If you read some of the policy statements that came out at the time, I think that, with the addition of section 6, the idea was that this would create some kind of certainty and would guide proponents and everyone to understanding what's going on. Unfortunately, again, because there's no public registry, it's actually impossible for anyone—unless they're filing ATIPs on a regular basis—to know in any given instance whether the minister has issued an authorization, whether the minister considered those issues, and how the minister considered them. I think another improvement would be to have those factors. Again, we're not talking about every project, whether you want to call it low impact or low harm, or whatever. But, at least in certain instances—certainly for the medium- to high-risk projects—it would be an improvement to have the minister set out a set of reasons, in addition to the authorization. The reasons would explain how the minister considered those factors, and how he or she reached that position.
On October 31st, 2016. See this statement in context.