Thank you, Chair.
I just want to take us back to what we're here discussing, and that is the role of this position. Independence is obviously key to it.
When we heard from our friend from New Zealand, I asked him very deliberately about the big stick and how he saw his role. I asked him very intentionally to give us some examples from when he was involved in over 10 years of work. Did he need any further powers? No. Did he actually use his role to go after people? No. What he was saying to us was that his role was to do a number of things, but to be a steward of the environment, obviously, and to animate discussion within New Zealand.
It's very important to remember that it is a different role. If you look at the examples in the United Kingdom, with their Sustainable Development Commission, they've approached the environment and this position in the same manner; that is, that we can't just look at it as a numbered sheet; that we don't just look at how much money was spent and when. It's much bigger than that.
I think the role of the environment commissioner, as my friend Mr. Bigras said, needs to be looked at through that lens. In other words, we're talking about something that requires government to use more than just its traditional reporting mechanism; it has to have further independence to be able to do its job correctly.
I plead to my fellow members to support this motion, putting aside any partisan concerns they might have about where the motion is coming from. Know that the Liberals had promised it before; take some glee in the fact that you're watching them now come back trying to make up for lost time, and support the motion. In the words of a constituent of mine who's already been referred to, Mr. MacNeill, we really need a strong, effective, and independent commissioner, and the need has never been greater. It's time to get on with it, enact it, approve, and implement.
Thank you.