I wish you had asked Yves first.
I think the purpose of environmental assessment is that it's really a planning tool. As regulators, before we make a decision we have to assess what the environmental impacts are of those decisions. That is the purpose of the environmental act. I think what happens often is that it's confused as being an approval for a project.
From my perspective, the environmental assessments exist so that whatever is taking place within a project--for instance, if there are going to be negative impacts to fish and fish habitat--we can ensure that we look at ways to make the project better, to mitigate those impacts, and to compensate if there's any loss to fish and fish habitat.
Really, I don't think it's so much whether they should trigger environmental assessment or not, it's the role that environmental assessment plays in helping us decide if there are going to be negative impacts and how we can work with proponents and communities to figure out ways to mitigate those impacts. It should be win-win for everybody.