I certainly think that is one important forum to try to get a different kind of resolve and motivation in here. This one would be particularly helpful because the bulk of the species and the geography, in terms of what the species and their habitats need, are actually within provincial-territorial jurisdiction. The strong federal government leadership to implement this federal legislation clearly has a trigger role to play to bring on high-quality and priority implementation of those provincial-territorial instruments and all associated programs, etc.
I do think overriding all that is the question of values. I want your committee to realize...the sort of comments Robert Bateman has made internationally. When asked to comment on why Canada hasn't solved all this--we are an affluent country with great conservation opportunity in biodiversity--his headline-catching but totally honest lifetime summary was that, frankly, we are too cheap.
So we don't value species in terms of what our moral and even our economic responsibility is. I think you're totally right: the ecosystem services natural capital fiscal reform, to actually value those services that the planet provides, and the species simply are telling us, as barometers, an essential part of that New Age 21st century discussion. I would like to think that not just first ministers but the finance ministers who are interested in this would pay great attention to that.