Looking Forward 2007-2027

….institutional and policy innovations

Glen Toner

Post 1987 Record is Mixed … … many accomplishments …. But …

Federal Government ‘underperforming’ at both political and bureaucratic levels

Result declining international reputation

Canada no longer top performer or leader

2007 GoC SD ‘Change Process’ stalledW.R. What “fully conscious’ institutional &

policy changes should we undertake ?

SD … not Cons/Lib/NDP/BQ/Green idea

In power – all parties suffer ‘cognitive dissonance’

ie. Gap btw legitimate aspirations of Canadians- What governments know they have to do - What they actually do ie. Issue of …- ‘walking the talk’ … ‘implementation gap’

Institutional ChangesPolitical1) SD Committee of

Cabinet2) SEA3) Create Dept of

Finance and Natural Capital

4) Independent Parliamentary Commissioner of Environment & SD

Bureaucratic1) PCO – DM

accountability2) Create Dept of SD3) Focus SDS on key

departments

Policy changesEFRMkt-based society/

int’al laggardPrice signals matterEmerging social

consensus GBC/CD Howe/CCCE

Tax shift to energy & consumption taxes from distortinary taxes on capital and labour

InformationNever recovered

SOER/PRGovt manages what it

accounts forNeed ltd # of goals &

targets against which to evaluate progress

Create Environmental Objectives Council to Report to Parliament

Build ‘societal’ SD capacity/literacyVery limited compared to educ/health/economicGenuine Progress IndicatorsFew ‘independent voices’ speak authoritatively,

influence public opinionLifestyle/consumption/behavioural changes required + on the way … anticipatory – or – just reactive

OCF … need to generate ‘societal consensus’ to underpin ‘political consensus’

Porritt … next 20 years a test of our ‘survival instinct’Ruckelshaus … a unique experiment