Bill C-474 (Historical)

Federal Sustainable Development Act

An Act to require the development and implementation of a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and the development of goals and targets with respect to sustainable development in Canada, and to make consequential amendments to another Act

This bill was last introduced in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in September 2008.

Sponsor

John Godfrey  Liberal

Introduced as a private member’s bill.

Status

This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment provides the legal framework for developing and implementing a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy that will make environmental decision-making more transparent and accountable to Parliament.
The enactment gives a committee of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. It also provides for the creation of the Sustainable Development Office to develop and maintain systems and procedures to monitor progress on implementation of the Strategy and for the creation of the Sustainable Development Advisory Council to offer the Government of Canada advice on the Strategy.
It requires certain departments and agencies to develop and implement sustainable development strategies that contain objectives and action plans for each department and agency, that comply with the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and that contribute to the attainment of the Strategy’s objectives.
It also amends the Auditor General Act to give the Commissioner the mission to monitor the progress that these departments and agencies make in implementing the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy and to assess the Sustainable Development Office’s report of the implementation of the Strategy. As well, it sets out the Commissioner’s powers and obligations.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Votes

Feb. 13, 2008 Passed That the Bill be now read a second time and referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on March 10, 2008

  • Chad Park, Senior Sustainability Advisor, The Natural Step Canada
  • Ron Thompson, Interim Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, , Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on April 28, 2008

  • Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Normand Radford
  • Pierre Sadik, Senior Policy Advisor, Sustainability Specialist, David Suzuki Foundation
  • Glen Toner, Professor, Public Policy, Carleton University, As an Individual
  • Warren Newman, Senior General Counsel, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section, Department of Justice

Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on April 30, 2008

  • Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Normand Radford
  • James Mitchell, Founding Partner, Sussex Circle Inc.
  • Karen Wilson, Assistant Chief Statistician, National Accounts and Analytical Studies Field, Statistics Canada
  • Robert Smith, Director, Environment Accounts and Statistics Division, Statistics Canada
  • James Meadowcroft, Research Chair in Governance for Sustainable Development, Carleton University, As an Individual

Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on May 12, 2008

  • Roland Haché, Minister of Environment and Minister responsible for the Northern New Brunswick Initiative, Government of New Brunswick
  • Michael Martin, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment
  • Excellency Ingrid Maria Iremark, Ambassador of Sweden to Canada, Embassy of Sweden
  • Katja Awati, Deputy Director, Division for Environmental Quality, Ministry of Environment of Sweden

Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on May 14, 2008

    Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on May 26, 2008

    Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, on June 2, 2008

    • Marie-Andrée Roy, Parliamentary Counsel (Legislation), Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel