Evidence of meeting #11 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nacosar.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Coordinator, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
Lola Antonius will respond to that question. Thank you.
Lola Antonius Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
My name is Lola Antonius. I actually work with the policy and planning subcommittee of NACOSAR.
It's been my experience that NACOSAR has the ability to set its own work plan and can decide exactly how much is spent on, say, a workshop, communications, and different things like that. However, once they do that, it needs to be approved by Environment Canada. There's always been that lack of independence. That kind of answers the question you were asking earlier. Yes, NACOSAR can do this. However, it still has to be approved by Environment Canada. Once it's approved by Environment Canada, it has to go through their own bureaucratic process to get those funds available to, say, hold a meeting. And NACOSAR has recently been informed by Environment Canada that it now requires a month's notice or so before they can have a meeting.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
What about my question about whether it's expected that NACOSAR will be the go-between in consultations with individual first nations on specific species or habitat? Is that a role for NACOSAR?
Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
No, it can't be a role for NACOSAR. NACOSAR is just an advisory body to the minister on the administration of the act. Each first nation is a rights holder, and they must be consulted. NACOSAR has never acted as a consultative body.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
When you provide policy advice, do you do outreach to the individual first nations?
Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
We try to as much as possible. NACOSAR, in the past, since its inception, has held three national workshops on this act. From each workshop they've been able to produce workshop reports that clearly stated clear recommendations from as many people as we could get to these workshops.
However, it's very difficult for NACOSAR to go out and meet with every first nations community and aboriginal community. They've been trying to improve their communication. It took years--over five years--to get something as simple as a website. Again, part of NACOSAR's lack of independence really played a role in that inability to get a website up. We had to be very creative in how we set up the contracts, who would sign off on it, and how Environment Canada would pay for it.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Okay. I think that's more detail than I can absorb.
I'm also curious to know whether there is any kind of overlap of relationship between NACOSAR and the ATK subcommittee on advice to COSEWIC.
Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
No.
Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
NACOSAR does not get involved with the assessment process that the ATK subcommittee has. However, that said, the ATK subcommittee and NACOSAR have tried to work together, and in the past, usually an ATK subcommittee member has been involved in attending the policy and planning committee meetings. I don't know what has happened, but some of that process has fallen apart and the ATK subcommittee and NACOSAR haven't been able to work as closely as they would like.
However, they have met. They did have a meeting.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
If I could move on to another issue, in your brief you raised the issue of lack of adherence to the section 35 constitutional rights on derogation and abrogation. That seems to be a common theme in all the first nations and Métis testimony here. Has the organization itself looked into mechanisms for how you could begin to address that?
Coordinator, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
I'm going to defer to Lola. She's tied into the legal aspect of the act and she has more experience than I do.
Policy and Planning, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
Again, NACOSAR cannot hire its own legal experts, so they've had to do creative things to try to get work done on something such as that. Environment Canada just cannot hire a legal expert for NACOSAR. They've actually had to go through, for example, an independent consultant, who then hires a third party who then communicates with NACOSAR. So it has been very difficult to do any of that kind of work that they of course need to do.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
The time has actually expired.
Mr. Warawa or Mr. Scott Armstrong.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
First of all, happy Earth Day, and thank you for coming here. I can't imagine what it would be like to be named a coordinator and be told that in 21 days I'd be in Ottawa before a parliamentary committee. So you are doing a great job, and I feel for you.
I think you've done a tremendous job. The fact that you came here with some specific recommendations and some organization for your report shows that you're off to a very good start in your position.
I have just a couple of questions to ask about the last year or so with your organization, and then I want to talk about the future and ask some questions about what your plans are.
You are a newly hired coordinator. When was the last coordinator in place? How long of a gap did you have when the last coordinator resigned or was let go?
Coordinator, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
We last had a full-time coordinator on March 31, 2009, basically a year ago. Then we had an interim coordinator, who was basically a person with an administrative background, filling the position just to keep communication going. There was a bit of overlap between her and my starting there, just so that she could--
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
It was a transition time.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
During that time of the year when you really had an interim coordinator, roughly how many actual board meetings took place where you had a quorum of the board?
Coordinator, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
I'm sorry, your question was, when we had the full-time...?
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
Over the year when you had the interim coordinator, did you have quorum, or did you actually have suitable board meetings?
Coordinator, National Aboriginal Council on Species at Risk (NACOSAR)
We had one suitable board meeting where we had quorum.
Conservative
Scott Armstrong Conservative Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, NS
That's over a year. So really your organization, because you're now in place, is off to a fresh start, and it's up to us as a committee to try to find ways to support you over the next year to get off to a fresh start.
You're working under a budget of $650,000, and one of your recommendations says that you would like to see the budget increased at some point, at least to the amount originally established by the Treasury Board. Are you aware of what that amount was as originally established?