I have a few different things, and I appreciate that.
In terms of a one health approach, the evidence is in. I mentioned the United Nations Environment Programme. I mentioned the independent panel. I mentioned the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems. I could have mentioned the Royal Society of Canada, which in June 2022 had a report, “Strengthening a One Health Approach to Emerging Zoonoses”. It said, “A resilient and sustainable structure for a One Health approach must be tied to function and a clear One Health agenda for Canada, accompanied by established tasks, timelines, milestones, and support for execution.”
This is not a debate about whether a one health approach is necessary, so there's no cart and horse when it comes to one health. We absolutely need a one health approach. It's a question of execution.
On the question of why we were unable to deliver on the plan that existed, we as parliamentarians are asking questions after the fact. The goal of this legislation is to ensure that as parliamentarians we turn our minds to asking questions and to bringing out the accountability function that we ought to be playing on a regular basis and in a number of different spheres to pandemic prevention and preparedness, and that we ensure we're doing our job and asking questions before the next pandemic. If this legislation is in place, that's exactly what's going to happen.
On the question of whether we wait for a review first, no, because a review is secondary to the architecture of this bill. In fact, a review wasn't even part of this bill when I initially drafted it. A review came about because the researchers at the independent panel said that what would be really great would be if we had a review that informed the plan. I thought, okay, let's do that. A review would be a great idea.
At the end of the day, we don't wait on some searching review of the impacts of climate change and what the best steps are of preventing climate change. There are already a number of reports out. Let's get the climate accountability law in place and make sure there's action. The same principles apply here. Do we need a searching review? Sure, of course we do. I'm not opposed to that. I agree with that, but that's neither here nor there.