Environment Committee on Nov. 2nd, 2017

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

I think, as the minister said, in the modern era the economy and the environment need to go together. As we move forward, we believe strongly in the concept of sustainable development, which inherently is about ensuring that economic initiatives and environmental practices go together.

We believe very strongly in—

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Wilkinson, I've heard that said many times.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

You've asked a question. Do you want an answer?

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

But we've heard this many times, the same...and you're reading off a page. We've heard that answer many, many times.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

I'm not reading off a page.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

The reality of it is that we're hearing from community leaders and from communities that it's not sustainable, as you are saying from your speech. I'm just challenging you to develop a policy that actually is sustainable. When we hear from premiers that 40% of their economy is being shut down by a policy of your government, that's a concern to me.

I'll pass the rest of my time to Mr. Sopuck.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

You asked a question. Do you want an answer?

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

I already got it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Okay.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

I know that the committee is going to be shocked at this, but I actually agree with Mr. Gerretsen on one point he made regarding the positioning of sustainable development in the federal government. When I ran the sustainable development program under former premier Gary Filmon, I reported directly to him.

Wouldn't it be better if the Federal Sustainable Development Act was managed out of “head office” in the federal government so you wouldn't get this inter-ministerial conflict that will probably arise because of this act?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

I don't think we've seen any kind of interdepartmental conflict. As the deputy talked about, the relevant expertise lies in Environment Canada. It acts as a coordinating function to ensure departments are working on similar pathways and are compliant with what the act requires. It's no different from how the Official Languages Act is coordinated through Heritage Canada. To be honest, it's very consistent with how international practices are done in other jurisdictions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

You have two minutes.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Sure. Again, we also have the concept of ministerial responsibility. Under the Federal Sustainable Development Act, it sounds like coordination is another word for authority. Given that it's obvious the environment minister will have some “authority”, however defined, over other departments and ministers just by virtue of being able to comment on their actions, how do we square that with the concept of ministerial responsibility? If a department says that the environment minister told them not to do something so they couldn't do it, where does a citizen go? What happens to the concept of ministerial responsibility, which is a foundation of the Westminster system?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

This is completely consistent with the concept of ministerial responsibility. Departments are responsible for putting together their own plans, including their own targets, and for reporting on their own progress. Each minister is accountable for the performance of their department in that regard.

[The Chair, Liberal, Deb Schulte]

Okay, I'm going to have to end this. I'm being told that it is 10:45.

Thank you very much. The meeting is adjourned.