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Environment committee That answer, I would say, would be yes, because that would impact differently on project outcomes; and rather than having a strictly environmental view of it, yes.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee The answer in my books is no, because the strategic environmental assessment is really government's job to do. It shouldn't be placed on proponents. Really, a strategic environmental assessment is the land use planning discussion within government, and that should be done in a more systematic way, and the results of that should inform whether a proponent can actually go and work in an area rather than being sort of an after-the-fact gatekeeper.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee It depends on the jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction has different areas to look at, so there would be a role for strategic environmental assessment at the federal level, provided it's done by government and not by the proponent, and the same at the provincial level.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee In the province of Saskatchewan we've really done that. We have.... I'm sorry, my French would not be passable, I'm afraid. In the province of Saskatchewan, we have a single point to look at environmental assessments, and we can make recommendations to go to the tribunal level.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee Fundamentally, in the Saskatchewan system, the answer is that social and economic factors can be considered as part of the environmental assessment process. That's part of our decision-making process. In the guideline process, we would identify any particular areas that needed to be examined.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee The answer is yes, it is part of the process. In fact, it is part of any decision that we make that might impact on traditional rights in the province, so the answer is yes. We're currently in discussions with the CEAA in order to try to align those as closely as possible to see if there are any synergies.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee Well, the duty's on the crown, and if it's integrated, it would make it more efficient, and certainly.... Yes.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee My fear, again, is that it would generate more process rather than less process. I think my answer would be couched in the fact that you have to understand, in the grand scheme of things, where environmental assessment, at least in our opinion, resides. It's not at a feasibility level in a project in order to determine whether the project will have significant adverse effects on the environment or public health and safety.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee To go back to your original question, with respect to screening-level assessments, they tend to be of a relatively minor nature. To be quite honest, some of the triggers, especially within an existing industrial site, are laughable. Generally, though, on the screening level, I could see all of that, as we've recommended, be devolved to the province.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee Absolutely, but only a very small component.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee No, we don't censor.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee The only exception would be if there were a very small technological item that needed to be kept secret for proprietary reasons, and that would be decided by the minister.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee I'll speak to the Saskatchewan example. We've been able to work with the process in the province so that it gets a fulsome review. Yet we've brought the timelines down so that a full-sized potash mine, for instance, can get its environmental approvals within seven to ten months.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup
Environment committee No, I'm not familiar with any that occurred in Saskatchewan.
November 22nd, 2011Committee meeting
Mark Wittrup