Environment Committee on Feb. 22nd, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The 13th meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development is hereby open. As we all know, we are having a meeting today pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, November 2, 2020. In this regard, the committee is resuming its study of the enforcement of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Today’s meeting is in hybrid format pursuant to the House order of January 25, 2021. Again, if you're not speaking, either as a witness or as a member of the committee, you can put your mike on mute.

I welcome our witnesses today. Today is our last meeting on the topic of Ms. Collins's motion. Everyone is from Environment and Climate Change Canada. We have Michael Enns, the director general of the risk analysis directorate; Sheldon Jordan, director general of wildlife enforcement; Donald Walker, director general, environmental enforcement; Anne-Marie Pelletier, chief enforcement officer, enforcement branch; Hannah Rogers, executive director, environmental enforcement; and Stéphane Couroux, director, transportation division, energy and transportation.

I believe we have only one opening statement and it will be Madame Pelletier who will speak to us for about 10 minutes. That will be followed by the usual rounds of questioning.

Madame Pelletier, the floor is yours.

[Anne-Marie Pelletier, Chief Enforcement Officer, Enforcement Branch, Department of the Environment]

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, members of the committee. It is a pleasure to be here.

Since the chair has already named the members of my team with me today, I'll move on to my presentation right away.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to have a conversation about our commitment to the enforcement of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA.

CEPA is an important part of Canada's federal environmental legislation aimed at preventing pollution and protecting the environment and human health.

ECCC administers a broad range of laws and regulations designed to prevent pollution, protect the environment and human health as well as the conservation of wildlife species, their habitat and biodiversity. The role of the enforcement branch is to serve Canadians by carrying out inspections to verify compliance with these laws and regulations, but also by investigating and taking measures to compel compliance when violations are uncovered.

The enforcement branch consists of about 400 employees, of whom 249 are uniformed officers. These officers are highly trained with backgrounds in chemistry, biology and other specializations along with significant law enforcement skills and experience.

The branch consists of a national office in Gatineau, Quebec, which is our headquarters, and offices in five regions: Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, prairie and northern, and Pacific and Yukon. Enforcement officers are designated to enforce CEPA and its regulations across Canada in large and small communities. With our regional offices, we also have approximately 25 officers.

In the course of their duties, enforcement officers conduct inspections to verify compliance. The enforcement branch works hand in hand with the different programs in the environmental protection branch, which is responsible for the development and administration of the many regulations under CEPA. This work includes regulatory administration and testing. Cases of non-compliance identified by program staff are referred to the enforcement branch.

When a violation is found, the enforcement branch will choose the appropriate response from among the enforcement tools at their disposal. These tools, designed to achieve compliance, include warnings, directions, compliance orders, tickets and administrative monetary penalties, AMPs. When the environmental harm, risk of environmental harm, or the factual circumstances warrant it, officers conduct investigations and collect evidence to support the laying of charges.

To this end, enforcement works closely with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. This results in a relationship that is very successful in working with the prosecution in order for us to be able to successfully endorse environmental violation.

Enforcement is not just about the individual party or parties that are fined or charged. It's also about conveying to the regulated communities that there are real costs to non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations. We address the wrongdoing and ensure the return to compliance. Along with effective outreach from our colleagues from across the department, enforcement actions communicate to polluters that they will be held accountable for their actions. Successful prosecutions that lead to fines and other penalties send the message that the cost of non-compliance is high. In so doing, enforcement creates an even playing field for companies and sends the message that respect for Canada's environmental law is a basic tenet of doing business in our country.

Achieving those results starts with thorough investigative work. Over the past five years, the enforcement branch has enhanced its capacity for conducting large-scale, complex investigations. We have put in place a major case management protocol and have equipped enforcement officers with advanced investigative tools, a computer forensic unit, resources for evaluating the economic impact of environmental harm, forensic accounting and more.

The enforcement branch and the relevant programs have taken to heart the recommendations of this committee as well as reports from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development. We continually strive to improve our methods and to modernize the branch and its activities.

One of the most important ways we have undertaken to advance our work is to base our activities on a rigorous risk analysis. A risk-based approach to enforcing laws and regulations means that we are conducting analysis to identify where we find the greatest harm to the environment, human health and biodiversity; the level of non-compliance present; and where inspections and enforcement action can be expected to reduce the risk of harm. This approach provides a systematic and data-driven means to allocate our enforcement resources and improve compliance.

We have made investments in better tools for data management and connectivity. This allows for the centralization of critical departmental data in a single location. This integration will continue to transform our data into strategic assets in order to enhance innovation, performance and measurement, decision-making and, ultimately, accountability.

We are also developing the enforcement officer mobile office, which will allow officers to have the necessary information at their fingertips while out in the field to retrieve and upload information from the enforcement database, increasing the effectiveness of their inspections. Mobile tools also allow officers to report observations, and information that will further bolster our intelligence gathering.

