Evidence of meeting #5 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was assessment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
As I said earlier, the requirement for a federal EA is triggered when another federal department has to issue an authorization. So that could be under the Navigable Waters Protection Act or under the Fisheries Act. So any conditions that are set are in relation to the acts of other departments. That's why we've seen a problem. For example, if it is Fisheries and their responsibility is to deal with issues related to fish, will they actually issue a condition to protect migratory birds? That's the problem we see.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
12:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
The reason I keep coming back to Fisheries is that many of the cases where a permit is required it's because there could be a change to fish habitat—and similarly with navigable waters. So Fisheries and Transport are two of the departments that are the responsible authorities in many cases.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa
I think we will end there.
Thank you, Ms. Ambler.
Next is Ms. Leslie.
12:45 p.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Thank you.
Thank you all for your presentation. It's been very helpful. As you know, we are trying to understand where we need to go in this committee and what we need to study.
I have some questions that might seem a bit disjointed, but here's my first question. Recently a request was made by the C-NLOPB to have a federal environmental review of the Old Harry site. I am trying to understand, not that situation, but that kind of request where another authority asks the federal authority to do a review. Does that happen often, and what goes into the decision-making?
12:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
I'm going to be technical in my answer. The C-NLOPB is a federal-provincial body, and under the act it is a responsible authority. So under the act it is able to carry out the environmental assessment, and it does so at the screening level. In that particular case, it was a project called Old Harry.
We've been talking a fair bit about screenings, which make up about 99% of the EAs under the act. The board believed, in the Old Harry case, that there was sufficient public concern that perhaps the EA should be moved from the screening level assessment to the review panel level. That's what they wrote about to the Minister of the Environment.
The issue in that case was that many of the points being raised by others as matters of concern didn't relate to that particular project but related more broadly to exploration in the gulf. But because we do environmental assessment on a project basis under the act, no project screening would examine all the issues that were of public concern. Instead, the board under its legislation—which is different from ours—can look at the regional environmental assessment that we were talking about earlier. So the minister has told the board to carry out that sort of assessment, in addition to the assessment of the specific project.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
So in that situation, because they are the delegated authority, it's customary to have that kind of request? I'm just wondering if it's an unusual request.
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
To my knowledge, that's the first time there was such a request.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Okay, thanks.
I'd like to ask some questions about aboriginal consultation. First of all, where responsibility for doing a review has been delegated to, say, the Nuclear Safety Commission or the National Energy Board or some other board that lacks the authority to fulfill the role of the crown when it comes to aboriginal consultation, what happens then?
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
I'm not aware of any instance in which we've delegated the responsibility--
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
--for aboriginal consultations to anyone who can't act for the crown. The National Energy Board and the CNSC can carry out aboriginal consultations—and, indeed, I believe received funding recently in order to enable them to do so--as well as public consultations.
12:50 p.m.
Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
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 responsibilities will coordinate the aboriginal consultations, making sure that the NEB decision at the end is informed by the results of the consultations.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
Megan Leslie NDP Halifax, NS
Okay.
My next question is about minor projects. I think you mentioned in your presentation other jurisdictions where minor projects don't need environmental assessments.
12:50 p.m.
NDP
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
In many jurisdictions it's the reverse. They have a list of the types of projects that require assessment. On that list are the larger, more important projects, and if you're not on the list then you're not subject to an assessment.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Mark Warawa
Thank you, Ms. Leslie, and thank you, Ms. Feldman.
We have four minutes left, and I believe it's Mr. Woodworth who will close off the session.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Thank you very much.
I'm going to pick up on the thread that Ms. Leslie began.
Simply to set the stage, I understand from your evidence that all projects with a trigger under CEAA require an environmental assessment unless explicitly excluded. Am I correct?
