Unfortunately, my colleague, Lisa, had to leave to do a CBC interview.
First of all, let me say that, while it's not specific, we hear this over and over again: “Why can't we collaborate in this country to achieve the inclusive, sustainable economic growth we all want?” Canadians talk to us about the fact that they are so dispirited by the fact that different parties and levels of government seem unable to talk in a respectful way with each other to come up with the solutions that Canadians know and feel will meet these big challenges. It's collaboration among all three levels of government, but then also collaboration with the private sector, levels of government and civil society. Yes, that's a general motherhood thing, but Canadians palpably feel that we are lacking collaboration to deal with these big problems. They want to see it. That is one message I would leave you with.
Otherwise, it's important.... Here, I suppose I speak directly about the Government of Canada. I think the Government of Canada has to show leadership in terms of providing both that spirit of collaboration and some of that certainty that the private sector needs to be confident in terms of its investment going forward. Actually, what will ultimately drive the transition to a green economy—governments have to be there, absolutely, especially at the beginning—is private sector investment.
We need to ensure that governments—probably at least federal and provincial governments collaborating and working together—provide the framework in which we have the certainty to make the investments. We really do need to do a better job of providing that framework—calling it a plan may be too specific—in which people can organize their businesses and, quite honestly, their communities.