Natural Resources Committee on Feb. 19th, 2019

[Rumina Velshi]

It's new territory for us. I, too, have had staff who've gone through the training, and certainly when it comes to the development of our regulatory documents and requirements, we're now using gender-based analysis plus for doing so.

Going forward, with Bill C-69 and impact assessments it will be a requirement that gender-based analysis get done then.

As far as our licensing decisions right now are concerned, we don't specifically do gender-based analysis in that systematic way, but one of my personal priorities is around gender representation. As a commission we very much pursue that and explore the impact of our licensing decisions and ask our applicants and licensees how they're addressing that.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

My experience with participant funding is really with respect to the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore, and in that case, all the recipients of participant funding were bands. Do you have any examples in your world where participant funding has been given by CNSC to indigenous groups other than the band councils or their corporate arms, to women's groups, for instance?

[Rumina Velshi]

I'll get Ms. Sauer to answer that.

[Liane Sauer]

We do have examples, for sure. We support any group that has a good application. We don't differentiate between whom they might be.

[Nick Whalen, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

I'll end with you, Mr. Thomson. Are you getting the sense that the system that's in place and CNSC's approach to international best practices.... Do you have any other suggestions that might help make our system here better, at least with respect to nuclear safety?

[Ian Thomson]

I take the president's point that as legislative change is under way expectations will be raised. We're hopeful that Bill C-69 will pass the Senate and that this will become the new norm in Canada. I think all agencies, CNSC and the impact assessment agency, will have to develop their own internal expertise around this and more capacity-building is needed within these federal institutions.

I think equally important is looking at the organizations at the grassroots, like you were just referring to. Do women's organizations that are close to the community concerns, that understand the local context, that sort of baseline what I was talking about, that understand of where you're starting from and what some of the existing gender gaps might be.... If we're not resourcing them, then it doesn't matter how much the federal agencies do. We do need them to do more, but we also have to ensure that the affected people and their organizations are resourced to be able to participate fully in these processes.

[The Chair, Liberal, James Maloney]

Thank you.

Mr. Falk, you have five minutes.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Thank you to our witnesses for attending committee here today and for your presentations.

I'll start with you, Ms. Velshi. You're the regulator of the nuclear industry. You've obviously worked with indigenous groups before when it comes to regulatory issues.

[Rumina Velshi]

Yes.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

In your experience with these groups, what are the issues that are important to them?

[Rumina Velshi]

One of the primary ones we hear is the impact on their traditional way of life, particularly when it comes to country foods, of potential radioactive contamination. It's usually issues around this that we hear at our proceedings.

We at the CNSC have an independent environmental monitoring program, and as a priority we have made sure that we've engaged with the indigenous groups to help us come up with a sampling program, because there are certain foods that are more important and that they want reassurance about it being safe for them to consume. They help us come up with a sampling program and are actually now involved in the monitoring itself, which gives them greater confidence that it is safe. That's usually a very high priority for them.

The other one is just the general risks associated with nuclear power and being able to understand that in understandable language that is not highly technical. We try to do that. We have interpreters. In fact, in our proceedings we have interpretation available for that. With our CNSC 101, that's another area where we try to help address their concerns around nuclear safety and the risks associated with nuclear facilities.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

In your process with indigenous groups, safety and risk are the number one issues they are concerned with.

[Rumina Velshi]

It would be safety and risk as they then manifest, whether with their food or waste management. The issues are safety and risk associated with nuclear....

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

When you conduct these consultations, do you meet with the communities as a whole? Do you have town hall meetings in the communities? Do you meet with band elders? Do you meet with the chief? Do you meet with their administrative people, or outside consultants? Whom do you meet with? Who are the decision-makers?

[Rumina Velshi]

We meet with whoever asks to meet with us. Similarly, with our proceedings, we will have all of those you listed. We will have general members of the community. We'll have their consultants. We'll have their chiefs. It's the full spectrum.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Okay.

[Rumina Velshi]

We hear all of the different perspectives, and the concerns are very similar.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Who would be the decision-makers?

[Rumina Velshi]

When it comes to any licensing decision, it's the commission, which is an independent tribunal.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Also, from the indigenous perspective, who are the decision-makers there?

[Rumina Velshi]

In our proceedings, they are not really decision-makers. They inform the commission, and they'll provide their perspective.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Okay.

You're having consultations with them, but at some point they get an approval from you. Who do you give that approval to?

[Rumina Velshi]

Our approval is our decision on whether or not a project should proceed, and the conditions associated with that. It is not an approval to a band, if that's what you are asking. It is for the project, and to the proponent.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Okay.

Typically, is there a process the bands follow when communicating their concerns to you?

[Rumina Velshi]

I think that varies. Ms. Sauer can give you the details. As I have told you, we would meet with whoever asks to meet with us and [Inaudible—Editor].