quality of our fresh water
3. How Canada supports adaptation to climate change impacts

"Canada still does not have a national plan to ensure the federal government is ready to respond to major incidents involving spills from vessels transporting all kinds of hazardous and noxious substances. The Canadian Coast Guard has unclear, incomplete, and unreliable data about oil spill responses, and cannot accurately determine the actual size of spills, how many spills required onsite responses, how many spills required the use of Canadian Coast Guard equipment, and the results of the cleanup efforts," says the Commissioner Vaughn's report.

"Environment Canada has been running the federal water quantity and water quality monitoring programs for about 40 years without knowing who - if anyone - is monitoring the quality of fresh water on federal lands," the report highlights, noting Environment Canada has water quality monitoring stations on only 12 of some 3,000 First Nation reserves.

The report recommends Environment Canada take the lead in a coordinating a government-wide response to climate change. This would include the sharing of tools and best practices "to improve how the government integrates climate-risk identification, assessment and adaptation into its decision making and planning."