Evidence of meeting #36 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was yesaa.
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
Yes, absolutely. We have timelines for all our processes. The designated office assessments, the executive committee screenings, and the panel reviews currently have timelines that were developed, as I mentioned earlier, through the consultation we've done with regard to our rules.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Northwest Territories, NT
Do you see that the amendment being put forward will radically change how those timelines are set?
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
It will change it in a number of ways. There will be timelines that are legislated now as opposed to being in our rules. There will likely be challenges with implementing particularly the timelines at the executive committee screening level. We will be hard-pressed to find ways to make that happen.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Northwest Territories, NT
I was very impressed with the quantity of projects your board has worked its way through. It's quite remarkable that you do as many as you do. You said that you do these mostly at a regional level, that most of them are through simple screening, office screening you call it.
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
It's called a designated office assessment. Those are the bulk of the assessments that are done. We've only done six other assessments that are screenings at the executive committee level.
NDP
Dennis Bevington NDP Northwest Territories, NT
Would placer mining come up to that executive screening level at all, or would it remain generally at that...because that seems to be one of your largest customers.
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
That's at the designated office level.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Blake Richards
Thank you, Mr. Bevington.
We'll move now to Mr. Leef for the next six minutes.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Thank you, Ms. Randall, for appearing here today and congratulations on your appointment to the board.
I'm going to ask you a question in particular reference to some of the changes that have moved into Bill S-6, outside of previous YESAA legislation.
In clause 10, proposed subsection 43(2) reads as follows:
If the proponent fails to provide the required supplementary information within the period prescribed by the rules, the designated office, executive committee or panel of the Board may suspend its assessment activities until the proponent provides that information—
How is that different from what currently exists under the legislation?
Tim Smith Executive Director, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
There are some subtle changes that will be brought about by such an amendment, in particular, the ability or authority to discontinue assessments when a proponent is unable to or does not provide a response to an information request within a prescribed period of time. We see this providing greater certainty within the act.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Regardless of defined timelines, should there not be sufficient information, can the executive council or the screening-designated offices effectively stop the clock and require the proponent to provide additional information?
Executive Director, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
Yes. In terms of suspending an assessment pending a response to an information request, there is little change from current practice. We currently generate statistics. For the committee's benefit, a summary of those statistics is available on YESAB's website. The statistics are divided into both assessment time and proponent time. Where the proponent is taking time to respond to an information request, of course that is not calculated as part of the assessment timeline or the timelines being proposed in Bill S-6.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Thank you.
The premier was here this morning and I think the phrase he used was that the meat in the sandwich is the regulations. I know we're here to seize ourselves of the specifics of Bill S-6 itself, but an act is followed by regulation. I'm just wondering if there are any changes in this act that are leading us toward regulatory development and providing greater certainty and continuance of environmental and socio-economic integrity.
Are you able to speak to any of that “meat in the sandwich” conversation which the premier referred to this morning?
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
I'm not clear on what you're asking me, actually.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Effectively he was saying that we have the act, but next it's going to be the regulations and the regulations will speak to some of the things that we're speculating about at this point. We're making some speculation on what could occur and what can't occur, which will be tightened up by specific regulations.
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
The regulations primarily speak to triggers for assessment. If the regulations are being reviewed, that's where this will be discussed, I assume—what the triggers are either to have an assessment or to determine the level of assessment.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Would that speak to the one outstanding piece of the “significant change” definition? The timelines in Bill S-6 are referring to an assessment as not being required unless there is significant change to a proposal. If you're defining triggers in the regulations, would it start to define what might trigger “significant change”?
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
It could. I just don't feel comfortable speaking to what the parties may or may not decide to do with the regulations.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Okay. But that question, I presume, could come up. I'm certainly not asking you to say that this is exactly how they're going to be defined, but that option is at least open in that process. Is it, or do you not know?
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
That may be one avenue to look at it, sure.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
Okay. Thank you.
Can you again just reiterate the board membership and the executive committee membership for me?
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
There are seven members of the board. Three are the executive committee, and one of the executive committee members is also the chair of the board. Then there are four other members at large.
Chair and Executive Committee Member, Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board
The Council of Yukon First Nations nominates three of the board members, the Yukon government nominates two board members, and the Government of Canada also nominates two board members, all board members being appointed by the federal Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
Conservative
Ryan Leef Conservative Yukon, YT
There's an additional change in Bill S-6 in respect to extension of time limits. There's an initial provision that sets out that there can only be time limit extensions for a maximum of two months, taking into account circumstances specific to a proposal for a project, and then a subsection that follows that allows a recommendation to be made to further extend those time limits for any period.
That, I presume, would have been put in to anticipate much larger-scale projects that might come forward for which the timelines in the bill right now would be impossible to meet.