ECCC's enforcement branch officers have also been using a novel approach to continue enforcing Canada's environmental laws during the pandemic, while keeping themselves and Canadians safe. Officers are encouraged to use innovative inspection methods and tools, where possible, and complete administrative tasks from home. Where necessary, due to the nature of the incident or non-conformity, our officers continue to conduct in-person inspections. To this end, they follow strict standard operating procedures to ensure that both their personal health and the safety of the public are taken into consideration.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is taking steps to align its planning and operations with federal, provincial and territorial counterparts by launching a working group. We have already co-operated on a number of activities, such as inspections at the borders, joint law enforcement operations and some cross-designation of enforcement officers. We know that by working together with the provinces and territories, we can become even more efficient and effective.

Finally, we continue to adapt our operations as new regulations come into force, and as our mandate and the suite of enforcement tools continue to evolve.

Members of the committee, thank you for your attention. I will be happy to answer your questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you, Ms. Pelletier.

I forgot to mention at the beginning that the meeting will end at 6:45 p.m. because we started late due to the two votes. As for next Wednesday, I doubt very much that we'll meet, given all the votes that are scheduled. It will be for another day. We'll now move on to questions.

Mr. Albas, you have six minutes.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank all of our witnesses for the work you do for Canadians every day. I do appreciate your presence.

I'm going to begin with Ms. Pelletier. Could you let us know if any of your team worked on the Volkswagen “Dieselgate” file directly?

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Otherwise known as the Volkswagen file.

[Anne-Marie Pelletier]

Thank you for the clarification.

If you're asking me if members of the team that are present worked directly on the file, I believe we have one person present. The persons who worked directly on the file at the time have moved on; however, members who are part of the witness list and attending are fully aware, and are ready to answer all your questions.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Could you please identify who worked directly on the file?

[Anne-Marie Pelletier]

Michael Enns was the director general. He was the executive director of environmental enforcement at the time.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

My question is to Mr. Enns. Could you describe the role you played in the Volkswagen Dieselgate file?

[Michael Enns, Director General, Risk Analysis Directorate, Department of the Environment]

My role was executive director of environmental enforcement at the time. I wasn't directly involved in the case. There were officers assigned to work the case in the Ontario region. There were supporting people from the lab that did testing of the engines, and so forth. My role, as an executive, was supervising the officers who were actually conducting the investigation.

I should note that my role at the time, in the same way that it is now, was not part of the chain of command. The director general of environmental enforcement, my boss, was the person in the chain of command most directly responsible for the case, but I did have a role, as an executive, during the entirety of the investigation.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Your name is attached to it, but you did no direct work specifically on the Dieselgate file, is that correct?

[Michael Enns]

That would be fair to say, yes.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Could you please share what activities you did do, and some of your observations?

[Michael Enns]

My role was to ensure that the investigating officers had the support they needed to conduct the investigation, so I was aware of the investigation as it moved through the steps. I made connections with laboratory services, and made sure those resources were available at the time.

In terms of my observations, I observed a case being worked according to the policies and procedures of the department in a way that is typical of this enforcement branch.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Were you able to get all the necessary resources for your colleagues to be able to do their job?

[Michael Enns]

We had all the necessary resources to complete a thorough and comprehensive investigation and to subsequently make a recommendation to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Did they observe at any time any irregularities or any kind of imposition on any of their duties?

[Michael Enns]

I know of no irregularities or impositions.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Thank you, sir. I appreciate your contribution today.

Ms. Pelletier, could you please explain in general? First of all, it seems to me that you and your team who are largely here had no hands-on, direct role when it came to the Dieselgate scandal, or Dieselgate case, pardon me.

What do you believe you could offer this committee today? Are you just here to discuss the activities you would do on such a file, or have there been any specific briefings you would like to bring to the committee because I notice in your presentation you didn't really touch on it.

[Anne-Marie Pelletier]

People who are in front of you have not directly participated. I arrived in 2018, and others arrived after me. However, we do have in-depth knowledge of the file. We have been fully briefed, and we are prepared to talk about the intricacies of CEPA and also the legislation around it.

We are enforcing the law. That is our role. We can talk about how we are enforcing the law and how we went about it. There are certain aspects of how we do inspections and the context around them. Those are the kinds of things we are prepared to speak to. If you have questions regarding CEPA, that is one of the reasons we're here today on the application of the law.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

I do appreciate that.

When it comes to the actual prosecution, in terms of some of the questions that some people have had in regard to the fines themselves, are you prepared to speak to them?

[Anne-Marie Pelletier]

As you know, when it comes to determining the level of fines, the prosecution itself goes directly to PPSC.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Is there anyone from Public Prosecution here today?

[Anne-Marie Pelletier]

No. There isn't.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Why is that?