Environment Committee on Dec. 11th, 2006

[Paul Glover]

With respect to the question, and to do it full justice, I would prefer to submit a written response of all the different actions that the department has taken with respect to lead and any of the gaps that currently exist.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Okay, thank you.

And Ms. Wright, the same?

[Cynthia Wright]

Yes. Lead in CEPA has been largely industrial processes—lead smelters and that sort of thing. In terms of consumer products, I couldn't give you an answer on any plans forward on consumer products and lead.

On mercury, I know there has been an intention to develop a strategy on mercury products, and that will be coming soon.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

I look forward to that.

Ms. Cooper mentioned the fact sheet on the web page that was just opened. Would you comment on that? She said the fact sheet on the web page was incorrect with specific substances. Do you have any comment on that?

[Paul Glover]

Thank you very much for that question.

I would start off by accepting her congratulations that it has a lot of good stuff on there, so I would consider it a step forward from where we have been in the past.

There are a number of issues there. As we've said, there are a lot of products. We're not able to inspect all of them. There is a built-in mechanism within the website for people to submit questions to us about these and, when they start to find substances in places where we don't think those should be, to report those, so that will help us. In some respects, I'm not surprised that we see these sorts of things.

The other issue that is somewhat challenging for CEPA is what's called an inventory update rule. We do our risk assessments based on some data that isn't always as relevant or as current as we would like, and there is an opportunity for us to make sure that is evergreen—for example, the categorization exercise, which we're very proud of. But the domestic substances inventory hasn't been updated since 1989, so we have to do section 71 surveys on each specific substance to find out new uses or put them on the national pollutant release inventory.

We'll continue to make sure that website is as accurate as possible. We believe it is, based on the information that has been submitted to government, but we're not at all surprised to find some irregularities, and we'll follow up on those.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Thank you.

How much time is remaining?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

We have four minutes left.

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Okay, I have just one very quick comment to Ms. Cooper.

I'm sorry, I've run out of time. I was hoping to ask you a question. The Clean Air Act deals with indoor air quality. So with your comments regarding substances and foam that breaks down and adds to the house dust that we breathe in, I think that's another good way of dealing with indoor air quality and substances.

[Kathleen Cooper]

Can I respond to that?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bob Mills]

Can you do it as part of Mr. Vellacott's question and answer, please?

[Kathleen Cooper]

Okay.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

The commissioner, when she was here, noted the fact that energy and transportation sectors make up the bulk of Canada's emissions that harm the environment, and yet energy and transportation policy is primarily outside the environment portfolio.

I have about three questions here. My first one is this: how can we ensure that for things like energy and transportation, environmental policy is not developed in isolation, but rather, is made complementary? Should we have some body that oversees that type of thing between the different departments in a more forceful way?

I guess I'd put that to the department people first, and then I want to get a response from the others too.

[Paul Glover]

I do health.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

You do health, yes, exactly—it's the same question.

[Cynthia Wright]

In the whole vehicles and fuels area, there is already strong cooperation with Transport. Then on energy, as we develop new regulations dealing with the energy sector, NRCan is part of the consultation process we're doing now, and part of working with us.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Do you feel it's strong enough as it presently is, complementary enough? You don't have departments claiming the turf, and so on? Does that need to be mandated in some way, or just simply—?

[Cynthia Wright]

I think there's good cooperation among the three principal agencies on what you're talking about: Transport, NRCan, and Environment Canada.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Right. And you have no problems with the way it's working now?

[Cynthia Wright]

No.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Okay.

[Kathleen Cooper]

At the risk of talking when I haven't prepared myself on the topic, because I focused on products, I think you're pointing out a really important issue. You're focusing on areas where the concern is the greatest, in terms of health concerns from air pollution, and in particular on concerns about the smog-forming air pollutants, the so-called “criteria air contaminants” that are primarily coming from transportation and some large industrial sources.

The inter-jurisdictional issue of concern there that needs to be addressed, where standards need to be strengthened, is Canada-wide standards.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Interdepartmental, probably, more than inter-jurisdictional, but—?

[Kathleen Cooper]

Yes, it's interdepartmental, but it's also an inter-jurisdictional issue, because we have tended to put to the level of Canada-wide standards some of the most difficult and intractable issues, such as the smog-forming air pollutants, and we need to do a better job of controlling them.

I guess I would respond just to point out that you've identified one of the key problems, and that the regulatory responses need to be addressed partially in that framework as well.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

In fact, in the United States they have what they call the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. For all those other departments that are not specifically designated to protect the environment, it describes the degree of cooperation expected or required in carrying out those duties, even if they're not the designated department.

Going back to the department people again, do you not feel we need anything such as the U.S. has that lays it out very specifically, as they do in their 1969 act?

[Cynthia Wright]

Well, we already have two similar mechanisms to those in the U.S. We have the requirement for all departments to do sustainable development strategies. We also have all departments signed on to implement the toxic substances management policy of 1995.