Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Thank you for having me here this evening. I am representing the West Coast Environmental Law Association. We are a B.C.-based environmental law, advocacy, and analysis organization. We are one of Canada's oldest environmental law organizations and have been providing legal sup

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Furthermore, you should include timelines in the environmental assessment process that hold proponents to a predictable, certain timeline, not just that other people who are participating in the process. I think that's a huge problem. From our perspective, it's often the proponen

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  When you said that the people who are for this proposed legislation have had access and those who are perceived to be against it have not, I think that really hit it on the nail. Who are the groups who have had access? What kind of access have they had? What's the legitimate proc

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think you're referring to the Alexandra Morton and B.C. court case. The company involved in that was Marine Harvest. In B.C., if you're not familiar with this, the aquaculture fish farms were for awhile a little bit like a child of divorced parents who were fighting: nobody k

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think I suggested in my main presentation that one of the themes we see in part 3 of Bill C-38 is a lack of respect for, or appreciation of, or knowledge of the fact that we live in an ecosystem. Labelling different types of fish, the ones that are commercially or culturally va

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think first nations consultation is one of the aspects where the timelines really don't make sense. I appreciate that in your average environmental assessment, things can probably happen within a certain timeframe. What we're looking at here are the unknowns and the variables

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I think that timeline is more certain. What I was referring to is that under the current process, we in Canada experience more uncertainty with proponents delaying the process, and then the new CEAA doesn't address that because the timelines don't apply to proponents.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Yes.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  There are still no timelines for the proponents to be held to.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I believe you're talking about panels and the decision.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  If you can point me to a clause that says that proponents have to respond with additional information within certain times, or they have to submit enough information initially that the panel wouldn't have to come back to them for additional scientific studies and information that

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  It's not less certain unless the proponent asks for a delay.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I don't think I said anything about funding in my submissions.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  Not to my knowledge, I didn't.

Subcommittee of the Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38 committee  I would characterize the seven-year review of CEAA very differently than you would. Factually there was a witness from an environmental group and a witness from the Assembly of First Nations, and there were multiple witnesses from industry. I guess you said you met over two month