Evidence of meeting #41 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 commissioner.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:35 p.m.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
The plan for—
5:35 p.m.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
I think one of the consequences we noted is that there are a lot of measures, of initiatives, on the part of each department. There are examples of coordination, but it was the government that announced it needed a federal strategy or federal plan to properly coordinate the measures taken by all departments to respond to the impacts of climate change.
5:35 p.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Chair.
Very briefly, on a small point of order, there were two reports mentioned earlier in our committee hearings: “Human Health in a Changing Climate” by Health Canada and “From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007” by Natural Resources. The point of order I'm asking for is that the committee request that those documents be made available to us. I know there are various officials in the room--
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
That's not a point of order, but the committee can make that request.
5:35 p.m.
NDP
Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Chair.
I have a question for you, Mr. Vaughan. We've heard from the coast guard and Transport Canada that they work in partnerships to develop these oil spill response plans. This is 20 years after the government promised to have a government plan to deal with this. I'm trying to equate this to other things in our daily lives that we can relate to. I don't think anybody in the room would send their kids to a school that had no evacuation plan, didn't know where the fire extinguishers were, didn't know if they worked, and didn't go through drills in responding to a fire. I'm being a bit dramatic, but the drama of an oil spill in the middle of the night on the west coast or east coast of Canada or in the Arctic is of huge significance to all of us.
Are you feeling more assured today that Transport Canada and the coast guard have said, be that as it may, 20 years have gone by and we don't have a national plan, which we promised to do, but we're working with companies, and we trust the plans they've put forward to us? They may or may not be public--we don't know. Is that good enough to have Canadians rest assured that the supertankers on our coast, if they hit ground--heaven forbid--will be cleaned up and contained adequately?
5:35 p.m.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Chair, what I can say is that we are assured by the responses to the recommendations that each of the three departments has made and the regime that is in place. We don't comment on the underlying principles. The underlying principle is the polluter pays principle, as Mr. McDonald said. We've identified areas that we thought were of significant interest for Parliament. Each of the departments has agreed and has responded with recommendations.
I would also say, if I might, that over the course of this audit, we looked at the management systems. The people who work in the coast guard, in Transport Canada, and in Environment Canada are committed public servants who go out every day, often in dangerous conditions, to protect Canadians. They have my personal enormous respect. I think our recommendations are building on a very strong basis. These are management systems that we think are important, but we look forward to those gaps being closed and the system being improved.
5:35 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC
Thank you. Mr. Chair, I would like to hear from Mr. Keenan. I think he had a few comments he wanted to add on that subject. Thank you.
5:35 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment
Merci bien.
I wanted to come back and clarify the point about whether or not there is a plan to deal with the impacts of climate change in the context of the commissioner's report. There is a difference between a plan and a strategy. The commissioner has asked that there be a clear adaptation policy framework, and there is one under development. It's important to clarify that there is in place—and there has been since late 2007—a clear action plan on the part of the federal government to help Canadians understand and prepare for the impacts of climate change and to adapt to them.
That $85.9 million in programming is focused on improving the science scenarios. We understand what's going to happen. NRCan has $30 million in programming funds to create information and risk assessment tools. They pull together regional adaptation collaborators as well as leaders in a local area and help them to better understand and plan for these eventualities. I think INAC has funded 170 projects in 73 northern communities to enable them to plan, develop, do risk assessments, and put into place local strategies to deal with this.
There is a range of programming that's in place, so there is an action plan. I didn't want the committee to think that there is not a federal action plan to deal with climate change impacts. The commissioner has pointed out that while there is an action plan, there is not necessarily an overarching adaptation framework. We accept that point, and we are working across government to develop an adaptation framework to guide future action plans in this area.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
Steven Blaney Conservative Lévis—Bellechasse, QC
So this action plan was in fact included in the 2007 budget, is that right?
5:40 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment
Yes, I think it was. I'm not sure which budget it was in, but it was announced in late 2007 by the former Minister of the Environment who is the current Minister of Environment, Minister Baird--
5:40 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of the Environment
It has rolled out since then.
5:40 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Before we adjourn, I wanted to add that there is some homework for all of you, because there were some questions that were asked of members.
Mr. Ouellet was asking for a written response from the commissioner, and that can happen. Mr. Armstrong asked for an update on the tar ponds cleanup in Sydney. Mr. Andrews has requested two things from Mr. McDonald: the high-risk areas for spills and the recent study on Placentia Bay. I think there is also a question from Mr. Cullen for Mr. McDonald on whether or not the plan that you guys have been developing is public. We need to find out about that. Madame Gagnon asked Mr. Ferguson for a response to her question, and we'll check the blues if you have any concerns and get back to you.
If we can have those back in writing, we'd appreciate it.
I want to thank all the witnesses for taking the time to be with us and for answering the questions. Commissioner, thank you for your report and for providing this type of direction.
Could I have a motion to adjourn?
