Environment Committee on Oct. 31st, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Go ahead.

[Cecile Siewe]

I can take that question.

We issued what we would call a discussion paper in May of this year for a 60-day consultation period. That consultation period has closed, and we are going to be incorporating those comments into the Canada Gazette, part II, which we hope we are on target to publish next year, in 2024.

If I can take a step back, the amendments were designed to do three main things. One was to improve what we currently have for what we call the "temporary bypass authorization". When the first iteration of the wastewater effluent release regulations went into effect, there were provisions that allowed owners and operators of wastewater systems to get authorization to bypass the treatment for a very specific period of time and discharge undertreated water at the final discharge point while they were undertaking very needed maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

What we realized over the past few years since the regulation went into effect is that we did not have provisions that would allow us to have an awareness and ensure that there was sufficient mitigation to the receiving environment for bypasses that would take place in other parts of the facility but not at the final discharge point.

That's one thing that the regulations have been amended to update.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you.

In terms of consulting with first nations, one recommendation that emerged from the post-mortem of the 2015 controlled wastewater release in Montreal was to improve the protocol for consulting first nations who might potentially be affected in case of future releases.

What has been done so far in this regard?

[Cecile Siewe]

I'm going to share a couple of points about what we currently do; then I will allow my colleague Caroline Blais to add to that.

With respect to any of the bypasses that owners and operators apply for authorization for, they need to send an authorization into ECCC at least 45 days ahead of the planned release. Before that, they need to consult and engage with the local community, including indigenous communities, as to the impacts so that there's awareness and understanding of the impacts on cultural concerns with respect to the bypass. That information has to come with the application for a temporary authorization bypass.

That's one element of consultation that we do. That includes the public, indigenous communities and communities downstream of the treatment. And then—

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

If you can be brief about the recent bypass, please go ahead.

[Cecile Siewe]

The recent bypass authorization also included engagements with indigenous communities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Perfect, thank you so much.

We won't be able to go to you, Madame Blais, because we're over time. Somebody else can raise the issue, or you can answer the question when answering something else.

Ms. Pauzé, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I want to thank you for coming back to see us; that's very kind of you.

Mr. Wolfish, before today's meeting, I read the written answer that you sent us. Thank you for that as well.

What I understood from your presentation the other day is that you seem to rely heavily on the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, which is a kind of intergovernmental forum under the direction of the environment ministers. However, I couldn't find any information on that forum in the research that I did before this meeting. What value would it add to the Canada water agency? My impression thus far is that nothing comes out of that forum, but the Canada water agency seems to attach considerable importance to it.

Would you please tell us what value it would add to the agency?

[Daniel Wolfish]

Thank you.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment is a council that meets fairly regularly at the deputy level, the ministerial level and at the officials level. There is a working group that does work on water issues. We have been using that forum as a way to have conversations about water. Other departments have also been using that forum as a way to have conversations around water for several years. We will continue to use that as a multilateral forum.

In addition to that, we have been reaching out to provinces and territories on a bilateral level, and then, when necessary as we continue to do our work, we will bring together a committee of officials at the assistant deputy minister level or at the officials level to support water.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

I see.

Many departments participate in this forum, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

[Daniel Wolfish]

Yes.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Wolfish, earlier I was somewhat surprised to learn that a number of watersheds had been selected. You said there were eight of them, but I counted only seven. I also noticed that none of those watersheds where money has been invested is located in Quebec.

Would you please justify that?

[Daniel Wolfish]

Actually, one of them is in Quebec; it's the St. Lawrence basin. It's the focus of the St. Lawrence action plan, a joint initiative with the Quebec government. We have an agreement with Quebec on the subject. We also have a budget to support activities in Quebec.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you very much, Mr. Wolfish and Ms. Pauzé.

Mr. Bachrach, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for coming back and joining us once again.

I'd like to start with some questions about the watershed security strategy and fund that British Columbia brought forward.

How it is informing the development of the Canada water agency? Could you speak a bit about how the work in British Columbia is informing your work federally?

[Daniel Wolfish]

Thank you.

We've had some initial conversations with British Columbia. I received a briefing last week from British Columbia on their initiatives. We've identified the Fraser basin as one of the ecosystem initiatives. We are looking forward to getting together with British Columbia to work on what some of the priorities are for science, monitoring and restoration activities.

We're just starting those discussions now.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Obviously, when it comes to the national conversation around fresh water, the Great Lakes deserve a focus. They are very important. For some British Columbians, it might seem as if there's a risk they will draw too much of the focus of the Canada water agency eastward.

Are there conversations within ECCC about matching the British Columbia government's commitment to funding freshwater protection?

[Daniel Wolfish]

We haven't moved in that direction yet. At this stage, what we're looking to do is establish the agency and, from there, hold our conversations with provinces and territories around the ecosystem initiatives.

I think one of the reasons Winnipeg was chosen as the headquarters is that it provides a bit more of a diverse view of fresh water across Canada, and of the various needs. It's recognizing that, in Canada, fresh water indeed takes on a very regional focus, and that needs vary across the country.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Could you provide a bit of detail about indigenous co-governance in management, and the role it will play in the Canada water agency?

[Daniel Wolfish]

That's an important question.

It's one we're just starting to work through. We're developing advice for the minister. We've had some conversations with the Assembly of First Nations. I've also reached out to the regional levels and organizations. I have started to engage with Métis.

We recognize the importance of bringing that into the work of the agency—reviewing the Canada Water Act within the indigenous rights framework. What we want to do is engage with our partners on what that could look like and the issues they want to discuss. From that perspective, we'll take a couple of years to review and modernize the Canada Water Act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bachrach.

Mr. Kram, you have five minutes.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for joining us here today, particularly Mr. Wolfish.

I hope you didn't fly all the way back to Ottawa solely on account of the technical issues last week.

[Daniel Wolfish]

I'm based here.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Okay, that's very good.

Has the Canada water agency's head office been finalized in Winnipeg? Is that where you were joining us from last week?

[Daniel Wolfish]

I was joining you from Winnipeg for a few reasons.

One was to meet the staff there. I was appointed in June, so it was my opportunity to connect with the team.

While there, I also took the opportunity to meet with important indigenous partners and other stakeholders on the work we are doing.

We are starting to build our staff presence in Winnipeg. We posted a recruitment notice for a few officials. Winnipeg being officially selected will depend on Parliament and its decisions about creating the Canada water agency. A subsequent order would be required to officially establish the headquarters in Winnipeg.