Environment committee  Yes, absolutely. The main pollutant in question here with the VW violations is NOx, nitrogen oxides. They are known to cause cancer, or to have been linked to some cancer conditions. Health Canada has data to show that exposure to NOx is associated with many deaths in Canada every year.

Environment committee  I'm sorry, could you repeat that question. My headset just disconnected for some reason.

Environment committee  I'll be quick. Compared to the U.S., where authorities and the Crown invited community impact statements and victim impact statements, we did not see that happening here. For the process that David was speaking to in the Canadian impact statement within the Canadian proceedings, I was one of the people who tried to submit a community impact statement.

Environment committee  I was about to finish. The point I was going to make at the end was that the way the charges were laid and the packaging of 10,000 cars under one offence I think was one of the reasons why we saw the fine per car reduced to about $1,500 compared to the—I can't remember the exact number—tens of thousands in the U.S.

Environment committee  I'm not sure I am prepared to answer that question in terms of harmonization within that specific sector, assuming that's the auto sector, considering that is not my area of expertise. If there's something else that I can answer with respect to this issue, I am happy to do that.

Environment committee  I absolutely think that the fine was not proportional to the scale of this crime. As I mentioned, this is one of the worst environmental crimes in the history of Canada. If we want to just compare it proportionally to the U.S., we had 128,000 affected vehicles that were rigged, sold, and imported here.

Environment committee  I think an important thing to realize about how enforcement, and specifically civil enforcement, works in CEPA is that we do have mechanisms in CEPA for civil enforcement. I mentioned some of those mechanisms, but they're just not working. They're not functional and they need to be improved.

Environment committee  Yes. In my case, after about two years—I think it was 22 months exactly since the investigation had been launched—we were worried about nothing happening from that investigation, given that no public updates were provided in that period. Also, I believe there's a statute of limitations in CEPA in terms of the two-year limit.

Environment committee  I would strongly support those recommendations by the ENVI committee in 2017. We see them as a blueprint for how CEPA could be modernized and brought to the 21st century, because we still have legislation from 1999.

Environment committee  It's a tough task to reduce 87 recommendations to three, but I can definitely take on the challenge. The first top priority would be to ensure that vulnerable populations and marginalized and racialized communities, especially indigenous communities, are adequately protected from toxic substances and pollution so those recommendations that pertain to vulnerable populations are critical.

Environment committee  I think CEPA is the most critical legislative tool we have to achieve that target. I think the opportunity that we have today with modernizing CEPA can bring us forward to achieve not only those global targets but also our domestic targets. One of the issues we've had in our chemicals management plan has been the fact that we have not measured performance.

Environment committee  I don't believe the government is funding these areas and enforcement actions adequately.

Environment committee  To answer this question, I would point to a number of reports that were published by the Auditor General's office, by the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, which highlighted that. So far, there have been three reports that looked into enforcement: a 2009 report, a 2011 report and a 2018 report.

Environment committee  From our perspective, the perspective of Environmental Defence, I think, as I outlined in my statement, is that there are a number of gaps within the legislation, CEPA, that have enabled the investigation to proceed in the way that it did. These issues were highlighted and underscored in the review by the ENVI committee in 2017 that resulted in a number of recommendations on how the enforcement provisions could be improved.

Environment committee  Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the invitation to speak to you about this important matter today. My name is Muhannad Malas. I'm the toxics program manager at Environmental Defence. Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that has for over 30 years worked with government, industry and communities to safeguard our fresh water, decrease Canadians’ exposure to toxic chemicals and build a clean economy.