I will have us turn our attention to reading the motion. Mr. McGuinty had a motion before us, in which he's calling for the role of the commissioner to transition to
...a full and independent Agent of Parliament (“Office of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development”) reporting to Parliament directly through the Speakers of both the House of Commons and the Senate—
I would like to ask you, Ms. Fraser, if you could explain whether there would be additional bureaucracy or repetition of functions if that were to happen.
Particularly, you may have read an article by former Liberal Minister of the Environment Sheila Copps. In it, she makes the point that at the time when she was the Minister of the Environment we were in the process of laying off 40,000 public servants, so it seemed logical to cut down on the creation of a new bureaucracy.
With that as a backdrop, could you respond in terms of whether or not there would be additional bureaucracy and some repetition of functions if that new and fully independent agent of Parliament reporting directly to the House and the Senate were to be established?