Thank you.
Chair and members of Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to present today. I'm the policy director at the Ecology Action Centre. Prior to working at EAC, which is some time ago, I worked in the fishing industry and as a marine consultant.
EAC is a member of the offshore alliance, which is a newly formed coalition made up of environmental, fishing, community groups, as well as indigenous spokespeople. Yesterday, Rod Northey from the EA panel presented. I thought the panel that he was a part of did a good job of consulting with Canadians, including indigenous peoples. I drove to Fredericton through the tail end of a hurricane to present on a more central role for science in impact assessment and on offshore regulation. I spend my precious minutes mentioning this because I was saddened by the lack of uptake by the government of the panel's report. If this becomes a pattern, it engenders cynicism and damages democracy.
The EA panel in their report recognized the value in keeping EA and regulatory processes separate. The panel also recognized that a regulator can get too close to the industry it is regulating, creating regulatory capture, although they did not label it as such. Relevant quotes from the panel's report can be found in our written submission.
When elected, the government promised to make EA credible again. Outside of the petroleum industry, the boards have a credibility problem. When these proposed changes were announced, The Chronicle Herald, which is a Nova Scotia newspaper, ran a cartoon showing the regulator looking through binoculars that were actually oil barrels. Once again, cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon said it all in one picture.
Giving the boards more power, such as seats on review panels, was not what we expected and is a step backwards for EA in Atlantic Canada.
Before I close, I have a few words on the witness list. I truly appreciate the opportunity to present along with the East Coast Environmental Law Association today. However, I am concerned that the committee is not hearing from any representatives from the fishing industry in Nova Scotia. As we saw in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, a major blowout or spill can have a devastating impact on the fishing industry and other industries such as tourism. It is not just a direct impact on fish stocks or beaches that affects these industries. It is the damage to the product or brand as a result of the spill.
Thank you very much.