Mr. Chairman, I will answer the part of the question that I can within my limits, if I may.
There are two points I could make.
In the report of the commissioner with respect to sustainable development strategies, the recommendation is made for a comprehensive report by October of this year on the issue of the coordination of SD strategies, including the issues of what I might call organization and governance. The Department of the Environment is doing that, and we are on track. We are doing the analysis, we're working with the other departments, and we will complete that report in the time recommended.
The issues of coordination and governance and how targets are set—the benchmarks that are used and so on—are included in that report as per the recommendation of the commissioner. So from the point of view of some of the analysis as officials, we are engaged in that right now.
As my second point, I would say a little more generally that the issues of target-setting and accountability reflected in the bill being studied now really do go to the heart of what we've been answering questions about this afternoon. And of course it will ultimately be the prerogative, in the case of the bill, of Parliament, and in terms of organization of the government, by our conventions, of the Prime Minister.
There are certain things that, even before that, we are moving on. Under any scenario, I think there will have to be a connection made between the real work of departments, the geographic circumstances, the nature of their business, the trade-offs that are always inherent in making infrastructure investments as opposed to program investments, and so on. We will have to work those out.
At the back end, the reporting to Parliament, we recognize that the objective analysis that would hold all of us to account, regardless of what the specific targets are and how they are derived, is something that, through the continuous improvement in the departmental performance reports, is a vehicle we recognize right now we have to make better use of.
I fully recognize, speaking to the member through you, Chair, that I have not answered the question fully. We are limited in how far we can go in answering that question.