I'll declare, if you promise not to hold it against me, that I'm a lawyer, and so I'm at ease, shall we say, that sometimes the real test of a law is in its application. So the spirit of the language is something we're extremely comfortable with, and really the test will be, over time, the extent to which these words are given meaning. That's why we are very pleased to see an accountability action plan, which accompanies the bill, and the striking of a committee whose mandate would be to go and breathe life into these words.
We look forward to working with the committee. The sector is extremely supportive that the committee exist and the quality leadership there.
The test will be the extent to which the grants and contributions committee can come back with some very meaningful changes. Fixes to just the flow of grants and contributions is important, but if government wants to be seen to be successful in really dealing with the 10- to 12-year demise in funding to the sector and the enormous erosion of infrastructure, it will have to look more broadly than just at fixing grants and contributions and look at some longer-term funding solutions.
I've thrown out a few ideas. I think it's appropriate for a parliamentary committee. We haven't had a parliamentary committee on this important sector in decades.
I happen to like the idea of a foundation that takes funding outside of government, to a certain extent, that might be endowed through consolidated revenue but be a maple leaf kind of foundation that mirrors, to certain extent, the Trillium Foundation or the Wild Rose Foundation, that could complement grants and contributions and contracts over at PWGSC by providing some stable national funding for the sector.