Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The least we can say is that it was a nice segue.
If the federal and provincial governments sat down with the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, I think they would likely spend more than four meetings discussing a bill the scope of which, to my mind, goes well beyond that of the usual federal initiative.
I have been an MP in Ottawa for 11 years. Although I am accustomed to seeing the Liberal Party table bills with a centralist bent, rarely have I seen a bill... When I look at the schedule which lists areas affected by the implementation of the sustainable development strategy set out in clause 8, I find that it takes in quite a bit, Mr. Chairman. Some of the items listed include recycling rates, as well as water, materials and energy consumption. Mention is also made of agricultural land. It is rather unusual for a federal bill to make mention of this. There is also a reference to urban land consumption—no small issue—and to public transit, not to mention livestock density and fertilizer and pesticide use in general, not just on federally-owned lands.
My question is for you, Mr. Newman. Do you find it unusual for a bill on sustainable development and the environment to include references to these specific items? For example, do you believe that recycling rates and targets should be set by Ottawa? Is it common to find such things in a federal bill?