I appreciate that there has been a recent budget or cash infusion to allow the commissioner to do some additional work. That's great. That might translate into an increased number of performance audits and related work. That's commendable. As Mr. Fauteux pointed out earlier, the number of audits and reports have declined somewhat over the long term. We're hoping that, on a go-forward basis, this funding is going to be secure and will allow the commissioner to do more good work.
However, as was pointed out earlier, the mandate is limited. It's not a policy review. It's not an opportunity for the environment commissioner to identify shortcomings or gaps in federal environmental law or policy framework. That's where I think this needs to go. It's kind of like the Wayne Gretzky quote that says don't go where the puck is; go to where it's going to be. I think that's what we need to do for the environmental commissioner. Let's not just do after-the-fact evaluations of whether sustainable development targets, plans or time frames have been met. That's important, but it's not enough.
That's why I think we need to think outside the box in terms of reformulating the role of the federal commissioner.