Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the panellists for their insights and perspectives. I will focus on Dr. Mary Ellen Macdonald, because I think the discussions must be focused on data and not on emotions or an ideological stance. Dr. Macdonald, you referred to the fact

Canada-China Relations committee  We're back in session. We're pleased to welcome our second panel. We have Dr. Justin Massie, a full professor at Université du Québec à Montréal and co-director of the Network for Strategic Analysis. From the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, we have Jonathan Berkshire Miller

Environment committee  . At Tuesday's meeting, we were also pleased to hear that Dr. MacDonald didn't have any strong concerns about the renaming of schedule 1. With the chemicals management plan nearing the end of its third phase, this bill will make important changes that will continue to guide decision-making

Natural Resources committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. My expertise is resource geopolitics and indigenous engagement in Canadian resource development, and I'll focus my brief remarks on those issues. To briefly set the context, the COVID pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine hav

Environment committee  Well, you were giving me the example of a chemical, so I was trying to respond in terms of how it works. I will point you to the language in the bill. It actually does say “subject to any reasonable limits”, which is really how a court would interpret the right anyway, so that i

Environment committee   they could be done under this act. Labelling has come up, and I was thinking about Health Canada and all the work Health Canada does on labelling around food, for example. Dr. MacDonald, could you maybe talk a little bit about the best act for some of these things to happen under

Environment committee  There actually is a concept in CEPA called “the best place to act”, which recognizes that sometimes CEPA is not the best place to take the regulatory action. It might be better under the Food and Drugs Act, the cosmetic regulations, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act or somew

Environment committee  We would prefer the right to be stated as “a right to a healthy environment” without the inclusion or consideration of those factors. We understand the government wants to leave that in. I think it is exactly because of your concern about potential litigation, so that they can ba

Environment committee  When CEPA regulates chemicals, it doesn't do it writ large for all the uses of the chemicals across the country. It focuses in on the risks. That's why it's a risk-driven piece of legislation. If it's going to regulate a new chemical because of a risk, it might only be one aspect

Environment committee  Yes, I'm familiar with that one, too.

Environment committee  We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there. My second question for you, Dr. MacDonald, is around the fact that Canada is one of the few developed countries in the world that don't have mandatory ambient air quality standards. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions

Environment committee  Yes, we do have a recommendation in our brief that's specifically that the implementation framework should include a requirement for the minister to take action when a Canadian air quality standard is exceeded to try to address that issue. Working it in through, once again, the i

Environment committee  That's a loaded question. It's an interesting question. I was initially concerned when I saw that, too, but then, when I went back and looked at the act and the bill, everywhere they talk about schedule 1, they still refer to it as a “list of toxic substances”, throughout the l

Environment committee  I think we heard Cassie Barker speak earlier to the issues around labelling. That's one big piece of transparency. We've talked about having a reverse onus system, in which the confidential business information requests are reviewed by the minister or a delegate to ensure that th

Environment committee  Thank you, Dr. MacDonald. We'll go to Ms. Collins for two minutes.