Environment Committee on May 30th, 2013

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you.

To the Canadian Electricity Association—

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

You have 12 seconds, Mr. Storseth, so....

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

I was being generous.

[Brian Storseth, Conservative, Westlock—St. Paul, AB]

You know, I yearn for the days when Ms. Leslie is the chair.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

There's always a coup.

We'll move now to Monsieur Pilon.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am going to share my time with Ms. Leslie.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thanks very much.

I want to put that hydro question to Mr. Bates. It's a really complicated issue, and we have the expertise here. I'd love to hear if the Wildlife Federation has particular thoughts on large-scale hydro and how it relates to habitat conservation, and if there are some best practices from your point of view.

[Rick Bates]

You know, it's not something I've looked at recently in terms of best practices around large hydro development.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Okay. Thanks very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Monsieur Pilon.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

My question is for Mr. Burpee.

Since we started this study, many of the witnesses who appeared before the committee have expressed the same desire to minimize losses and to support recovery. More specifically, how can the federal government help you to reduce the footprint of your industrial activities on biodiversity and the ecosystems in which your industry operates?

[Jim Burpee]

What we're really looking for is an acknowledgement of what current practices are the right way to go, to go forward with, which would be an encouragement to do more of that.

Most of the work we do is really driven because we live and work in communities, some of them very broad communities. Some of these things are driven by provincial requirements as well, such as water management plans and water use plans, where we consider interacting with a very broad number of stakeholders who sometimes have competing interests for the same use of water.

All we are looking for is the laws and regulations that facilitate and that don't restrict us from doing that.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

I have a rather personal question. If a project were to have a major and irreversible environmental impact, could your association go so far as to recommend that the project be cancelled?

[Jim Burpee]

First of all, there is no way to produce, transmit, or use electricity without an environmental impact. It becomes a question of what's an acceptable impact and the extent to which you can mitigate that.

If there is a certain aspect or an environment attribute that is critical to a large number of stakeholders that cannot be avoided, then I would not expect a project to go ahead. Not everything that's ever proposed does go ahead.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

My next question is for Mr. Bates.

Together with businesses and scientists, you have developed a land-use model to help elected officials achieve a compromise between development in the western boreal forest and habitat conservation. What lessons have you learned from this program?

[Rick Bates]

Our boreal project is in the planning stage right now. It has not yet been implemented. The work of it is just under way.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

The federation also provides information to private landowners to promote habitat stewardship. What is the outcome of your efforts? Is the project still underway? Has it been completed?

[Rick Bates]

No, it's an ongoing process. One of our most important projects right now is a lake stewardship project in Ontario that is working with individual landowners on ways in which they can manage their property, providing incentives to them to manage their property and minimize impact on the nearby aquatic ecosystems.

[François Pilon, NDP, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

My next question is for Mr. Gratton.

Each of your organizations has developed and implemented an industry-wide sustainability program with guiding principles that include biodiversity conservation. Both programs include tracking of performance indicators, reporting and independent audits. Do your members partner with conservation groups or other stakeholders to reach conservation goals?

[Pierre Gratton]

The program is based on a system with five levels of performance. The objective of each mining site is to be at level 3 at least and, in principle, to go up to level 5. I am talking about level A or AAA. We have replaced the number system with the letter system. When you reach level A, which we think is good practice, that means engaging with communities of interest, including environmental groups.

I just wanted to tell you how the system works. My answer is basically yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Harold Albrecht]

Thank you, Mr. Pilon. Your time is up.

We'll move now to Mr. Woodworth.

[Stephen Woodworth, Conservative, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and my thanks to all of the witnesses for their presence with us today.

It's important for us to hear and receive your evidence about what works and what doesn't. At the end of the day, we hope our study will be able to collate your evidence and enable the government to proceed on the basis of that evidence, in an evidence-based way.

I'd like to begin with some questions for Mr. Bates. You mentioned the lake stewardship program. I would expect there are other stewardship programs and voluntary conservation efforts that you partner in. Is that correct?

[Rick Bates]

Correct.