Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses. I really appreciate the consideration that you are providing to us. Having an international perspective as we re-evaluate the Federal Sustainable Development Act here in Canada is so valuable.
I'm going to focus my questions specifically on Dr. Gunton's comments just because I think that I really want to get very practical and concrete in terms of the Canadian context and what the federal government needs to do in terms of legislative and institutional change.
Before I do though, I'll just take one sentence because I couldn't agree more with my colleague Mr. Cullen's comment about the fifth dimension, and my colleague Mr. Sopuck's remarks around the Kuznets curve. I would simply point out that the evaluation, the econometric methodology that is Kuznets curve analysis is highly controversial; it is not settled in academia, and the relationship between a country's GDP and income versus environmental outcomes is totally.... It's not unsubstantiated but not a matter of settled discussion, simply to be fair to the issue. I'll park that issue now.
Dr. Gunton, you have experience as a senior civil servant. You understand how government systems work behind the facade of politicians. What would you recommend to this committee as we contemplate making recommendations, both legislative- and policy-wise? What would you recommend be done beyond simply saying whole-of-government approach, or we need central agencies to be more involved? What specifically in terms of central agency involvement within the federal government would you like to see? What specific roles do you think need to be fulfilled and in what specific departments?