Thank you so much, Minister, for being here today, as well as your staff. We appreciate your coming out to meet with us.
Our committee has just spent a number of meetings studying the FSDA and the FSDS. One of the key deficiencies identified has been making government more accountable around the FSDA and SDGs It has been suggested we need to legislate that the government must use the three pillars of social, economic, and environmental consideration in all decisions of program development or projects; that we should legislate that long-term objectives be established, and short-, medium-, and long-term targets and goals be set to meet these long-term sustainability objectives; that these goals and targets should meet the requirements of the SMART process; that we should take a whole-of-government approach and create a central agency, for example elevating the minister of environment and sustainable development to a sustainability, or like Wales has done, the minister for the well-being of future generations; and that we should increase the enforcement capability of the environment commissioner or sustainable development commissioner, whatever that title might be, to enforce compliance with stated goals and also to create a forward-looking agent to hold government accountable to the long-term objectives, once again for the well-being of future generations.
Can you please share your thoughts on these objectives and on these proposals?