Great. Thank you.
Time has expired, and that concludes the rotation.
If I might, Mr. Ferguson, there are two issues I'd like to follow up on, two macro issues you raised that affect this committee.
The first was that in your report you noted—I believe Mr. Hayes questioned you around the same line—the percentage of your reports that we actually held hearings on. To be fair, there was an election in that time, but I note that 2010-11 also captured a bit of an election period. To be fair to the committee, the F-35 was like a black hole of time and just sucked up everything.
Having said that, I have to say to the committee that I agree with Mr. Hayes that we need to up our game. I just want to say that losing the steering committee as a structural element of our work has meant that we do all that work as a committee, and except for a very small fraction it's always done in camera. In my view, we are spending way too much time in camera fighting about details over meetings that could be thrashed out at a steering committee meeting. I urge the committee to reconsider bringing back the steering committee.
I agree with you that if you're doing these audits, that's half the battle. The other half, though, is the public hearing, because it's the public pressure, at the end of the day, that is the real whip hand here.
This committee has no power to do things unilaterally and make things happen. We're not a committee of power. But we are a committee of light, and the ability to give light and attention to your reports is, arguably, the most important thing we do.
Collectively, I hope we embrace that we all have a responsibility to get those numbers up, to be spending less time in camera and more time at public hearings, holding government to account and going through these audit reports that taxpayers have paid so much money to have developed.
There's another thing that troubles me. You mentioned the environmental and sustainable development commissioner's reports, that there were eight last year and no hearings. I think that's problematic for all of us as parliamentarians, or at least it should be, given the fact that there's really nothing more important right now facing the future of our planet than the issue of the environment and Canada's role.
I would ask you, Mr. Ferguson, if you have any suggestions. Obviously, it's our domain to decide as parliamentarians, but your advice would be helpful. Do you think this committee should take ownership of a percentage of them, which would be something new, something we've never done before? Do you think the environment committee should give assurances to the House that they're going to be holding some kind of hearings? Should there be joint hearings? This troubles me that there were eight audits on a file this important from the environmental commissioner and there were no public hearings.
Your thoughts, sir, on how to fix it.