Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. President. My name is Cécile Cléroux. I'm the assistant deputy minister of the environmental stewardship branch at Environment Canada. I think it would be best if each of us identified ourselves so that you know who's present at the table.

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, if you would allow us, we would like to first make a general presentation on CEPA 1999, so that everybody has the basic information. Shortly after, we think it would be good to have follow-up questions. We have provided each of the members of the committee with a binder that has a number of documents that have been published over the last few years.

Environment committee  I will start the answer, and I will let Paul and John complete it. Part 5 is a crucial part of the act and a tricky part of the act at the same time. It is a part where there is a lot of work that has to be done to make sure we have the right science on which to base judgment on whatever we have to do.

Environment committee  Mr. Chairman, I would be pleased to try to shed some light on the questions put by the member. First of all, we have signed an equivalency agreement with Alberta, and discussions are underway with each of Canada's provinces with a view to signing other agreements. However, the majority of provinces prefer to sign equivalency agreements for individual issues, or individual activities.

Environment committee  The issue here is related to the implementation of Pan-Canadian measures. If criteria are established according to which all Canadian companies and citizens are treated the same way, regardless of where they are in Canada, with regard to the implementation of regulations or specific agreements, the signing of equivalency agreements will not remove the federal minister's responsibility in this regard.

Environment committee  To my knowledge, no.

Environment committee  It's clearly one of the elements of the act that has probably had the most coverage in the consultation and comments we've had all over the place. The implementation of the act itself, for sure, uses the term “toxic”, as some of you will see in the act--it's used in part 5. We refer to the list of toxic substances, but everybody refers to the toxics.

Environment committee  With regard to improving the efficiency of the consultations, I'm sure the ministry will want to be able to have an open discussion with you about the path forward. As for the implementation of the act up to now, we have been respecting the obligation to have consultation regarding the act.

Environment committee  Currently, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act gives us powers that enable us to intervene regarding all atmospheric emissions in virtually all fields. Whether we're talking about so-called "toxic" substances or the emission of more common gases that are part of the elements that we all have to deal with, we feel that the current legislation gives us the powers necessary to take required action to improve the quality of the air that our fellow citizens breathe.

Environment committee  I will let my colleague from Health Canada respond regarding the quality of drinking water. Do you also want us to address sewage? If so, we will respond to the second part.

Environment committee  With regard to sewage, work has been underway with the provinces for the past three or four years with a view to implementing one of these famous Pan-Canadian standards. We are on the verge of signing an agreement with all the provinces. This is part of the recommendations that will be submitted shortly to all ministers.

Environment committee  Exactly.

Environment committee  Yes, for sewage that is disposed of in fresh water streams or in salt water.

Environment committee  There are already Pan-Canadian standards for certain atmospheric pollutants. Others are the topic of discussions. For many years now, there's been talk of taking them one by one and signing agreements throughout the country. The same approach was used both for air and for sewage.

Environment committee  The five-year expiry date is linked to the automatic review of the CEPA every five years. It is one of the elements of the review that does not have the scope it should have, because these agreements should last as long as the Act is not reviewed and amended. That is part of the things that the committee should consider and it comes under the prerogative of Parliament.