Evidence of meeting #6 for Natural Resources in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was project.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
When the panel's established, there is an agreement, and attached to the agreement are terms of reference for the panel, which lay out the factors the panel needs to consider in their evaluation.
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
It's the minister along with, in a case like that--
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
So the minister can decide how big it should be through the terms of reference set for the panel.
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Yes, subject to the requirements of the act.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
So whether it's a large set or a narrow set, the scope of it is determined by the minister.
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
The panel has to satisfy itself that it has received sufficient information to be able to proceed.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Yes, but the scope is set by the minister essentially and the panellists are chosen by the minister.
In the material it talks about the responsible authority being the one that would ensure implementation of any mitigation and follow-up. In that case would it be the National Energy Board?
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
In the case of the Northern Gateway project, it would be the National Energy Board, along with the other responsible authorities, Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada. Together they would decide who would be responsible for ensuring which mitigation measures....
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Okay.
I come from a British Columbia provincial government background. When an agency is responsible for monitoring mitigation or follow-up, that ministry is not implicated but it has an economic responsibility. The environment ministry audits or monitors the data of that party. Is that the case here? Does the ministry of the environment or CEAA have any oversight or any monitoring of the responsible authority that they are actually doing their job to the level that's been expected?
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
No. The model in the act is based on the department that takes the decision to be responsible. We do—
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Claude Gravelle
Thank you.
We're going to have to cut it off. It's been seven minutes.
Mr. Calkins, you're up next.
Conservative
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Thank you for being here.
My colleague Ms. Murray and I were on the environment committee in the last Parliament. Of course, we had some fairly intense discussions about various things.
Could you tell me, is the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act up for review right now? Is it one of the acts that has a required statutory review?
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Yes, it is up for review. The review is expected to start in October.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Have we heard yet who's conducting the review? Has it been delegated to anybody yet? Does the act prescribe who does the statutory review?
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
The Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Well, that's good. I'm glad I'm on the natural resources committee. I'm sure the folks on the environment committee are looking forward to that.
I have a couple of questions for you about the screenings and the comprehensive studies. You say you get about 6,000 of these assessments per year. We know what the triggers are. You clearly outline what the triggers are: if there's federal money involved, if the Government of Canada is a project proponent--whatever the case might be. Does that number stay fairly consistent?
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
It does, in part, because one half of them are related to moneys that are given by the Business Development Bank and the Farm Credit Corporation. So when they're lending money, every loan requires that they have this environmental assessment done.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Does that extend to loans backstopped through private banks or just to those financial institutions like Farm Credit and the Business Development Bank of Canada?
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
Just those two.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
That's good to know.
You mentioned that you have these three different levels. You have the screenings and so on. Each of these has different costs associated with them. I think the most cost-effective one is the screening.
In the last couple of years we had Canada's economic action plan. You touched on it briefly. There were some changes made to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in Budget 2009, I believe it was, which actually changed some of the requirements that would trigger a Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.... Were those sunset clauses or were those permanent changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, and what did they apply to? They simply applied to municipal infrastructure projects, did they not? They wouldn't have applied to any of these private sector projects. Is that correct?
Vice-President, Policy Development Sector, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
The exception was boxed in very tightly so that the government could move forward in an efficient way on the municipal infrastructure projects. In the 2010 amendments that clause was removed.
Director, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
We scheduled to the act, actually, the projects that were excluded by virtue of—