Environment committee  Yes. I was actually one of the co-chairs of the working group that led the development of this report.

Environment committee  That's correct. We need to keep in mind that this report was prepared in 2009, as you said, so the legislative changes that were made last year and that made the agency legally responsible for the conduct of the comprehensive studies for the larger projects were not in place at t

Environment committee  Not any more, since last year, except for projects that are regulated by the National Energy Board and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

Environment committee  That's correct.

Environment committee  That's correct. They are valid concerns that have been raised, and they continue to be raised.

Environment committee  We hear about them, but we don't hear many concerns any more with respect to those projects that are subject to the comprehensive study process. As we explained last week, for all those that were started since the amendments came into force, they're very well aligned with the pro

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  It's certainly something the committee may want to consider. I think the related issue, which you heard of with the two witnesses two days ago, goes to the notion of whether there should be a single agency responsible for all the assessments or we should continue with this diffus

Environment committee  That's correct.

Environment committee  I would add that in the case of the National Energy Board in particular that as part of the government's commitment to take a whole-of-government approach to aboriginal consultation, typically what will happen is that all of the various federal departments having decision-making

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  These lists are typically based on an internal assessment that each jurisdiction would make about the potential of these projects to cause sufficient environmental concerns that justify being subject to an environmental assessment. While you will typically see some variation betw

Environment committee  In the current act there are no enforcement provisions per se, for the very reason mentioned by Mrs. Feldman. The act is structured in such a way that it relies on decisions to be made by various federal authorities that have decisions to make, which trigger the need to attach co

Environment committee  The accountability to ensure enforcement of the measures lies with these federal authorities.

Environment committee  The challenge we're facing at this point has more to do with the limited authority that responsible authorities may have. An example was given of an authorization under the Fisheries Act to enforce conditions relating to matters within another department's mandate. That may not b