Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his questions about Bill C-481.
Our government is committed to enhancing the transparency and accountability of environmental decision-making. The fact is that it is our government that created the Federal Sustainable Development Act, which serves as evidence to this commitment.
That being said, we do not see any reason to support the bill from the member opposite, which is calling for a massive new bureaucracy that would provide no new benefit to taxpayers. Rather than a meaningful enhancement of transparency and accountability, the bill would add a layer of red tape that is redundant and unnecessary in light of the actions that our government is already taking and the effective tools that are already in place.
The entire bill perfectly demonstrates the wasteful policies of the NDP. Rather than finding problems that need solutions, it instead wants to increase the burden on Canadian families through higher taxes by coming up with a solution when there are no problems. In fact, I think everyone should be a little concerned at the growing slate of evidence that the NDP does not have a plan for Canada, other than to increase taxes on hard-working Canadians.
That being said, I would like to take the opportunity now to provide an update on the significant progress being made in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Act.
In 2010, our government tabled Canada's first federal sustainability development strategy, or FSDS. For the first time, Canadians had a comprehensive picture of actions across government that contribute to environmental sustainability. Since that time, much has happened.
Since 2011, departments and agencies have produced annual departmental sustainable development strategies that are integrated into their core planning and reporting processes and that contribute to the overarching federal strategy.
Our government has also demonstrated its commitment to measurement, monitoring and reporting, by issuing two progress reports with an expanded suite of environmental sustainability indicators.
The 2012 progress report was tabled in Parliament in February 2013. Fulfilling the requirement to update the FSDS every three years, the 2013-16 FSDS was tabled in Parliament in November 2013.
For that reason, we will not support the NDP in its never-ending crusade to find new ways to waste taxpayers' money. Instead, we will continue to enhance the transparency and accountability of environmental decision-making through our current legislation.