Thank you for the question.
I had the opportunity to meet with many stakeholders, including representatives from the Gaspé Beaubien foundation, which launched AquaAction, and is part of the Canadian Coalition for Healthy Waters. It is true that many federal departments work in silos. That’s why the government decided to create the Canada Water Agency. Breaking down silos is an essential part of our mandate.
To fulfill this mandate, we created a coordinating committee representing all assistant deputy ministers with responsibilities relating to freshwater management. It includes, for example, people from Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Indigenous Services Canada. Each person is focused on the issues for which they are responsible. The committee’s objective is to coordinate activities and provide advice to cabinet members.
Furthermore, my colleague Ms. Cervoni created what we call a policy centre. This centre has members from six departments, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and its mandate is to create new policies that take each department’s mandate into account. This group is responsible for coordination and integrated policies at the Canada Water Agency.