Environment committee  Yes. The way it works is that we look at the communities that are affected by a project. Then we talk to them and we gather the information. We do not limit our attention to only first nations. It's a full consultation with any of the affected groups, whether they're Métis or first nation.

Environment committee  Whether the aboriginal group, the Métis group in particular, lives outside or in a particular area, it's irrelevant to the conduct of the EA. In terms of what we do, we try to examine what the effects would be on the Métis. We would consult with them. We would go to the community and talk with them, hear their concerns, hear their information about what's happening on the project, and learn about ideas for mitigating those adverse effects.

Environment committee  I do have a summary document of the concerns, organized by the themes of the project list.

Environment committee  Sure. This summer we invited approximately 20 environmental NGOs. We invited the 10 provinces and 3 territories, approximately 20 industry associations, and 3 national aboriginal organizations.

Environment committee  Of the provinces, all were able to come to our initial meeting, except for P.E.I. and Quebec. Quebec held a separate telephone call with us, after the fact. There was an extremely good turnout for the environmental organizations. I can't remember, but some of them sent replacements, so that while we sent out about 20 invitations, we ended up with more than 20 participating.

Environment committee  Yes, I could do that.

Environment committee  The process was that each of the sessions were held independently, with each of the four different types of stakeholders. It was set up as a three-hour meeting with a break in between. We spent the first hour and three-quarters or so going through the act to make sure everybody was on the same footing.

Environment committee  We had about 55 formal responses come in from people who had been at the sessions, and then we received some letter campaigns related to it that were from the general public.

Environment committee  Okay. Well, certainly, this is one where, from a policy point of view, it made a lot of sense to add it. When we were asked how many projects it would cover, we actually took a lot of time trying to figure out how many projects could be captured. The problem is that up to this point these are projects for which no trigger has been found, so the potential number of projects that would be caught by this provision depends on whether there would be triggers found in the future.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  On the operations side, we've really had a handful of proponents that have come through under the new act—fewer than 10—and the feedback has generally been very, very positive. They're obviously not at that stage of the process, but they haven't raised concerns about entering into a process.

Environment committee  In Canada, the provinces also generally have required follow-up programs of proponents. In other countries, it's a standard measure that's seen internationally as a good practice. The follow-up has another purpose as well. I've talked about ensuring purely for that project that all the mitigation measures are working, but it also has an advantage to us at the agency, because if we have been recommending a certain mitigation measure and we learn from a particular project that the mitigation measure is not working, then we're not going to recommend that for the next project of a similar type.

Environment committee  An environmental assessment is something required for projects that have gone through a screening, that were a part of the designated project list. That's a list in the regulations. Clause 430 is a special federal stewardship clause that is for non-designated projects, so the process is going to be very different, and I'm hesitant to refer to it as an environmental assessment process, so as to avoid confusion with the one for designated projects.

Environment committee  The answer has two parts. In terms of the actual project list that came into force on July 6, at the same time that the act came into force, that was making use of the comprehensive study list, a regulation that was already in place. That regulation listed projects and types, such as a mine of a certain size.

Environment committee  Yes. Then the second part of the answer is that, recognizing that that was put in place in order to ensure that the act could be implemented, we began immediately in July to contact aboriginal groups, environmental NGOs, the provinces, and industry associations. Our letters went out in early July to invite them to talk about the project list.